Rentals...Worth the effort?

[Dale Mercer]

Ok ok I get it I'm not a tax expert. I rented it at a fair market price and should have ask for more. I did make a little money. The goverment made more and they did'nt have to get up in the middle of the night and fix a furnace. If you divid it out per year it's very little per year. Bottom line the house is gone. Case closed.

 

[teejk]

Ok ok I get it I'm not a tax expert. I rented it at a fair market price and should have ask for more. I did make a little money. The goverment made more and they did'nt have to get up in the middle of the night and fix a furnace. If you divid it out per year it's very little per year. Bottom line the house is gone. Case closed.

You rented at the going rates...all you can expect. At one time you could buy, rent then sell with appreciation. That "house for everybody" policy turned the entire housing market on its head...and probably explains why many electricians and plumbers and carpenters still don't have any work. Flood the market with houses that a lot of people can't afford, anybody with a hammer or a wrench made $$$...then reality set in...excess houses. Government intervention at its best.

 

[KretZ]

Never rent to friends or family.

Boom! Here is a truth to live by. While we were overseas we were renting to a young family whose parents were good friends with my wife's parents for 30+ years. The husband was almost like a cousin to my wife and her siblings growing up, they were that close. After almost two years of hounding these people month in month out to pay their rent, hearing every excuse in the book, they up and vanished like a fart in the wind one day and left us with an 800 dollar water bill. After deducting their deposit, we were only out 350 bucks. I told my wife it only cost us 350 bucks to never have to hear from them again. Kind of a steep price, but it all worked out in the end.

 

[Sprinklerman]

Well I had to file for an eviction today . A young woman with an infant and 4 year old . I got the tears , and a bunch of excuses . I dont want to evict her , but No Pay No Stay . I told her she has 5 days to come up with the rent and late fees and she will be fine . I also told her it isnt personal , its just business .

 

[LD1]

Renting to family is iffy. Can tear familys apart, or could be the best thing ever.

I rented to my young cousin. It was her first place. Paid the deposit and first months rent no problem....then started having issues coming up with money. I know the eviction process is not easy, so wanted to tread carefully. She had some unfortunate things happen.....car accident with 1k deductible, hacked bank account that took a month to get straightened out, etc. I just had a informal conversation with her. Said I didnt want to have to "evict" her. So simply asked if she thought things were ever gonna get better or if she felt she was just gonna keep getting further behind. She said she didnt see things getting better and said she though it would be best if she just moved back in with her parents and pay me off when she could.

Ok, no problem. I knew this was going to be the probably outcome from the beginning. But she was dying to move out. But I knew this was going to be a good learning experience for her about real life. And better prepare her for when she is ready to try it again.

This was last ~july she moved out. As of her tax return this year....I have been paid in full. Sure, it would have been nice to have a good on-time paying tennate in there, but it does somewhat feel good to try to help her out and give her a chance.

 

[ultrarunner]

I have one rented to my sister-in-law's brother...

It's been 10 years and OK

But, you are right... if things go South... the implications could be far reaching.

 

[ultrarunner]

Well I had to file for an eviction today . A young woman with an infant and 4 year old . I got the tears , and a bunch of excuses . I dont want to evict her , but No Pay No Stay . I told her she has 5 days to come up with the rent and late fees and she will be fine . I also told her it isnt personal , its just business .

Evictions around Christmas always make the news...

 

[teejk]

Evictions around Christmas always make the news...

But as he said, "nothing personal, just business". I agree with that 100% (if it was my mom I would probably "suck it up"). There are a ton of social programs out there now that would probably let her pay the rent but I'm guessing she had a smart phone and cable TV and a few tattoos. Ok...done with my "rant"...

 

[Dale Mercer]

A lady bought her daugther a small farm. The daugther was to pay her back but did never did. The lady wanted to sell the farm but the daughter would not not let anyone in to see it so she could not sell it. I bought the farm off the lady(on contract) sight un seen. Never set foot on the farm or in the house. I had no idea there the ground laid. The lady evicated her daughter. Been here 50 years and never been sorry. People were more tusting back then At lest I was

 

[teejk]

A lady bought her daugther a small farm. The daugther was to pay her back but did never did. The lady wanted to sell the farm but the daughter would not not let anyone in to see it so she could not sell it. I bought the farm off the lady(on contract) sight un seen. Never set foot on the farm or in the house. I had no idea there the ground laid. The lady evicated her daughter. Been here 50 years and never been sorry. People were more tusting back then At lest I was

Sad in that the entire world now requires lawyers and expensive filing fees in order to cement the "understanding". Fortunately some states are starting to simplify things with Living Trusts, Transfer on Death Deeds and such. Rental real estate seems to be going the other way...VERY tough to evict in many places.

 

[California]

If the thread has shifted to tenant stories - I just pm'd this to a friend. I'll share it here as well.

Eventually I gave up on rentals when I finally got the Tenant From H***. She sounded nice, said she was an author, then a week later told me living at the ranch guest cabin was her retreat to solitude to write The Radical Lesbian Separatists Manifesto and seeing me (on my own property!) kept throwing off her concentration so I would have to stay away. WTH??? My rental agreement said monthly then vacate at the end of the State University (my usual tenants) school year so I can use the cabin for my kids to visit etc so I let her stay until the following June. I don't think I offended her personally, she would write me elegant, thoughtful emails about trivial stuff like what time does the mail arrive, but then quiver with stress if she saw me face to face. Enough! I haven't rented the ranch cabin again.

 

[teejk]

If the thread has shifted to tenant stories - I just pm'd this to a friend. I'll share it here as well.

Eventually I gave up on rentals when I finally got the Tenant From H***. She sounded nice, said she was an author, then a week later told me living at the ranch guest cabin was her retreat to solitude to write The Radical Lesbian Separatists Manifesto and seeing me (on my own property!) kept throwing off her concentration so I would have to stay away. WTH??? My rental agreement said monthly then vacate at the end of the State University (my usual tenants) school year so I can use the cabin for my kids to visit etc so I let her stay until the following June. I don't think I offended her personally, she would write me elegant, thoughtful emails about trivial stuff like what time does the mail arrive, but then quiver with stress if she saw me face to face. Enough! I haven't rented the ranch cabin again.

Depending on local rules, I'm guessing a lot of landlords have met the "tenants from...." But back to your opening statement, the conversation has not drifted from the OP...it's all closely related. The potential pool of tenants are one of those things that need to be considered ("nothing parties like a rental"!!!).

 

[WoodChuckDad]

What the heck is a lesbian separatist manifesto? What does that even mean?

 

[Sprinklerman]

What the heck is a lesbian separatist manifesto? What does that even mean?

Do you really want to know ? I certainly dont

 

[teejk]

Do you really want to know ? I certainly dont

I dunno...women's prison movies are pretty popular

 

[WoodChuckDad]

My father died recently. I am liquidating his estate. It isn't much but there is a house. It needs a bit of work before we can sell it. My brother asked me " why don't we just rent it out? ". My response was " I love you, but not that much. ". It will go on the market soon.

 

[MossRoad]

What the heck is a lesbian separatist manifesto? What does that even mean?

There's a website for it. Look it up. But let's change the subject back to the topic or this won't end well.

 

[California]

What the heck is a lesbian separatist manifesto? What does that even mean?

Actually she was pretty straightforward talking about issues, once in a while. It means women who not only prefer women, but the ones who choose to live with no influence of men in their lives whatever. And she was writing what amounted to a call for women to join her in her personal revolution, a call to assemble a group of women of similar opinion.

Actually, as MossRoad said let's drop the subject. I looked online for a more precise definition - And found Google in less than 4 hours already references this thread under that subject. I don't think we want to be 'intenet famous'. We need to remember that anything we write on the internet is accessible forever.

Ask and I'll tell you about the tenant who sold my drapes, cabinet knobs, garden hoses etc at his yard sale as he moved out - as I discovered when I went to collect the coming month's rent. Or the kid who flunked out of A/C tech school and disappeared. I found the entire 2-bedroom apartment immaculately freshly painted, apparently as his personal version of goodby. Or the woman who responded to an ad and became the Outside Friend of a prisoner soon to be released...

Encountering people you never imagined really exist, is part of operating rentals. You get used to it. I encountered roughly 1 frustrating tenant to 19 decent ones, not a bad average. Averaged 95% occupancy.

 

[Thall303]

As a landlord for more than 30 years, one absolute is to never become "friends" with tenants, especially divorced or widowed women or single mothers. They will adopt you as a surrogate father or husband.

Keep it impersonal and direct.

 

[CurlyDave]

For several years I have been able to avoid evictions in our units.

Instead I offer a cash payment when the tenant has moved everything out. Usually $200 to $300 will do the trick. They are out like a rocket, and there is never any damage.

Many people have criticized me for this, saying that a deadbeat tenant doesn't deserve anything, but I save lawyer costs and the damage to the unit. I come out ahead and the tenant leaves happy.