Tenant Advice?

[SCpoloRicker]

hAO,

I have decided that I am going to rent out my townhome in San Jose and am moving up to the city. I'm asking for advice from y'all about finding quality tenants, retaining them over long periods of time, what quality of prep work needs to be done, etc, et all. People with experience renting high value property are paricularly valued.

My house is a 3 bedroom, 3 full bath tri-level, about 1500 sqft. 2 car garage as well. Its pretty dirty, but I'm planning on replacing the carpet downstairs, retouching the paint, and having a cleaning crew come in.

I have two queen size beds I could include, not sure how much that would help. Most likely, it will be unfurnished, unless I see some strong feedback.

Right now, I'm thinking the best plan would be to find a young couple looking to start a family who will need extra room for grandparents, guests etc.

Post away with questions or advice.

Thanks,

Ricker

[PyRo]

We have three rentals attached to my house. A garage apartment, what used to be the maids quarters sixty years ago, and a small studio. We also rent out a 4 bedroom 3 bath house.

With a house that size whoever rents it is most likely going to have kids. My advice, buy cheap carpeting as it will get destroyed. We have hardwood floors with full leanth (up to 30ft on some runs) boards which would be very expensive to replace if boards that leanth still exist. So we put cheap carpeting over the floors in the rental portions to protect the floors.
As far as paint goes everything gets painted white with Benjamin (sp?) Moore paint. Walls Linen white, ceilings and bathrooms decorators white, and trim decorators white semi-gloss. That way everything is neutral and while no one really loves it, no one hates it either. If they want to repaint they're welcome to it so long as they hire a professional painter or pay us to do the work. Never let tenants paint most of the time they'll buy the cheapest materials and do a lousy job since it's not their house.
Cleaning is a big part of getting the most out of the hosue. A fresh coat of paint can make a big differance as well as just scrubbing everything. Any smells are a huge turn off. Landscaping also plays a roll. You don't have to go nuts. Just make sure the grass is green and not dead, the beds arn't covered in weeks, and the walkways arn't overgrown. People like clean, nothing bothers people more than moving into someone elses mess.

[MicroMiniMe]

Porch?

Be sure to read up on your local/state anti-discriminatory laws. While getting a lawyer to draft is probably overkill, make sure the rental contract is very specific. Late fees, eviction conditions, how often the rent can increase to cover utility increases over the years. Be sure to get out in rent the +5% of the house value for yearly maintenence and upgrades on top of covering all the regular bills.

If looking for a younger couple, you can't ask marital status, but you can definately watch for wedding bands on their fingers. Though even married with kids could be trouble. Remember, cooking methanphetamine gets vapors/residuals into the house PERMANENTLY. It gets to the outside of walls and through ceilings. Not very good for resale. Not sure how bad your area is for that and how often you'd be on premise to discourage such activity.

Otherwise good luck. Woo two houses.

[TheAngryDrunkenRussian]

I can help you with some landscape tips but other than that a few things that I looked for when I rented my house, its a old farm house. Granted I'm single (and probably will be for a while) But this is what I'd look for.

1. Outside.
Is there a padio/deck? If there is a pour or stonepadio is the concrete more or less crack free and even? If there is a deck is the wood not rotted or termite infested.

Is there enough space for a play set to be built? Or big enough for your tenents to have a cook out.

Is there a lot of weeds in the lawn or the beds surrounding the place? The way I look at it is take pride in the lawn and the beds because its the first thing that people will see so make sure the shrubs are trimed, lawn is reliatvly weed free, grass not "patchy", and teh landscape work looks like it was finished. mowing the grass is easy but you might have to contract some work out.

Siding. If you have the dough get Vinyl. But steel works if you don't mind dents and having to paint every 5 years. I have half sandstone brick and half vinyl on mine.

Roof. Does it leak, is it missing shingles, are the facit and softit in good condition and properly ventilated.

2. Inside
Carpets are very hard to keep clean. The darker you can go the better for hiding stains. Pets are another big issue on carpets hair/urine. IMO wood floors look ten times better then carpet. I'd advise you not to put carpet in a basement. If the basement floods you can dry a carpet but its a PITA I'd go with a peel tile.

White paint? yes white paint is neutral but unfortunatly shows everything on the surface or under it. IMO go with a off white or a dover white with a texture. Personally my office is a flat forest green with black base boards and gold ceiling trim looks very shrap for dark colors.

a basement ceiling you can use sheet rock but with time will sag from the moisture. I'm my basement bar I hung 24X24 ceiling tile looks nice and hasn't sag yet.

Paneling one opition for this get rid of it, its not the 70's

insect or termite damage to subfloor, trust, or joists. Bug bombs work great if your prone to these problem I do mine every year.

Windows are another key factor people like paying less on those heating and air conditioning bills.

Pumbing. Are the drains properly working or are they slow. I'd buy a Pumbers Snake anyways so you can clear clogs quickly and easily.

3. Garage. (I don't have one just a barn, so referencing off my shop)

Make sure all the doors and window are lockable

Does it match the rest of the building and roof.

Sujestion have the floor pressure washed and have it sealed. And get rid of any oil/fuild stains

Place Mouse and Insect Poison in the corners or under benchs and check them monthly.

This what I'd look for in a place and expect to pay $1100 to $1500 in SE WI.

[lather]

After dealing with tenants at my parents condo's here in Hawaii for about 6 years, the best advice I can give is find a good property manager. I had some great tenants, unfortunately the dead beats/liars/losers outnumber the good ones by about 3-1.

The commision a property manager charges (usually 10%) is more than worth the aggravation of 2am phone calls every other night for reasons ranging from a leaky faucet to wanting help to kick out an ice-addicted sibling, tenants letting their entire extended family move in with them, tenants knocking out holes in walls and doors as well as general property destruction and mayhem, not to mention going through the hassle of setting up appointments to meet prospective tenants and them not showing up--and not having the courtesy to call to letting me know they cant make it.

If you dont want to go the property manager route just be prepared to become a handyman,a mover,cop, judge, lawyer, and a psychologist.

Good luck

[SCpoloRicker]

Ah, something I should have clarified: the house is in an HOA community (yes, I know ), so all exterior work is taken care of by them. Also, almost all repairs are supposed to be reported to the HOA. House is 2 1/2 years old.

re Property managers: I'm willing to consider hiring one, but I recently heard that they take no responsibility for finding tenants. Is this the case? If all he is doing is collecting rent and reporting problems to the HOA, I'm not sure its worth it.

re Paint: I am planning on retouching dinged spots and putting a light coat of original paint over 90% of the house. The master is painted dark red/maroon on three walls right now, and I would like to keep it that since I painted it.

re Carpet: Carpet is pretty much nuked. Particularly in the bottom 2 (of 3) living areas. I want to replace it with cheap stuff. Can I get away with just replacing the highly damaged sections, and keeping the original stuff up top? I've also considered throwing some cheap Pergo style hardwood downstairs.

re Flooring: All the tile sections (baths and kitchen) were sealed when I bought it. Same with the garage.

Thanks for your input everybody! Keep em coming.

Ricker

[SCpoloRicker]

How much up front?

Another question:

How much is appropriate to ask for up front? I'm paying first month plus deposit of 1.5 months for the place I'm moving to. Sound appropriate? I've also heard of first and last, plus one month deposit.

Would a large up front fee keep you from renting somewhere?

R

[PyRo]

Another question:

How much is appropriate to ask for up front? I'm paying first month plus deposit of 1.5 months for the place I'm moving to. Sound appropriate? I've also heard of first and last, plus one month deposit.

Would a large up front fee keep you from renting somewhere?

R

A large up front fee would only keep me from renting if:
1. The landlord seemed shadey in any way
2. I just didn't have the cash

You definatly need to get a sizable deposit though. Better to loose a months rent finding another tenant then to have your house trashed with no recourse.

[gmp211]

My mom rents houses, so I would know....

-Make sure it is REALLY clean.
-Make sure the person isn't like "OMFG HURRY" nervous.
-If you don't want smokers, watch them drive away in there car. Cause they'll never fess up.
-Tell them when the garbage goes out and stuff like that.
-Make them give a desent size secerity deposite, just in case.
-Put a lock on stuff that you will leave there.(Don't put your stuff were it will be used(closet)-- every day.
-Make sure you don't get mail sent there anymore.
-MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A KEY TO ALL DOORS. Even the bedrooms.
-Have a friend, for the first couple of months, just drive by the house and check.
-If the rent is (really) late, dont be afraid to call
-If there are any rules in the community, TELL THEM.



Thats about it for me...But that is from a 14 yrs. old stand-point.

[Lohman446]

Do not rent to friends / anyone you have anything other than a tenant / landlord relationship with.