Anyone a landlord?

or ever been one? I might become one soon. I got a two-stories office that I am turning into rental property soon. It will have 5-6 rooms so I'm expecting maybe 6-8 tenants to move in.

Got any advice? It's my first time being a landlord.

[gencbiba]

Not exactly a landlord per se because they moved in for free in a spare floor in my parent's house, but expect sh!t to be broken. That means you'll have to possibly replace a lot of stuff through the months or years. Are you paying for utilities? Or is everything up to them?

Originally Posted by gencbiba

Not exactly a landlord per se because they moved in for free in a spare floor in my parent's house, but expect sh!t to be broken. That means you'll have to possibly replace a lot of stuff through the months or years. Are you paying for utilities? Or is everything up to them?

Most likely I'm gonna make them pay for Electricity/garbage/water themselves.

I guess I'll provide basic stuff like refrigerator, microwave, plastic plates & utensils, stove and a dining table. If they are broken because of tenant's fault then I'm making them pay.

Anything else I should be worried about?

[boozehound]

Originally Posted by Odomize

or ever been one? I might become one soon. I got a two-stories office that I am turning into rental property soon. It will have 5-6 rooms so I'm expecting maybe 6-8 tenants to move in.

Got any advice? It's my first time being a landlord.

my wife is. it sucks. might be different being a business landlord, but home rental is a pain in the ass. who knew there were so many shiftless losers out there?

[boozehound]

Originally Posted by Odomize

Most likely I'm gonna make them pay for Electricity/garbage/water themselves.

I guess I'll provide basic stuff like refrigerator, microwave, plastic plates & utensils, stove and a dining table. If they are broken because of tenant's fault then I'm making them pay.

Anything else I should be worried about?

you are in cali? each state is a little different. In MI, an evicted tenant can still live there (sometimes for over a year depending on the court) and definitely over a month. In TX they are out pretty fast.

[Meticode]

Originally Posted by Odomize

or ever been one? I might become one soon. I got a two-stories office that I am turning into rental property soon. It will have 5-6 rooms so I'm expecting maybe 6-8 tenants to move in.

Got any advice? It's my first time being a landlord.

After watching so many judge shows. Be clear and to the point in whatever contract you have them sign. I would expect anything they break would be taken out of their deposit.

[rufuspaul]

Originally Posted by boozehound

you are in cali? each state is a little different. In MI, an evicted tenant can still live there (sometimes for over a year depending on the court) and definitely over a month. In TX they are out pretty fast.

Yeah, some states let the renters basically have all the rights.

Originally Posted by boozehound

you are in cali? each state is a little different. In MI, an evicted tenant can still live there (sometimes for over a year depending on the court) and definitely over a month. In TX they are out pretty fast.

I'm actually not in the US so the law side of things might not apply to me. But I think being a landlord in big cities anywhere in the world should be pretty similar.

And I'm not renting it for business but as a house. It should attract the office workers in the nearby area who need a closer place to stay. It already have four rooms and I'm in the middle of building the fifth room. I'll maybe add another room before renting it out.

I'm thinking it might be a good idea to accept only one gender. Females may keep the place cleaner but their turnover rate should be higher and many females living together tend to attract bad crowds. Males, on the other hand, I think will break more stuff and harder to collect rent from...I'm torn on this. Anyone have experience with this?

[2LeTTeRS]

My parents are landlords and I've sub-leased an apartment back in my hometown and I'm currently looking for a tenant to occupy one of the bedrooms. Just to be honest, its kind of a pain in the ass. Luckily the apartment I'm sub-leasing the rent is all-inclusive (includes electricity, water, cable and internet) and the apartment is furnished and comes with a washer and dryer so its a pretty attractive complex. Even with that though I'm advertising it at a $100 a month discount because I need somebody to move in ASAP.

[Mathius]

Originally Posted by Odomize

or ever been one? I might become one soon. I got a two-stories office that I am turning into rental property soon. It will have 5-6 rooms so I'm expecting maybe 6-8 tenants to move in.

Got any advice? It's my first time being a landlord.

I don't know if its a state program or a federal program but around here, people who can't afford housing (according to government) can qualify for "Section 8" housing, which means the government basically pays their rent.

Why this effects you as a landlord? Any damages by said tenants are also paid for by the government after the tenants have left.

We haven't had any section 8 renters, so I don't know how that applies to maintenance repairs, like if a hot water heater stops working or the garage door breaks, but the above stuff that I've written is definitely a reason to be interested in going that route. I believe your home has to be preapproved and inspected to rent to section 8.

There are a lot of different things you can specify in the rental agreement. Much of what goes on depends on the tenants and the landlord. For example if they want to rip up the carpet and lay down tile at their expense you can choose to approve it or not. You can stipulate whether the locks should be changed or not.

There is usually a generic contract written up that you should look into.

At the end of the year you will have to claim the rent as income on your taxes.

You want to charge fair market value for rent so that you can GET a tenant, but if you can do that and charge a little bit above, you can pay the house off quicker (and your house) and eventually once the houses are paid off, you're making nothing but profit. Soon you can buy another house and start the whole thing over again.

A lot of people have done this and retired early just by living off of the rent from their tentants. At first, if you're doing your own maintenance, it can possibly become an almost full time job maintaining your properties, but once you start making enough money to just pay someone to fix them when something breaks.

You need to figure maintenance into the equation as well. Can you provide upkeep on the house if something goes wrong? If not, can you afford to pay someone? That might be another reason to charge a little more for rent than what the actual house payment is.

If you've ever rented an apartment or house, think of all the things you weren't responsible for upkeep.... water heater working.. electricity working... outlets going bad.. heat and air working..

Those are all things that will now be YOUR responsibility as a landlord unless you reach some kind of special agreement with the tenants. An agreement as such is not likely, nor recommended. These are still YOUR properties, do you want a tenant making a decision as to how to fix a faulty electrical socket, or a broken water heater?

Mathius

[bomber]

Originally Posted by Odomize

or ever been one? I might become one soon. I got a two-stories office that I am turning into rental property soon. It will have 5-6 rooms so I'm expecting maybe 6-8 tenants to move in.

Got any advice? It's my first time being a landlord.

My mom and I run rental property, we have had between 9-13 units over the year.

Keep it as office space, its much easier to throw people out when its their office versus the place they live. It will be much easier starting off and save you the expense of converting to housing units.