Friday, December 7, 2012

renting an apartment for the first time?

Q. im 19 and ready to get my own apartment and start being independent. im rooming with a friend also. what are some tips about renting for the first time? the rent is $1,100. since its an apartment what bills do i have to pay?

A. Read and understand your lease fully.
See if water and sewer, electric, heat, and or gas, trash collection, TV, , are included.
if not you will need to budget and pay for these utilities.
Who signed the lease, one or both of you.
What happens if one moves out???


What are the best tips for renting out a house as a landlord?
Q. I currently own a home and want to rent it out, I don't want it to get trashed by tenants, I understand the responsibility that goes with being a landlord but I want to know if anyone who is a landlord could share some invaluable tips that could save me some hard ache.

A. 1. Screen, screen, and screen some more. Don't accept anyone that doesn't pass your preset criteria no matter how nice they seem and how much you want to help them out. Check credit, reference, income, and court/criminal records.

2. Treat this as a business. Never make this personal.

3. Take extensive pictures and document EVERYTHING.

4. ALWAYS do things by the book and be fair. ALWAYS enforce the rules immediately. Don't let things go too long or get out of hand.

5. Know your state's/area's Landlord/tenant laws. Print them and memorize them. Do lots of research on the internet.

6. Put in your lease, "Security Deposit is never to be used as rent payment." They always try to use Security as last month's rent. Security is for your protection against damages.

7. Put in your lease that you can check their credit in the future. This is in case they skip town on you. You can check their credit 6 months later to find out where they live and go after them for back rent and damages.

8. Don't be afraid to hire a lawyer to evict. A good lawyer that specializes in evictions can get it done quickly. If you try to do it yourself(and don't know what you are doing), you may lose thousands in time, damages, and lost rent if you don't do this exactly right.


I see so many landlords ask how to get a tenant out quick b/c they haven't paid rent in 3 months!! It should never get that bad. As soon as they are late, serve them notice and evict if rent isn't paid in full by the end of the notice.


Are there any tips for renting out a home?
Q. We have been trying to sell our home for several months. We are upside down on it and cannot mark it down any further.

We tried to to the contract to deed, but it was so expensive after the lawyer and title company fees.

So, our only option is to rent it out and re-coup some expenses. We have found a renter who is willing to pay what we have asked. I am going to go to Office Depot/Max to get renting forms for the contracts. Any other suggestions (CHEAP, sorry but it IS a factor here, especially after paying two mortgages for a year) would be welcomed!

A. Let the management company deal with it. Tell them what you need and want. Sure you have to pay them 16% of rental income but it will give you a peace of mind. They will find the right renter for you, do the background check, and generate the lease agreement.


Could anyone provide tips on renting a house?
Q. I've always been an apartment dweller and was wondering what thing to look for or ask about when renting a house? Is the landlord usually responsible for yardwork? Are the lease lengths the same as apartments?

A. Your and the landlords responsibility would be spelled out in the lease or rental agreement. Most landlords use the month to month rental agreements as oppose to a lease. Leases are a pain for all concerned and might cost legal fees to break on the part of both parties.

On a month to month tenancy both are required to give a 30 day notice if one of the signers are
unhappy.

In the case where the landlord is responsible for the landscape this is normally included in the rent. Most tenants would want to do this themselves as it would be less expensive and they have control over when this activity will take place.

I have used both methods and indicated that if the tenant want to take care of the landscape,mowing is require twice a month with the trimming of all and any bushes done on a monthly basis. For the elderly they might not want to have anything to do with the landscape, therefore would be willing to pay for this service.

I hope this has been of some benefit to you, good luck.


"FIGHT ON"





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