Being the mean landlord who says no bonfire parties…
I really don’t like it when I have to assume the role of mean landlord / landlady. If I buy more properties, I’m sure I”ll get used to it. but I’m not entirely comfortable with it yet…
Posts filed under 'General Day to Day Landlady Stuff'
Rules and Regulations for Tenants (that’s shorthand for “NO”)
When I first bought my duplex, I didn’t really have a set of rules and regulations. I was too new at this game to have one, and I also had this misguided idea that I would be “cool landlord” who was informal, and let people “make the place their own.” That has only worked to varying degrees. People will unfortunately always have at least a little bit of animosity for the landlord; they’ll always think that you’re a big rich moneybag who’s too cheap to buy them new (fill in the blank). The landlord just says “no” and cashes their rent check every month.
Ah, but there is a reason for that “no.” Many reasons. Here’s a list of things that I’ve learned to say “no” to…
Tenant perennials - a good or bad idea?
My tenants are making themselves at home in the backyard. I’ve given them a fairly free reign over planting things in the yard (as long as there isn’t already something else growing there, and it won’t be a pain to mow around), and they’ve taken me up on it. They’ve planted some hostas around trees, and created a small flowerbed by the fenceline, with flowering annuals, and a clematis that should return year after year.
If you can’t rent it, sell it
Turns out there’s more to the story about the duplex next door — A few days after I saw the older gentlemen curiously trimming the tree branches of their daughter’s purportedly “trashed” duplex, I came home from work to see the the front yard meticulously mowed, and sporting a new addition — a for sale sign.
The duplex disaster next door
The neighbors in the duplex next door seem to have disappeared. In an all-at-once, in the middle-of-the-night sort of way. Actually, the kind of way where THEY are gone, but the inordinately large amount of junk that they had in the yard was left behind. I suspect that they treated the inside of the duplex in much the same way.
Buying a fourplex
My Uncle, a real estate agent, recently inherited some money, and decided to use it to purchase my duplex’s big sister, “the fourplex.” Not sure exactly if they purchased it out-right, most likely they just used it for a 20% or larger down payment.
How is buying a fourplex, or four-flat different than buying a duplex?
Gardening for tenants
My duplex has a large yard, and thus attracts tenants who are fans of the great outdoors. I have a lot of space for flower gardens, hanging pots, and a large vegetable garden. I’ve planted a lot of perennials around the house, and in the front yard, but reserved ample space for my tenants to get their hands dirty. Why? While this may result in a lot of untended plants (which it has, in years past), allowing tenants to garden helps to foster a sense of “attachment” to the property. They feel like they’re a part of the place, rather than just staying there for a while and writing a check to me every month.
Magnetic Wreath Holder: Better for Windows than Doors
So, my mother gives me a Christmas wreath every year at Thanksgiving when I visit her, and I hang it on the front of the duplex, adding a little holiday cheerfulness to the front of the house. (Outdoor Christmas lights are definitely waaaaay too much work for me to get into.) This year, however, she has upped the quality of the wreath, which caused a bit of a dilemma…
The wreath, when hung on the front door, wouldn’t allow the storm door to close! It was too nice, and big, and full of holiday cheer (unlike the relatively flat, scrooge-like wreaths of years past, which nestled in between the doors just fine.)
I found a novel product that allowed me to hang the wreath directly on the glass of the storm door, using a magnet on either side of the door.
Rents Rising?
I had a much easier time renting out my duplex apartment last April than I have the previous few times… I had chalked it up to better advertising, cosmetic improvements, and luck. According to an article at hotpads.com, however, perhaps there was something bigger at work — rental vacancy rates (and rents) are turning around, coming out of the five year slump they’ve been in.
Low Water Pressure - an easy fix?
My tenants recently let me know that the water pressure in their shower was really low — lower than when they moved into their apartment. I live in the other unit of the duplex, and we both use the same water system, and I hadn’t noticed any difference… This would take some investigating.
You can’t (unfortunately) control the neighbors
There is a large commercially zoned lot next to me that just went up for sale. It was previously occupied by an immigrant church community, and they were the perfect neighbors — quiet, friendly, courteous. The only time I heard anything out of them was on Sundays, when they would sometimes hold their worship services outdoors (and even then, it was kind of interesting, being in a different language and all). The building isn’t much to brag about, but they have a large lot that goes from the southeast to northeast corners of the block.
I’m wondering, will it go to condos? Or a new apartment building? Sit empty? Become a SuperAmerica??
A Fall Newsletter for Tenants
Fall is swiftly approaching, a little prematurely in my neck of the woods, and everyone’s got their windows closed to stave off that first turning on of the furnace. Everyone except for my upstairs tenants, that is. I can hear the forced air furnace going on, but I can see from the outside that their storm windows are wide open. I think I remember them mentioning how high their heating bills were in their last place, maybe it wasn’t entirely the fault of the old furnace…
Every fall I leave my tenants a list of things to keep in mind for the heating season. It’s not a formal newsletter per say, but performs the same function. Here’s what mine consists of:
Pros and Cons of Owner-Occupied Duplex Living
I’ve owned my duplex for a little more than three years, and have lived relatively peacefully on the first floor, with my tenants above me. While not an ideal lifestyle for everyone, being an owner-occupant has allowed me not only to become a homeowner much earlier than otherwise possible, but it’s gotten my foot into the real estate business at a time when it’s booming.
PROS OF BEING AN OWNER-OCCUPANT….
When life gives you paneling… (you can paint it)
When I bought my duplex, the back stairway was a quite a menagerie: the walls were cracked, the ancient high gloss brown paint on the woodwork was coming off in sheets, there was faux wood paneling going halfway up the walls, and… to top it all off… dark green (argyle patterned!) shag carpeting. Oh, a bare bulb fixture and some stained curtains (those were easy enough to lose). It was only the back stairway, yes, but the trouble is this — every time I did a showing of the upstairs apartment, the tenants would want to see the laundry room. Which required parading them through this claustrophobic catastrophe. I could see on their faces how the stairway changed their impression of the apartment. And so began my first major cosmetic update project. After it was finished, the stairway had been transformed from mid-century tacky to bright and airy 1900s farmhouse — much better for showings.
Tips for buying a duplex
I recently received a comment on this blog, asking if I had any top tips for buying a duplex. Here’s my best shot:
CHECK OUT THE NEIGHBORS
Buy in the best neighborhood you can afford. If you do this, even if your house isn’t the nicest one on the block, the values of the houses around you prop up your property value — and rental value. It’s tempting to look at the house as an island, but when you’re trying to find renters, they’ll be looking at the duplex, and also the context that it’s in. They’lll be checking out the houses to the left and right of it, the other side of the alley, across the street, and all around the block…
Utilities, part II
Well, after my tenants’ unusually large electric bill, and a little research, I sent them a long email, with a few pointers on how they can keep their bill down in the future. A big one: compact flourescent light bulbs. A big runner-up: turning off the lights in the stairway when they’re not using them.
But how to know exactly what the culprit is doesn’t have to be guesswork — a friend of mine recently came across this wonderful gadget, the P3 International Kill-a-Watt Electricity Usage Monitor To use it, you simply connect your appliances to the usage monitor and it will assess how efficient they are.
Utilities, Utilities…
It’s been a hot summer. My last electric bill was easily three times what it normally is — I figured, though, that it was a result of having the my dinky little room AC cranked for a week and a half straight, while also having about 42 fans on full blast, and me standing in front of the refridgerator constantly with the door open. However, it has seemed as though every summer has a few heat spells like that, yet my electric bill has never gone above $40. Until now.
My tenants stopped me in front of the house the other day, and told me that their electric bill has been way out of line for the past two months too. I told them that mine has been high too, and they wondered “Could someone be stealing our electricity?”
Is this even possible?
Fair housing laws and renting (or not renting) to families with children
When selecting tenants, I have a limit of three people for my rental unit. Local zoning laws state that I cannot legally rent my unit to “more than three unrelated persons,” which means that a family of 5 or 6 (or more) could legally live in that space. However, even though it is a three bedroom apartment, it isn’t very large. Also, there is only one water heater for the duplex, AND I live below the rental unit, so I like to keep the number of people as low as possible. As far as I can tell, it IS legal to tell someone you can’t rent to them because they have too many people. However, you CAN’T tell someone that you won’t rent to them because they have kids — that violates fair housing laws.
Curb-shopping from tenants
One of the good things about tenant turnovers, when you live in the other unit of your duplex, is curb shopping. If you’re not above it, that is. I have been called cheap in the past, but I prefer the term “thrifty.” 
The neighbors are mowing their grass right now. Unfortunately, that’s big news.
Sometimes there’s only so much you can do about curb appeal. Since I’ve bought my duplex, I’ve done a lot to improve how it looks from the street. I’ve removed four overgrown bushes in the front of the house (you can see the windows now!) and planted hydrangeas, tulips, daffodils and crocuses in the now open flowerbed. I’ve scraped and painted the foundation, painted the front railings, painted the front steps, replaced the front storm door, painted the front door, removed the faux wood paneling and three-season carpeting from the front porch, replaced the dirt driveway with stylish brick pavers, and kept the grass neatly trimmed. Especially when I’m trying to rent the duplex. Everyone I know has remarked on how much better it looks — like they’re walking into a whole different house.
However, my next door neighbors nearly always have a front yard that looks like a prairie. The backyard is also a prairie, with the slight variation of bikes, tents, furniture, toys, clothes that have fallen from the line, and other sundry eyesores.
