Need opinions from Landlords and Tenants - SORRY LONGWINDED

[australorpchick]

I thought that I might mention that the rental is actually our guest house. It sits behind our house. Our lots go street to street, so it has its own address and driveway. There is no mortgage on it, as it's included with our mortgage. We spent a good chunk of change updating the place, that was budgeted for our house. We considered it to be an investment. Since it is part of our property, we keep it in very nice condition. Heck its more finished than our house!

The rent is very comparable for the area, for the # of rooms (not by sq footage, large place, 1 room). Also, it's a six month lease (2 months left) and we haven't inspected the inside since they moved in. I didn't list all their repair request, like the sockets being upside down.

Most of the items are minor and we take care of those quickly.

As to the legalities, from what I've researched as long as it's safe and functioning, we have no other responsibility. It has been inspected by our home inspector (less than a year ago), used by our contract and has been said to be safe by two different repair men. The lady claims to have been a "professional cook", I don't think she should need my help on how to cook.

I appreciate all of your replies. Please keep them coming and ask me any questions you think might be pertinent. I'm sharing these all with DH.

 

[desertdarlene]

I would keep them as they do pay their rent on time and when they haven't paid for something that they should, they've made up for it. It sounds like they are mostly doing minor annoyances. If the stove and oven is functioning and is not a safety hazard, you have no obligation to get them a new one. The same goes with a water softener. There are things they can do, themselves, if they don't like the hard water. However, hard water can cost you, the building owner, in the long run as it calcifies almost everything. We have hard water where I live and the pipes are constantly breaking.

The brush pile might be a problem if it's attracting pests, which is a legitimate concern.


In our area, you are only allowed 2 cats per home, so I would check into that and maybe you can convince them to part with a couple of their cats.

ETA: In my building, they do "inspections" twice a year to spot potential problems. If you renew their lease, perhaps you can do the same thing. Mostly, they check the smoke detector and pipes where I live. But, you can also see if there's any damage from the pets.

 

[jcatblum]

The pets would have been enough for me to boot them. Prior to the end of the 6 months. Also I don't keep complainers around! There are many good tenants that will even handle minor maintenance on their own. This are the type of renters I like to keep around!

The ones with dramma, extra pets, unkept yards & dirty houses are the ones I don't like!

If it is one of my harder to rent properties I am wiing to tollerate a bit more, but honestly with them living that close to you --- you need to like the person & how they live.

Someone once told me when you take the rental ap walk them out to their car. If it has a months worth of trash in it then what do you think their house looks like? Makes you look at future rental tenants a little different!

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Am I the only one that read 5 CATS????

And two dogs. Nope. But, it sounds like those were included within the negotiated pet fee, or at least, that is how I read it. So long as they are within the local laws (ours are being renegotiated so that you can own unlimited pets...so long as they each receive proper care), and so long as the landlord ultimately agreed with the number, I don't see a reason for concern if the people in question are responsible owners. I've rented with two cats, one dog, one out-of-cage rabbit, two gerbils, fish, and three rats. The landlord knew about all of them, we paid the added pet fees, and we kept the place clean and our pets cared for. From just what I've seen personally, I've seen my parent's rental places destroyed more by kids (and some adults) than pets.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Australorp: It sounds like you are not getting along with these tenants. I'm not sure what laws exist in your state in relation to asking tenants to leave at the end of a lease. I'm sure asking them to leave during a lease would be more difficult, but sounds like you are at the end of a contract, and should be good to go. I think other people have a had a very good idea when they suggested you switch to a month by month lease. Last place we rented, our landlord requested a particular amount of notice before we would be moving out once our yearly lease came to an end. We were on good terms with him, but we gave him more than he asked for notice wise. In your case, since the tenants are not seeing eye to eye with you, just make sure you guys are prepared if they do decide to leave.

 

[jerseygirl1]

Well, I would check the inside - maybe you can call them with a good reason to go inside - and check it out - I myself have 5 cats and let me tell you, no one even knows I have more than one in my house. So, as long as they are clean and not slobs or destroying your property, then I would just keep them on a month-to-month basis - in NY, on a monthly lease, you just give them 30 daysnotice to leave, so reason, just 30 days notice.

 

[dewey]

Our family has several rental houses around the city from single family homes to horse properties with houses and barns, and have been landlords for years. We'd keep the renters if they pay on time and have taken care of the place.

If the stove works properly there's no way it'd be replaced...even then it'd be replaced with a good used stove, not new.

Some renters are great, others are not...and those will just complain, a lot, about nothing. It's just part of it, but the complainers like that are the first ones to go (for us, anyway) when their lease is up and we have other tenants chomping at the bit to get in. When you've got renters that complain in the middle of the night because they have no hot water after 4 back to back hot 20 minute showers or call like it's an emergency because the remote for a ceiling fan needs a battery change, you know you've got true whiners, lol.

We'd charge new pet deposits for each new pet and up the monthly rent for each extra animal IF the new pets were allowed to stay. But, first, and I can't agree more, we'd give them notice that we'll be coming in, and we'd do that on a regular basis. They have 2 months left on a 6 month lease so they're not concerned about renewing yours, yet, if at all. 6 months is a short lease, so if they were agreeable to that short time they could well be happy going somewhere else when it's up and, frankly, they may have made a habit of short terms stays since landlords wouldn't put up with their ways. But I agree there's no way to make a decision of whether you want them to stay until you see the condition of the rental...and you'd be amazed how damage can be hidden in visits like that.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I definitely agree that you need to see the inside to determine whether there is an issue with their upkeep of the interior, and that is what I would be worried about with the pets.

 

[fuzziebutt]

If they have 2 months left on the lease, inform them in writing that there will be an inspection of the property in one month, and any concerns either party have will be adressed after the inspection. And I wouldn't replace the stove, especially for a professional cook. She should know how to adjust. I wouldn't make any changes except change them to a month to month tennantcy. Is that a word? Let us know how it goes and what you decide to do!

 

[australorpchick]

Quote:
And two dogs. Nope. But, it sounds like those were included within the negotiated pet fee, or at least, that is how I read it. So long as they are within the local laws (ours are being renegotiated so that you can own unlimited pets...so long as they each receive proper care), and so long as the landlord ultimately agreed with the number, I don't see a reason for concern if the people in question are responsible owners. I've rented with two cats, one dog, one out-of-cage rabbit, two gerbils, fish, and three rats. The landlord knew about all of them, we paid the added pet fees, and we kept the place clean and our pets cared for. From just what I've seen personally, I've seen my parent's rental places destroyed more by kids (and some adults) than pets.

I have to admit, they were our first tenants and I really didn't take it as slow as I should have. No, the pet fee was not negotiated for all those pets, only the four we were originally told about. It was stupid, I know. I was trying to find a balance between being nice and being professional. Unfortunately, I took it too nice.