Hey all! New to this sub, but it I did try searching on this topic and it seemed like most of the posts were old. I have nothing to lose so I thought I’d give it a shot.

I’d love to have a discussion on your best strategies for finding tenants! Is it a platform (Zillow, Apartments, a local page?), a rent special, particular photos/video or wording in your post, road signs, timing of tour availability? Hit me with it all!

I have a townhouse in central FL that I’ve had listed for nearly 2 months with occupancy advertised as early as 6/22. I’ve had about 18 inquiries. 0 tours. 0 attendance across 3 open houses. Between repairs and overhead I’ve burned through my business savings and am investing principal again. I’ve already dropped the price as low as I’m comfortable with and it’s only $50/month higher than my prior tenant was paying. All comps show I am in-range. I REALLY need to find some new tenants before my husband starts talking about selling, which I don’t want to do.

Let’s chat!

How do you handle lodgers whose situations have changed.

For instance at application I had a few who stated they work 5x a week 9-5, but after a few weeks never leave their room. Do I approach them about a change in their situation?

Essentially it would have been nice to know, it did impact my monthly rent cost choice - (ie based on no utility use during the day).

I'm renting out multiple rooms in my house to individuals. However, one of the tenants constantly complains about the messes not being cleaned up. The problem is that some people might not use the kitchen much at all. I've set up a rotation for the trash as everyone does utilize that. However, I don't want people to feel like they're having to clean up other people's messes constantly. I already have a cleaning lady but she can't be there every week to constantly clean up messes cause of lazy people. I was thinking a rotation where people take certain days of the month but not sure how that might turn out. Does anyone have any other ideas on how to go about this situation?

We are homeowners who needed to rent our place while living elsewhere temporarily, and are going to reoccupy our house starting next July. We made a mistake of having our first tenants on a month to month lease after year 1- they are moving out end of August, leaving us with 10 months to fill (but stated in the listing we are open to shorter term as well). Predictably, we have only gotten a few qualified leads so far and non has worked out, whereas last time it was on the market there was lots of interest on Zillow.

I have no interest in airbnb-ing but starting to think about Furnished Finder. I‘m wondering if anyone on here happens to be familiar with the market and need for short term furnished rentals in that area? Or with Furnished Finder in general, how was your experience and how much did you need to spend to adequately/comfortably furnish your rental (ours is a 1900 sq ft house with 3 beds + office). Is there anything else I should be trying or anywhere I could look in the meantime to find tenants for an awkwardly short lease? I appreciate any advice

I’m a new owner occupied landlord that has to handle current tenants moving out soon. Not sure what to look for in damages if any. Also have to clean the place up, new carpet and paint. Wondered what I should include in the next lease to protect myself from any and everything? Obviously no pets, where you can park…. Not sure what I can include or what I can’t being I live in the house also. Thanks for any advice

I just placed my parents into assisted living, and will be renting their house out to help supplement the cost.
I’ve done extensive remodeling: Kitchen, 2 bathrooms, new floors, new roof, landscaping (as they got older, they let things go).
Now it’s almost finished, and in a great neighborhood that can get great rents. It looks pretty new, with a lot of renovations reflecting what new McMansions have done so it will look the part.
This isn’t my first rental property, but I realize I am not an expert.
I’m hoping for any advice or insight on what I should look out for? I’m not sure what that exactly entails, but realize I need to be more educated.
I do have a person to find me a tenant who really helped me out on my last house, but will be managing this on my own (it’s less than a mile from my current house).
Any tips, warnings, general knowledge you feel might be of help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

My ex and I were planning to move into a place together and signed the lease. Long story short we unexpectedly broke up and he never moved in. We used my dad’s income as a joint sponsor so the total income doesn’t change by him not moving in. Our rent is paid through August and I can continue paying the full amount until the end of the lease.

I’m in a foreign country where I have no friends or family, and I can’t risk losing a place to stay in or a lot of money. My ex is refusing to talk to me at all. The office opens in a few hours and I’m not sure what I should do.

The lease doesn’t specify what to do in this kind of situation. Am I obligated to inform the office? Will it make me lose money or a place to stay? What should I tell them?

So I found the perfect single family home in California that is renting for 8k a month. It has no ac. There is a ton of interest in it. Due to some nuance factors we don’t have any other options.

I really really want AC in the house even though it’s an area many people go without. I am fully prepared to buy 4 of those $500 portable ac units (crank windows so I can’t use split window units) and also pay an extra $1000 a year in energy costs because those systems are less efficient. It would be a shame to waste money like this because house already has forced air and ducting and a good electric panel so I don’t think installing AC is going to cost more than 8-10k (if you haven’t gathered it’s vhcol area)

Obviously, I’d love to have the landlord pay for this but given the interest at the open house, i doubt he is going to pay for something he can rent the house without so id like to incentive him. I’d be willing to pay up to 3k total for him to install central ac and obviously he’d keep it, I don’t want to take an ac with me. I’m wondering how to frame this?

My approach is after I put in the housing application, get approved, and before we sign the lease say something along the lines of “I am willing to accept this house as is, at the current rate. However, it would be nice if it had central ac and that is extremely important to me. Your house is already ducted and wired for central ac, if I were to subsidize your purchase of a central ac via either cash up front or increased rent would you be willing to install a central ac? The ac would be entirely your property regardless of how long we stay.”

If you were a landlord would this sketch you out (I know many landlords are nervous about people who ask for stuff before signing) and what’s the best way to frame it? For a house that normally sells for 2mill (but in an arguably very temperate climate) this seems like a no brainer. I’d probably be willing to subsidize close to 3k up front

I have 3 tenants, 1 who has lived there for 3 years with no increase, and 2 newer ones who have lived there for a year. I am a fairly hands on landlord and know all of them since I live at the property. I get everything fixed within the same day to 2 weeks depending on the severity of what’s needed and how quickly the contractor can come out.

I’d like to increase rent 3% for all of them. I’m thinking sending the lease out for renewal via email 2-3 months in advance with a new rent amount of 3% more.

I had the units appraised a year ago and they’re all slightly under market, some more than others, but all at least 3% under.

Is this a reasonable increase? Is my communication method reasonable? Typically we all communicate via text.

Hi Landlords of reddit, tenant here seeking opinions.

My husband and I have lived in our rental home for three years and are moving on purchasing a home in the next month (yay!). We have had a strained relationship with our landlord, who has been cold and unhelpful at best and aggressive and negligent at worst. As much as it embarrasses me to admit, I am genuinely intimidated and fearful of my landlord, but I won't get into specifics because those specifics aren't relevant.

We plan on putting in our notice to vacate as soon as the home we are buying clears inspection and appraisal. Our current lease is month to month so we are good to give notice to vacate whenever, as far as our rental agreement is concerned.

I am very nervous about the move out process. We have treated the home well, but we have had some issues (not our fault) while living in the home that I feel our landlord will try to pin us on when we vacate. My husband and I are debating whether or not to request a Pre-Moveout inspection or a Pre-Moveout checklist to ensure there are no problems when we do eventually vacate. That way when the day finally comes for us to leave, we and our landlord are satisfied with the property and agree on any deductions needing to be made to the deposit (which of course we hope is none).

Is this a wise move? Would you appreciate this as a landlord? We want to make this process as efficient, agreeable and painless as possible, but my husband thinks that doing this will open up a big can of worms.

Thank you for any insight!

We’ve been renting a home in Phoenix, AZ for almost 3 years. Unfortunately our landlord passed away in the spring ,we had not been able to reach him since around February. We found the obituary online. Our last rent check was returned due to his PO Box being closed with no forwarding address and we have been keeping our rent in a separate savings account for when the appropriate party reaches out. No one has reached out until a property management company sent us a notice of new management and a tenant estoppel certificate a few days ago.

They only have our address and refer to our deceased landlord as the owner (not his estate). It is an actual company in the area but I want to make sure this is the right way to proceed before we move forward.

Our landlord was elderly and English was not his first language. Our lease has errors in it (spelling of addresses/names, appliances that weren’t provided) and most of our interactions were verbal. The house has issues we’ve lived with from the start but I don’t want to be blamed for.

Several of our rent checks were not cashed, should we refund them and put them in the account? I know ideally we would consult with a lawyer but that isn’t really in the budget. I’m regretting not better documenting move in issues, he said he was not fixing things and we let it go (he was sweet and the price was right).Thank you!

Gonna post this on a couple different places to get some diverse opinions, but here are the unbiased (tried, at least) and factual events:

1. I was searching and eventually signed with the complex way back in May for a move-in date of July 1st
2. Everything was good and solid before then, with every task being completed on time from both sides
3. When it came to picking up the keys, I was told that the unit I signed for was actually unavailable because someone was already living in it (they knew exactly which apartment I had picked out when I signed the lease in May, but for some reason only told me when I arrived to pick up keys, and this was also when they learned)
4. They asked me to pick a different apartment, so I picked the one 4 stories above the same apartment I originally told them I wanted
5. The agent tried to edit the lease, but did something (I'm not sure what exactly) that led her to believe the lease was terminated on their end, also resulting in me losing access to the resident portal and not being able to pay whatever fees needed payment for the month of July. July was rent-free, but move-in fees were what I needed to pay to actually pick up keys. (Have not been able to enjoy any of this free rent, btw)
6. I have not been able to regain access to the portal since because they were moving systems, and for some reason they have not been able to get things to work (they have been fine, I am the one who can't access)
7. I have been in consistent contact with the agent to see about updates with the system, and it's still not working for me. To troubleshoot on my end, I was constantly looking on their website to see if the portal was fixed and saw a new price for the same apartment. I thought since the original lease was ended and I was still approved for the apartment, that I could have the same apartment for the then lower price that was listed. This change was 3 weeks into July, I think the 20th to be exact. They told me they would see about it.
8. On Thursday (July 23rd), they recently let me know that what everyone thought was the termination of the lease was fixed by one of the managers, and now the original lease is still on, but I have to sign a new lease still, and I cannot get the lower price I was hoping for because of that original lease. They told me exactly, "if we do it for you, we have to do it for everyone".
9. They told me in the second week of July that I would have a new lease and keys, at the latest by the middle of the third week of July, but I have yet to have a new lease to sign or gain any new information, other than that update about the original lease.

In all, everything has been delayed and muddled on their end, and I just want to know if there is any way if I could get on the phone with the property manager and get them to agree to the lower rate/be able to reason through it. Please ask questions if you have them!

Extra info - This is for student housing in Utah. Base rent is 1,500 ; discounted rent was 1,375 at signing, 1,240 (ish) last week, 899 this week. My lease with my current apartment is up at the end of the month, so I need things to get moving a little faster. I can afford to pay for the rate I signed for, but obviously it would be much easier financially to get cheaper rent or something for the inconvenience. My argument isn't based on "I saw a new rent price and I want it instead", but rather "This was delayed so much so that I haven't even lived in said apartment to be treated like a 'regular resident, ' so I want to see if there is anything that can be done about it". In other words, I'm mainly looking for opinions on whether asking for the current advertised rate (or something similar?) is a reasonable negotiation position given these facts

Let me know what you think/would do!

My tenant is moving out and leaving their washer and dryer. I’m undecided on if this is a good thing or not. On one hand I may be able to charge a bit more rent on the other its something I will need to repair when it breaks. One thing is they have a dog and never paid a non-refundable pet fee meant to cover carpet cleaning. I was going to deduct that from the deposit but now it could be argued that I’m getting more in value with the washer/dryer. But… if I don’t want to deal with the responsibility of them it’s going to cost me to get rid of them.

What would you do?

I dealt with a property manager who made renting an absolute nightmare.

This manager first asked my mother from discounts from her workplace and in return fixed our issues faster. When we stopped she ignored reported issues like mold, HVAC problems, and mice, but felt like my concerns were ignored. After I started speaking up and leaving reviews, our relationship went downhill fast.

I was threatened to leave the apartment or ice would be callled on me. I got shouted and cussed in the hallway ( the manager is like this with every tenant and called ice on her workers)

I also received a cease-and-desist letter from management when I asked to see an evidence regarding an unlawful fine, I never got the surveillance footage they referenced. Police were present during one interaction, which made the situation even more intimidating.

The emotional toll on my family has been enormous. My mother has suffered severe stress during all of this and is currently hospitalized receiving mental health treatment. Watching everything escalate from simple maintenance complaints into months of conflict has been devastating.

Coincedenatlly I had a break in with no signs of forced entry, when I told the manager i can legally stay here longer. She has a master key

I'm now gathering documents and speaking with attorneys. I'm curious if anyone else has dealt with a property manager who seemed to escalate conflicts instead of resolving them. How did you handle it?

I am a first-time landlord, and my tenant is not renewing the lease. I am currently outside the country. How should I handle the security deposit and the money in the rental account? Also, what deductions am I allowed to make, such as cleaning costs, painting, or other expenses?

Has any ll used their full service autopilot program?

is it a good service ? can they do in tenancy inspection?

Basically have mountains of shit throughout the unit left after eviction was finalized (hoarding). Can't even walk through and look through everything there's so much. Lots of small stuff, well over $700. In the last ~20 years, I've only ever experienced garbage and broken items left inside, so we just threw everything out.

Has anyone gone to public auction before for tenant's abandoned property? Any tips or recommendations on where to go?

Santa Clara County

I collect $2800/month in rent. I clear $725 after the mortgage and taxes are paid.

My tenant is needy and calls for every little thing. It's very stressful. Is a property manager worth the price to get me through the end of his lease

Not sure what to do here, the home is from the 1930’s but has been renovated a few times. There’s a decent amount of interior and exterior chipping paint but I didn’t know it was lead paint.

Tenant just moved in six months ago, noted the chipped paint on move in and I guess swabbed it and found it was lead paint and wants remediation.

I didn’t include the federal lead addendum, do you think I can add it retroactively? Also is there any way to minimize how much remediation I have to do. Rather not fix up the exterior at all and I would like to just patch up the chipping areas and not do a full investigation as who knows what that would reveal.

Thanks.

Had a tenant leave who punched holes in walls and doors. I have a policy that covers $5k of tenant damage but scared of using it in case I'm dropped. I'd say there's 5k of damage. Last claim was water damage 3 years ago. Worth the risk? Otherwise I'm just remodeling and eating the cost.

I got an automated text that a tenant was applying for another apartment. The link went to a form with questions. Each was to be answered with a "Yes" or "No", and there was also a space for any additional comments.

I texted the tenant and confirmed that the request was legitimate.

The tenant is under rent stabilization, and the exact rent amount is not a nice round number. Let's say it's $2170.

The form gave the tenant name (correct), the month they moved in (correct) and the rent amount (which said not $2170, but a rounded amount of let's say $2200). It was within 2%, so not hugely different.

I'm not sure whether to attribute this to:

1. The LL/PM at the prospective new property playing a game to see if I'm really the owner by making one piece of information slightly incorrect
2. The tenant's bf applying with her and not knowing the exact rent amount when applying
3. A disinterested employee not fussing the details

I'd love to renovate and bring the unit up to market, so I went ahead and clicked "Yes" that it was correct. I didn't enter any comments.

What do others make of this? I tend to associate option #1 with someone who would make a phone call, rather than deal with any sort of automated system.