Anybody own rental property?

[JoshOnt]

Closing is soon...the renters have stayed 10 days past their end date and won't leave. This is going to get interesting.

Ensure they are out before you close on the property.

 

[MTboatguy]

Hope it is not a fail sale for you, but I would not close without those people being out of the property, if you close, you are now on the hook for the problem.

 

[64osby]

In our area there are 5 full time police officers who spend all of there time dealing with evictions. Maybe a call to the local authorities could aid in getting the tenants out.

As others have said don't close until they are out.

 

[bruceb58]

In our area there are 5 full time police officers who spend all of there time dealing with evictions. Maybe a call to the local authorities could aid in getting the tenants out.

Going to be a court issue, not a law enforcement issue. Will need to file a unlawful detainer with the courts.

 

[gm280]

Closing is soon...the renters have stayed 10 days past their end date and won't leave. This is going to get interesting.

Oh man that doesn't even sound good already. I'd make it contingent upon them being gone before taking position. Because you could be opening up an new can of worms with them all over again. They can stay longer when the property changes hands because now it starts all over with a new landlord. Check the law! You couldn't pay me to be a landlord... I retired to enjoy life...

 

[bruceb58]

You couldn't pay me to be a landlord... I retired to enjoy life...

Of course, owning rental property means retiring early for many people.

 

[jkust]

The owners are not handling the situation well as they have allowed the renters to act badly and let it slide each and every time. These renters seem to be conditioned that ignoring the owners is acceptable. It is indeed in the PA that they will be out by closing. Whereas I would handle it very differently, I can't step in and do it for them. I am told that the sellers attorney had 'formally notified' the renters that they need to be out but notification without a filed eviction and court date with the judge means nothing if I understand correctly. What good is a 'formal notification' if they are already half a month past their end date?

 

[MTboatguy]

Sounds like the owners are the same as any number of people in this day and age, they will avoid any confrontational situation at all costs, even if it is a detriment to themselves. Unfortunate and difficult situation to be in.

 

[Brian 26]

Wow, I hope it all works out for you. Thanks for keeping this updated, I'm interested to hear how it ends.

 

[aspeck]

The formal notification gives them leverage so if they don't move out, they have already been "notified" and the process will take less time.

 

[jkust]

Well, I closed on the property. The renters found other living situations and only left a few bits of junk behind in the yard such as some tires, but the carpet is pretty much destroyed with dog and cigarette smoke and I'll need to have the ceilings all repainted to cover the cigarette smoke smell. The deal with this property was that it is a 9 acre property in an area where there is just zero land available that isn't developed in a popular area with vacation and lake homes. It is as nice of a piece of property as I've seen with 200 plus foot trees everywhere, a home and a customized three car garage and multiple other outbuildings and features. It seems people were lining up to buy it but the catch was that it had to be a cash sale and it seems that nobody has cash any longer. Dozens of people looked at it before we decided to look at it and the sellers were so fed up with the whole situation, they took our insultingly low, lowball offer.

 

[gm280]

Well, I closed on the property. The renters found other living situations and only left a few bits of junk behind in the yard such as some tires, but the carpet is pretty much destroyed with dog and cigarette smoke and I'll need to have the ceilings all repainted to cover the cigarette smoke smell. The deal with this property was that it is a 9 acre property in an area where there is just zero land available that isn't developed in a popular area with vacation and lake homes. It is as nice of a piece of property as I've seen with 200 plus foot trees everywhere, a home and a customized three car garage and multiple other outbuildings and features. It seems people were lining up to buy it but the catch was that it had to be a cash sale and it seems that nobody has cash any longer. Dozens of people looked at it before we decided to look at it and the sellers were so fed up with the whole situation, they took our insultingly low, lowball offer.

Okay that sound like a better deal the previous postings. If you think they are going to develop the area soon, you could be sitting on a virtual gold mine. However, if they don't, you can rent it to more questionable renters... I'm glad for you if you do have great turn over for large sums of money. However, if you are going to rent it, I'm certainly glad it is you and not me dealing with such folks... :thumb:

Oh before I forget it. My father-in-law was a heavy smoker before he passed away. I tried my best to paint the ceiling in their house two times without any success from the smoke stains. I finally had to use Kilz primer (lacquer based and you will need a respirator to survive) to cover over the stains. So heads up to use a extremely good primer or get ready to paint a bunch of coats without success...

 

[jkust]

Okay that sound like a better deal the previous postings. If you think they are going to develop the area soon, you could be sitting on a virtual gold mine. However, if they don't, you can rent it to more questionable renters... I'm glad for you if you do have great turn over for large sums of money. However, if you are going to rent it, I'm certainly glad it is you and not me dealing with such folks... :thumb:

Oh before I forget it. My father-in-law was a heavy smoker before he passed away. I tried my best to paint the ceiling in their house two times without any success from the smoke stains. I finally had to use Kilz primer (lacquer based and you will need a respirator to survive) to cover over the stains. So heads up to use a extremely good primer or get ready to paint a bunch of coats without success...

I'm taking the really long view on this. My lake house is just up the street about a minute away by four wheeler from the property and I am planning that It will be ultimately belong to my kids and their kids someday.
Space is tight as many of the houses are on smaller peninsulas of the larger with not very big yards. I will rent the house out and locate good tenants and am contemplating building a large storage building/storage business for folks to store their boats over the winter. I want the new property to stay in the family as well and not get sold off. There is only one more parcel of land left that isn't developed on the entire peninsula besides mine and that guy is refusing to sell any of it. When any little bit of land with a garage or even a house that can stand to get torn down to build a garage for some storage on the peninsula goes up for sale, they literally get sold the same day but people finance them. There is a huge shortage of rentals there for the locals and always a shortage of storage space for the vacation home owners.


Good call on the primer...If I do it myself with my old school wagner sprayer that is so heavy it hurts your arm, I will definitely kilz it first. I have a local handyman that I have do stuff at my main lake house that is going to send me some estimates on the painting and the carpet and floor replacement and so will see what it might cost to have it done by him. I wished they would have vaped instead of smoked.

 

[64osby]

The Kilz does work. There is also cleaning products to wipe the walls and cabinets think it is CSP or something like it. An Ozone machine can also help remove the odor. Painting help tons but the smoke smell can linger from other sources in the house.

Sounds like a great piece of property.

Congrats.

 

[MTboatguy]

TSP will kill smoke smell as well other stuff out there, kilz is about the only primer that will actually kill any stains, or you can varnish the walls and ceiling as well, like we used to do.

 

[bruceb58]

TSP will kill smoke smell as well other stuff out there,

+++1 on the TSP.

As bad as the walls get, can you imagine what the inside of a smoker's lungs look?

 

[jkust]

+++1 on the TSP.

As bad as the walls get, can you imagine what the inside of a smoker's lungs look?

I don't get smoking at all.

 

[bassman284]

The product in the link is what I used to clear out the smoke smell when I was getting my Dad's house ready to sell. He had lived there for 30 years and smoked a pipe pretty much non-stop during his waking hours. I remember our realtor, a close family friend, almost couldn't stand to be in the house.

I went to the local TruValue to find out what paint to use. The guy at TV (another good friend) told me that paint wouldn't do it but they had this product that he had used and said it would really do the job. It's the Nature Odor Catalyst in the link. You mix it with warm water at 1:10, 1:5 or even 1:1, put it in a garden sprayer and spray everything that is going to stay in the house. You don't want it dripping wet but you want to make sure everything gets damp. It's supposed to keep working for about 14 days.

I think i used the 1:10 mix, let it work for a couple of days and then went over it again. About a week after the initial application our realtor came back and she couldn't believe it. She couldn't smell a whiff of smoke anywhere and this woman is like a canary in a coal mine where tobacco smell is concerned.

Way, way easier than painting, especially with something toxic that requires respirators.

 

[foodfisher]

When using TSP or mostly any cleaner, start at the bottom and work up. If starting at the top, any runs down the wall will be noticeable on the finished job. My guess is that the streak is cleaned that many times more.

 

[jkust]

I painted the ceilings a couple weeks back and like all other paint it seems these days...the primer and ceiling paint is all-in-one now. It worked surprisingly well spraying it on with my old school Wagner sprayer. The big issue now that we already knew about was that the deep well isn't producing much pressure and will be close to 2k to repair. The sellers had agreed to pay for the issues in the purchase agreement to bring the well to proper working condition but ultimately reneged on it believe it or not. They didn't believe that our estimate that we got pre purchase was accurate and so sent their own well guy out there. When he confirmed the expensive issues, they got difficult. Again however, we paid ultimately 1/4 their asking price and so even the cost of the well compared to the overall deal is insignificant. Still a lot of $ out of pocket to get it ready to rent.