landlords and renters...questions

kacaju

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 4, 2007
Messages
3,773
I have questions in regards to home repairs if you are either renting a single family home or are renting out the same.

What happens if something needs to be fixed? Does the renter contact the landlord and then does the landlord need to be there while the repair person comes? Or can the renter be the one to wait for the repairman?
What happens if the landlord does not live locally?

Here is the story...my brother may have to relocate out of State because of his job. They are hoping he can find a new job locally so they won't have to move, but with the way everything is right now (and no bites what so ever on the resumes he has sent out) it looks as though they will move.

They have made up their minds that if they move they will rent out their current home, we all live in the same town.

I have never rented, I don't know how it works, other then people like it because when something breaks they just call the super, or landlord and it gets fixed.

I do not want to become their *super*, I do not want phone calls in the middle of the night because renters clogged the toilet or blew a fuse (KWIM?)

Dh and I talked about it and his feeling is ..they are family.. of course we will help them. I am not so sure and IF it comes to this I want to know what we are getting ourselves into.

Right now they are not even talking about the possible move, they are taking a lets see what happens approach.

I am a planner, if there is a slight chance they may want to ask us this, I want to be prepared!!

So, does anyone have any info? I want to hear it all the good, bad and ugly.
 
He could put the house up with a rental agency. Payments and everything would then go through the agency.
 
I agree hire a rental agency if he's out of the area. We were landlords once - never again. We weren't even that far from the property - maybe 45 minutes - but with a husband that traveled weekly for work & 2 small kids, it was the biggest pain to have to drop everything & get there ASAP when there was a problem. We had several emergency calls over the course of the 4 years we rented...one was even from the people in the condo below ours, calling us at 10pm on a Sunday night to come check on the tenant because they could hear water running up there for 2 hours straight. Once it was from the tenant that the heater wasn't working in the dead of winter - at 5:45am on a Monday morning. That took about 4 service calls to repair -which yes the landlord needs to be present for - what a pain! Then there was the time the dishwasher broke & there was water pouring out into the kitchen at 9pm one night.....oh the joy!!!

Most people have very positive experiences being landlords - but I would never do it again!
 
Your brother can write the lease any way he wants. I had one go through the office a couple weeks ago that specified the tenant was responsible for everything, even replacing major appliances and shingles (this was a long-term lease). Most people have them set up the other way so the owner can maintain their property the way they want for the long-term.
 

First of all if they will be renting and living far out of town they should have a professional handle the rental. Normally they will charge about 50% of the first month's rent (to cover thir costs of advertising, finding a renter, etc.) and then 8% to 10% of subsequent month's rent.

They will handle all emergencies and minor repairs. A threshold should be set where the owner's decision is required. For minor and immediate repairs they will have a list of qualified people and will pay the bill. There should be a procedure in place for them to transfer money monthly into the owner's bank account. There should also bve a detailed accounting (including copies of all billis paid) provided to the owner at least twice a year; the year-end one should be sufficient to be able to prepare most of the Schedule E on the tax return. The owner will still make mortgage/property tax/insurance payments.

If the owner does not use a professional the lease should specify the circumstances where the tenant may contract for work to be performed. If work is performed it should either be emergency in nature or approved in advance by the owner. If the tenant pays for the work a copy of the itemized receipt should be included with the monthly rent payment, and the amount subtracted from the rent.
 
I am a renter.. I rent a Condo in Florida and my landlord lives in California...

I have had a few things that needed to be fixed, one was a big thing (a flood in the apartment) and I called her and she was very very helpful... she allowed me and DBF and trusted us to do right by her... so the long and short of it is she does not need to be here..... she has told us to act like it is our house, so we get it fixed and then send her the receipt

Your brother would either tell the renters to get it fixed then send him the receipt
 
i rent a 2 bedroom apartment with my boyfriend in an apartment complex for 450 a month. we just recently moved in, but from what we've been told, if we have any issues, we call the office (or just walk down there) and they will send a maintenance person (who works for the complex) up. she said it typically is same day, or next day service, depending on the severity of the problem. the service is free.

i don't know if that helps or not.
 












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