Property nightmare.

[Locut0s]

The following is obviously largely my parents fault and I'm not excusing them but I thought it would be interesting to post anyway. My parents own a second house, well my mother does, that they rent out to make some secondary income. Mostly the income just does to pay the mortgage on it and build up a small fund to pay for maintenance on the property. They aren't looking to make money off the rent but off the apreciation value of the property. Problem is the 2 families they have rented to so far have been really bad. The first family was a red neck type that had a dog which destroyed the back yard. They destroyed the carpets and even put some holes in the walls. Basically aged the house 20 years in the 2 years they lived there. Now they have a Korean family living there that is no better. They NEVER cut the lawn, they smoke and throw the butts EVERYWHERE outside and even throw other garbage all over the place. The back lawn is basically a dandelion garden. Looks like they had a pet hamster that died on them and they just put its filthy cage outside and let it fill up with rain water. We go over to the property maybe once a month or so to cut the lawn and clean up but it's no where near enough. Obviously the neighbours are upset and I don't blame them. We don't unfortunately have the time to properly look after the property and it's about an hours drive away. Really what we should do is write into the contract that they sign that some amount of lawn and property maintenance is expected of them, that we will do regular inspections etc... My parents are not used to renting anything though.

UPDATE (See thread below to understand): So I've talked to my mother about it and she WOULD like to go through a 3rd party company. However ONLY for the initial process of choosing someone and vetting them, she doesn't want to have to deal with the company after that. I told her I didn't think such a service exists. Does it? Are there companies that offer such a one time deal to help you find a good renter, vet them and do all the paperwork, but end it there?

 

[Newbian]

Sounds to me like your parents are not doing their job as owners by getting background checks and such and not evicting the renters when they should.

If they are not up to it maybe it's time to simply get your mother to sell it before it becomes a ruin and not worth anything.

 

[Locut0s]

Sounds to me like your parents are not doing their job as owners by getting background checks and such and not evicting the renters when they should.

If they are not up to it maybe it's time to simply get your mother to sell it before it becomes a ruin and not worth anything.

Yeah she is never going to sell it though I have suggested it numerous times. They don't have any experience with renting so don't know how to properly go about it. Frankly I don't know either but I do know they should have done background checks and done a better job interviewing etc..

 

[Ns1]

Use rent to pay for local gardener. Write off as expenses on taxes.

Jack up rent when lease is up to cover cost of gardener.

 

[Locut0s]

Use rent to pay for local gardener. Write off as expenses on taxes.

Jack up rent when lease is up to cover cost of gardener.

Yes this is a good idea. Should definitely raise the rent to cover a gardener. They obviously need to vet the people they rent to better too. What's usually involved in background checks and interviews anyway?

 

[KaOTiK]

Middle of night go over there and light a cig and start a fire around the house. Gets rid of shitty renters and collect insurance for the fire.

 

[Locut0s]

Middle of night go over there and light a cig and start a fire around the house. Gets rid of shitty renters and collect insurance for the fire.

Yeah insurance companies never check into this kind of thing. :sneaky:

 

[DrPizza]

Been there. It's a pain in the ass if you get bad tenants. 10 times worse if the tenants have an infant child.

 

[AreaCode707]

Give them notice and find better renters and put in a new contract. Collect a good sized damage deposit and do REALLY good walkthroughs with paperwork documentation on every existing bit of damage when your new renters move in.

 

[OUCaptain]

Sounds to me like your parents are not doing their job as owners by getting background checks and such and not evicting the renters when they should.

If they are not up to it maybe it's time to simply get your mother to sell it before it becomes a ruin and not worth anything.

By default in some areas, lawn maintenance is up the landlord unless otherwise stated in the lease.

OP, your last statement summed it up. Write up an iron clad lease. At least you'll have the law on your side when you threaten to evict or do evict.

First thing though..... background checks.

 

[zinfamous]

is it possible to rent it through a more local management company? have them deal with all of the tenant-related issues?

would make it much easier ti keep things on the level, being that you say your parents have no clue how to deal with this, plus--being an hour away.

 

[KaOTiK]

Yeah insurance companies never check into this kind of thing. :sneaky:

Just blame it on them since they are smokers

 

[Locut0s]

Just blame it on them since they are smokers

Yeah they are smokers and like to pour accelerant all over the property, you know you see people do this all the time. I just poured a litre of gas on our own lawn the other day.

 

[KaOTiK]

Yeah they are smokers and like to pour accelerant all over the property, you know you see people do this all the time. I just poured a litre of gas on our own lawn the other day.

You're doing it wrong! Light paper and shit on fire, like boxes from the other garbage, just have it "catch" on fire close to the house.

 

[edro]

Been there. It's a pain in the ass if you get bad tenants. 10 times worse if the tenants have an infant child.

I have to agree. I had a friend who had a single mother with 2 infants.
They demolished the house and was 2 months behind rent before she left without notice.
Walls, carpets, etc were destroyed.

His tip for the future, evict after 1st 1 week late payment.

 

[xSauronx]

seems like they might save some headache by having a property manager handle things. theyd take a cut, obviously, but it might be worth it if they also deal with a lot of the hassle.

 

[Locut0s]

I have to agree. I had a friend who had a single mother with 2 infants.
They demolished the house and was 2 months behind rent before she left without notice.
Walls, carpets, etc were destroyed.

His tip for the future, evict after 1st 1 week late payment.

I don't get how they manage to destroy the walls. I mean I understand the carpet to some degree, walk in with your shoes, spills, stains etc. But the walls? But yeah the first renters in our place managed to fuck up some of the walls too.

 

[Jumpem]

An hour drive isn't that much. I drive more than that to work every day. Your parents could get their every other weekend if need be.

That said, they should try to find more responsible tenants.

 

[Locut0s]

I have to agree. I had a friend who had a single mother with 2 infants.
They demolished the house and was 2 months behind rent before she left without notice.
Walls, carpets, etc were destroyed.

His tip for the future, evict after 1st 1 week late payment.

Off topic but I love your avatar photo. Your dog I'm assuming? Poor thing, must have been dying

 

[Newbian]

Off topic but I love your avatar photo. Your dog I'm assuming? Poor thing, must have been dying

Tell me about it, my brother's dog does that trick where you place it on her nose and she will stay still until you say it's ok for her to eat it but sticking them in her mouth like that would just be abuse.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Hire a management company to take care of all the BS, it costs a bit but is ultimately worth it.

 

[JimW1949]

I do not know a lot about this, but I have heard there are companies that "oversee" property for people. If you have a house for rent, or an apartment complex, or whatever, and you don't want to run it yourself, you can hire a company to manage it for you. There is a cost to doing it this way, but I think in the long run it would a better deal than what you have now.

I am going to say something that might sound a little stupid, but before you call me crazy, hear me out. Even if your parents find that between the mortgage payments, the taxes, the insurance, the maintenance, paying the company to manage the house for them, etc, they come out behind a few dollars each month, I think it is still a good idea. Let me tell you why I say that. Right now, when they finally evict these tenants, it is going to cost a small fortune to fix the place up again so that it is livable and so that people would want to rent the place.

Additionally, when you parents have a tenant doing things that makes the neighborhood look "ratty", in some cases the property values for the neighborhood can go down. I mean think about it, would you want to buy the house next door to where some slobs live, where the grass isn't cut, and where there is garbage thrown all around? Having the house look good is important if they intend to eventually sell the property.

That's why I say, even if your parents come up short a few bucks each month on the rental property, it isn't all bad. Now naturally, when it comes time to rent out the place again, your parents need to charge enough rent to at least cover the costs involved, but temporarily if they take a small loss each month, it isn't the end of the world. At least that is my take on the situation.

 

[JimW1949]

Hire a management company to take care of all the BS, it costs a bit but is ultimately worth it.

I have to learn to type faster.

 

[sdifox]

kick them out if you can. You should not have problem finding good renters in Vancouver.

 

[MotionMan]

is it possible to rent it through a more local management company? have them deal with all of the tenant-related issues?

would make it much easier ti keep things on the level, being that you say your parents have no clue how to deal with this, plus--being an hour away.

seems like they might save some headache by having a property manager handle things. theyd take a cut, obviously, but it might be worth it if they also deal with a lot of the hassle.

Hire a management company to take care of all the BS, it costs a bit but is ultimately worth it.

I do not know a lot about this, but I have heard there are companies that "oversee" property for people. If you have a house for rent, or an apartment complex, or whatever, and you don't want to run it yourself, you can hire a company to manage it for you. There is a cost to doing it this way, but I think in the long run it would a better deal than what you have now.

All of this.

MotionMan