Hawaii Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Landlords come in!
Hello my nesties!!!
So I announced it to the knotties but I bought a house yesterday!!! woo hoooO!!! we close november 30th and we're so excited.
But now we have to rent out DH condo and we're really nervous. Does anyone have advice? I have so many questions.
Where do we get a contract from for our future tenents?
How much should be ask for rent?
Do we require first and last month?
How much do you ask for a deposit?
Do you charge a cleaning fee?
Do you run a background check?
How much are late fees?
** I have questions running out of my head!!! Any help or advice or things I should think about would be helpful!!!
Thanks in advance!
Planning BIO! / Halekulani / Aug 29 2009
Re: Landlords come in!
Malia & Dave & Alexa
Happily married since 2-17-08! Three since 9-9-09!
Baby Blog
Hi! My sister and I own a condo in CA. Every state has their own rental laws. So I would read up on that. I had already memorized almost everything to do with rental law by the time we were ready to rent. It took us many months to find someone to rent. Unfortunately, we couldn't even get the amount of the mortgage but really, at this point, there's no room to complain. Especially with how horrible the housing market is in CA.
Where do we get a contract from for our future tenents?
I used: ezlandforms.com
Its a really neat site and its state specific. Its template style, so you fill in everything about you guys, the landlord, literally everything you want out of the lease. Its really easy and then you can print it up. I think it cost me like $10, I could be wrong about that. Plus, it also suggested other forms to print up according to each state. Like for instance, in CA, tenants have to sign this form for asbestos if the home is older than like 1975 (?). Also, if the place is older than 1981 (?), a lead poisoning form needed to be signed.
How much should be ask for rent?
You should probably look up on Craigslist and see what the area homes are being rented for. That's what we did. It was much easier to gage what's all that and see what we were up against.
Do we require first and last month?
Again, every state is specific on their laws on that. We asked for first months rent and a security deposit. Coming up with first, last, AND a security may be hard for some people in this economy right now.
How much do you ask for a deposit?
An entire month's rent.
Do you charge a cleaning fee?
No we didn't. But most of the time, at least with my experience with renting, the landlord will take it out of the deposit if its not up to standards when they move out.
Do you run a background check?
Ouch! This is where our biggest issue was. We had all intentions of running a check but then it took so long to even find a renter, that we decided to not at the last minute. I have many reservations about that because now we've had some ISSUES with our tenant. But the way I feel is this, even if I had seen say a delinquency of rent, or eviction, etc.....I might have still been inclined to help our renter out. I guess i'm more forgiving than others but also, I would look at the big picture. If they have a long term job, married couple (but even then its debateable, right Amy?).
How much are late fees?
Another state specific thing. I think my rules were no more than $50, so I was not going any lower. But the lease I'm in right now, does a percentage of the rent, but we're in WA state.
Good luck with this, just know that there may be some really stressful times. There may be months when the rent is late and you have to front the mortgage, so make sure you have "rainy day" money sitting aside. I would also suggest starting with a 6 month lease than going month to month, or longer if they seem to be good tenants. This allows you time to figure out what these tenants are all about.
I don't usually post here, but I have several rental properties so I saw your post & figured I can help out...
Where do we get a contract from for our future tenants? I get all my forms from ezlandlordforms.com . They have background check forms, applications & leases.
What should I chare for rent? I would check local listings or craigslist for the going rate in your area for a comparable condo.
Do we require first and last month? I'm in NJ so we require the maximum allowed in our stae which is a month & a half rent as a deposit, then the first month rent.
How much do you ask for a deposit? see above
Do you charge a cleaning fee? The tenant is required to leave the apartment clean like they found it, that's all in the lease. Anything we spend to get it fixed or cleaned after they move gets deducted from the deposit. This does not include normal wear & tear.
Do you run a background check? Luckily, I have friends in the industry that do background checks & credit checks for me. I'm sure you can do them online for a fee. Or if you know someone who works in HR who has the ability to do background checks, they can do them for you. The applicant fills out the credit & background check consent.
How much are late fees? We have $50 late fee on the leases, but haven't really enforced it, but then again, we've been very lucky with our tenants. They have till the 5th of each month to pay rent.
I would def check into the laws in your area. Some places have renters' rights laws and you should be aware of those before drafting your lease.
When I lived in DC, we had issues with our landlords for trying to raise our rent beyond what was legally allowable, so we did a lot of research into our rights as renters. It turns out they hadn't even been registered as a rental property for many years... hence, they were (1) not able to raise our rent at all and (2) owed the city a ton of back fees and taxes. I don't even know that they were aware of the renters' rights laws in that area, so I suggest being on top that just in case.
Also, as pp stated, I don't think I'd charge a cleaning fee unless the tenants leave the place dirty, in which case you can deduct it from the deposit. Also, you have to expect a certain amount of wear and tear to the unit, and you can't charge the tenants for that. (At least that was the case in CA, where I had issues with a separate landlord)
Tya,
Congrats on the house. What an exciting time for you and your DH :-).
My DH & I each have our own condos and had to rent them out after we got married and bought a new place. We both manage our own condos. DH also has a rental condo in Waikiki but we have a property manager manage that for us.
Where do we get a contract from for our future tenents?
I used www.rentingauthority.com. They have customizable forms. You just fill in your info and it will generate the lease for you depending on which state you are in.
How much should be ask for rent?
You would wanna do research on how much rents go for in your area. Check Craigslist. Ideally, it should cover your mortgage + more so you'll get positive income.
We advertised on Craigslist and had to lower the rent each week. We did not want a long time to go by without having renters.
Do we require first and last month?
We asked for first month's rent + deposit.
How much do you ask for a deposit?
Deposit is equivalent to one month's rent.
Do you charge a cleaning fee?
No but in the lease it was stated that they are responsible to have the house cleaned when they move out. If not, then we'll charge cleaning fee.
Do you run a background check?
Yes, both background and credit checks. I used www.rentingauthority.com. You can send the link to the prospective tenant. They will fill out their info and pay for the report. Both the criminal and credit reports will be emailed directly to you. On top of that, I also called their references - work supervisor or HR and previous landlord. I had to turn down one prospective tenant because the work info she gave me (salary, tenure, position) was different from the info I found out when I called her office.
Our previous tenant at DH's condo was a professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards. His was a special case because DH did not make any background or credit checks lol.
How much are late fees?
I think $30. My tenant's rent is due every 3rd of each month but last month, the 3rd came and I haven't gotten the rent check yet. I emailed my tenants to ask if they mailed the check. They said they did. They are great tenants and this was the only time they were late with the check. I received the rent check the following day but I did not charge them any late fee. Sometimes you have to be a little lenient. Plus, you also would want be a great landlord so they will renew the lease :-).
As I mentioned, we listed our ad on Craigslist (it's free). Make sure you repost every couple of days so that your ad is on top of the page :-).
Hope you won't have a hard time renting your place out. It's kinda stressful trying to find good tenants but once you do, things should be smooth sailing :-). I haven't heard much from my tenants since they moved last December...no news is good news :-). Goodluck!