We are renting our house out in Southeast Portland. We moved to Seattle 2 years ago. Last summer we got one complaint from a neighbor on our street about the fact that the lawn hadn't been mowed in a while. We talked to the property manager and they sent a warning letter and the tenants mowed the lawn. The manager did an inspection a bit later and there were no issues with the property. (They have to give 24 hours notice). Fast foward to this week. We got a complaint from our next door neighbor about the yard again and the property manager did the same thing. This time though the next door neighbor also said that it seems like the tenants or their friends are sometimes sleeping on the porch and that they appear to have some junk on the back porch. Also, the same neighbor that complained last time called us and said that the place looks like hell, that it seems like homeless people are living in our house, "it's getting scary", etc. I asked her what she meant by "looks like hell" and it turns out that it's just that there are some dandelions in the yard and the front screen door is torn. Frankly the yard isn't much different than many yards in this neighborhood. Then I asked her if the tenants were being loud or doing anything illegal. She kept saying "no, nothing like that, I just don't think these people are the caliber of tenant you want." She kept talking about the "caliber of people." I asked her what she meant by "it looks like homeless people are living there." She said, they are 20's, look like "Occupy Portland" people, etc. I personally think one of the tenants is a minority and that she just has an issue with a minority living there. You guys think I should be worried about the property or is this lady just crazy? Frankly, there's not much I think I or the property manager can do. We can send warning letters to mow the lawn (there is a lawn mower that we provide on the property) and then mow it and charge them if they don't mow it. We can do an inspection, but if there is a problem with the property they are likely to clean it before the inspection.
I've heard more than once that it's usually not a great idea to rent a property in another state. This is why. If you lived there you could personally see what's going on and make the decision right there. Have you considered selling the property and re-investing in a property in your own area? Interest rates are crazy-low right now. Anyway, having been a landlord, all I can say is if a tenant isn't tearing the place up and he's making rent every month and he ain't cooking meth, count your blessings. I've had deadbeats, a suicide, people who painted entire rooms traffic cone orange, my brother's rental got busted as a meth lab. I've also had a place unoccupied for 5 months. In the end, if they were absolutely stellar people with perfect lives, they wouldn't be renting.
Do they pay the rent on time? Have you called the tenant directly? When is the last time you raised the rent? Has your property manager taken pictures of the property recently and emailed them to you? When are you going to be in Portland next?
As we live out of state, our insurer requires a property management company. They pay the rent on time. We haven't raised the rent since we leased it out almost 2 years ago, but I think I am going to do that when it comes up in December. My biggest worry is it being a Meth House. Insurers like to exclude that kind of remediation. My dad drove by the property this morning and his assessment was the same as the property manager -- it needs to be mowed, but the yard isn't much different than other houses in the neighborhood. I had asked my dad to take some pics, but he felt kind of weird about it so he didn't. Still I trust what he says. I probably will be in Portland sometime in September. I'd love to sell the property, but right now it is about $50,000-$60,000 under water. Sly -- will Denny just assume the mortgage and we can just make it an S2 Frat House?
If the tenants are paying on time and if they want to renew the lease tell them that some of the neighbors have complained about the yard and you'll have to give them a much larger rent increase if you have to hire a yard service. If they want to save some money they need take better care of the yard. When you're back in Portland take the noisy neighbor out to lunch. Explain that you want to sell the house but you are upside down. If you just turn it over to the bank that house could sit vacant for years while the bank goes through the foreclosure process. An empty house sitting vacant is much worse than it being a rental. Thank her for caring and tell her some BS that you hope to move back down to Portland and eventually live in the house again. You miss having great neighbors like her. During this new lease tell your tenants that you are requiring them to have renters insurance. If they already have car insurance, renters insurance is cheap to add. I tell all of my renters that rent is X amount but I will give them $50 off a month if they show proof of renters insurance every 6 months. I'm not really giving them $50 off a month, I just increase the rent I'm asking for by $50 and give them a fake discount. Keep an eye on the crime statistics in your area via PortlandMaps.com. If there is a meth lab or something going on you will most likely see a spike in neighbor car burglaries and home robberies. (Criminals are basically lazy and will steal crap on the way to their dealer then try and trade it for drugs.) If your tenants renew their lease ask them to first fill out a new credit application and run a credit check again. It's good to have. People change jobs, etc. Also if someone has a drug problem their credit will go to shit. Introduce your dad to the tenants. Tell them if they see your dad taking pictures not to freak out he's only doing it because you want to make sure the lawn is being mowed.
This just popped up on Oregonlive today. Lots of good information including some of the comments. http://www.oregonlive.com/front-porch/index.ssf/2012/08/in_tight_rental_market_no-caus.html
I would ask the property manager to hire a lawn mowing service to come out weekly, and up the rent to pay for it (charge the tenant for the landscaping).
I would lead the psycho neighbor by the hand to meet her hippie neighbors. She would find that they're very friendly. Experiencing life outside the church basement might help her to grow up.
I'd get a different property manager. This shit is what you pay them for, so you don't have to deal with it. Most of them are lazy, do-nothings in my experience.
Should have sold it years ago. Since you didn't, hire somebody to mow the lawn, if the PM Co. won't do it.
I'd burn down the psycho neighbor's house, with her and the property manager inside. Kills 2 birds with 1 stone. Then I 'd get back to my Seattle house with the crystal meth factory inside.
First -- thanks for all the suggestions/comments, even the ones about burning down the neighbor's house This has been an irritating situation. I can't wait until we can sell the house, which might be possible in 2014 or so. It's a lease. We can send them warning letters and if they don't mow the lawn then we can do this, but we can't just unilaterally up the rent mid-lease. We are thinking of doing something like this when it comes up in December, but I don't feel like paying money out of my own pocket to mow the lawn. This has been on my mind too. My wife has been talking with them primarily since she picked the property management company and is satisfied that they are handling the situation correctly. I am not so sure. I don't know what our agreement calls for. I want to speak with the management company and figure out how often they drive by the home, etc. I also think they should send a letter to our neighbors letting them know that they should call them if there are any issues with the rental as opposed to calling us. We have not owned it for that long. We bought it in September 2006. Our first home. The value went up the first year, but then started nosediving. It has been roughly at it's current value since about mid 2008. We moved out in September 2010. I am not sure exactly when I am supposed to have sold it... After living in it a year? That would have been some amazing foresight. The front yard is pretty small. I am not willing to pay to mow the lawn out of my own pocket. We lose about $500 a month on this house and including what we pay a month in Seattle our housing costs have gone up $1000 a month, but if we increase the rent in December I am willing to make that a condition if we keep the same tenants.
Once again -- thanks for the suggestions. The inspection showed that new people are living there that we didn't know about. The house was filthy but not damaged. They freaking built a fire pit in our back yard!!! What the Fuck!?!?! Oh and they decided to get a pit-bull without telling us. One dude is actually living in the garage. I'm speechless.... The lease is up in December so instead of evicting, we are just going to let the lease lapse, fix the house up and hopefully find better tenants. I have also convinced my wife we need a new management company, but I am going to wait until this lease lapses first (which is only 3 months away). The final straw for me with the property management company was when I found out that they have known that new people moved in and didn't tell us. And I am definitely going to have an upfront discussion about my expectations for the next property manager.
Ive done property management in the past. Review your lease, sounds like they are in clear violation of the lease and you should have a termination clause allowing you kick them out and keep their deposit of you want. The dog is the biggest issue IMO as even if you would have allowed it you should have got extra security deposit. Another issue is that you are heading into the low turn over months and December is the worst month to find new tenants. If it was me I would do it like this. Demand $250-$500 non refundable for the dog or tell them get rid of it or get out. I would then let them keep paying on the lease till December, let the lease revert to month to month till Feb then give them 30 day notice. Sounds like you can find enough issues with the house to keep the whole deposit, use March to fix up the place and advertise for new tenants. By April people are looking to move more so tenants will be easier to find. Fire you property manager also.
Ok -- so these tenants from hell are finally out of the house. We are going to do a walkthrough this weekend. Apparently though they left some stuff in the house (including a piano). Great...
