[quote=paramount]One last question: So my new tenant moves in, and finally provides me with an initial move in inspection report that is extremely detailed. For example:
1. The outside condenser unit has rust at the bottom of the unit.
2. A bathroom ceiling light fixture has a small amount of rust stain.
And on and on…
It’s as if they went through the house with a microscope.
It just doesn’t seem right, and I think something is up.
Anyone have a similar experience?[/quote]
Paramount,
In my experience, a few scenarios
1)Person had a really bad experience with a previous tenant and/or being extra careful.
2)Person is anal and/or cheap and is gonna nickel and dime you to death and bug you for every single minor thing on the face of the earth.
I hope it’s #1 (I’m more like #1)…
#2 people are a real PITA, but as long as they pay their rent on time, just suck it up (unless you can find better tenants).
My recommendation is you can *try* is that if the person is so anal, go and take a few pictures and have him agree with the condition prior to move in. If he’s gonna be anal with things, I think it’s reasonable you politely tell him/her. That’s fine, so to make sure there is no disagreement, let’s take a few pictures and make sure we agree on it.. (for your protection, and mine)…
One of my tenants was in category #1, so I get along with them just fine. one of my tenants is in category #2. And oh, my, every since time rent check is due, he always contacts me to try to get me to reduce his rent by complaining about something….
The latest episode was that his lease was up, I decided to give him a favor by alonging him to continue his lease on a month-month bases for exactly the same price as he was paying before…Big mistake…Market price was $50-100/month for a 1 year term and I had plenty of interest…This guy goes back and forth with me like for a week trying to “negotiate” with me to reduce his rent. I’m like WTF dude, check out the comparables. You aren’t even gonna find a comparable to what I’m offering you month-month for 6months or even a year for that matter. I even offer him a 6month term for this below market rent…He goes on and complains about he doesn’t like this, he doesn’t like this about my place. I get so fed up, I tell him. Sorry you feel this way, I thought you were happy. If you think you can find a better place, please let me know if you don’t plan on renewing month-month…So anyway, he still goes and complains back and forth, etc. I’m like, dude…Here’s my craiglist posting of the place, here are my 6 prospects, all of which are offering to lease for a year $80 more than you are paying month to month…Hurry up and make your decision…
Meanwhile, the dude mails me his rental 2 days after it’s dude (I give a 3 day grace period)…And I got it late because he didn’t put a postage stamp on it and didn’t put a return address on it, so it’s stuck at the post office, to which when I finally asked the postman where it was, he hands me the envelope with a nice “postage due” on it….
Anyway, so I tell the tenant, dude, not only am I offering you a reduced rent, any other creditor right now would have charged you the per contract late fee for your rent, and BTW next time put your fricking stamp on it…Next time, I’m gonna charge the late fee.
Anyway, dude ends up renewing because like I said, despite him trying to nickel and dime, I told him the truth…I’m doing him a favor…And frankly, if he bugs me anymore unnecessarily about reducing the rent, I’m not going to continue his lease.
While I can understand why some tenants hate landlords, but dude….Some tenants have an astonishing sense of entitlement and/or such out of touch with reality, it’s almost hysterical.
