I recently bought a run down property which was tenanted by a tenant who was not paying rent he was the friend of the former owner, since he had personal problems the previous owner let him stay there till settlement which was three weeks ago. I have received no rent at this point no bond either but that is not my problem.
He informed me that he will pay rent but they have chosen to start looking for another place to stay as he is back with his ex wife who is in a wheelchair and the highset home is unsuitable. This worries me, the house is delapidated and highset, am I being exposed to a lawsuit here if something were to happen with regard to the house not being suitable for an occupant who is in a wheelchair.
How should I handle this situation?.In a bit of a bind. If he has’nt paid rent I would immediately serve him the correct breach notices to start to get him out. If his partner is not on the lease then I would not let her stay at the property, especially if you think it is dangerous. (make sure all insurances are in place) This is considered a breach if you as landlord have not authorised her living on the property. Why do you not have a bond? did the last landlord not take one? I would be trying to get him out as fast as I could!!!
Jarrod
Jarrod Lane Real EstateI don`t have any bond yet but rent is being paid tommorrow.
There has been no rental agreement written up as yet with the agent as far as I know.
The property is around 4 hours drive from my place and I will be going tommorrow to try and get things sorted out.
Could happen to anyone I guess, I mean you can hardly turn someone away on account they are in a wheelchair, wouldn`t that be seen as descriminatory?, and I can hardly kick them out they are battlers in the extreme.
I would really prefer to let them stay in the house until they are in a better position but how can I do this without exposing myself to potential problems?.This is the reason why I dont like rural properties 4 hours from home.
Sure have a few in your portfolio, but I would love to talk to you in 5 years time to see if you still have the property.
Not worth the effort in my view
Cheers
Andrew
No I won`t have the property in five years.
I am expecting to rehab the house and know this will bring around $60,000 profit, that to me is worse case, it`s very possible I could make much more from the value of the land only.
I never buy houses long term but I am now considering it, usually I rent my houses rehab them and resell within a year.
I am a tradesman and do most of the work myself.
I never concern myself too much with tenants as it`s just icing on the cake for me.Hi
Kool. I understand. I am not a tradesman, my brother is and my father was. I am an office bunny. As a kid, it was too hot in summer and too cold in winter – so I studied instead.
What you are doing is great. Rehab work adds a lot to the value of a property and thats where the smart tradesmen make their money.
My brother is now doing his own rehab work on his properties and to supplement his income he does the work for others. My guess is that he will one day be worth a shitload more money than me.
I have a high level of respect for tradies who do their own property investing as well.
Cheers
Andrew
Hi
My understanding is that you can also serve a notice to vacate a property.
If your reason is to renovate and sell there should not be any problems.
People do this all the time.
Cheers
Andrew
Thanks Andrew but I don`t really want to kick them out, just don`t want to get into problems with lawsuits etc.
What go around comes around imo, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and a little leeway since I`m now in the position to.Mark,
Just a question thats kinda off topic, but have you ever thought off keeping the house (renting it out) and using the extra equity from the rehab to put down a deposit for the next one?
I don’t know if the numbers add up and if it will work but it’ll save all the transaction costs and you’ll build a portfolio.
Josh
I have thought of everything believe me I have been into R/E investing way before this boom came along and have predicted almost to the dollar the increases in the areas I look at, if only I had more money to invest!.
The reason I didn`t do what you mention was purely personal reasons, I have put my money into a ten acre block which is my dream block.
My main object is to outright own my house and land at this point, in another 12 months I`m hoping to accomplish it but it may take a little longer, but ten yrs…no chance I`m not that patient.
Also I have taken 6 months off to work on my land.
Finally I want the money to be honest, I have never had anything much as far as material possessions, I grew up in a big family always struggling for the next dollar, as soon as I see enough profit I bail, I generally think around $100,000 I know this is a lot sometimes I do sometimes not quite.
I have a bit of a passion for turning a rundown third world shack into a house I myself would want to live in but it is draining so I like to get out, pay all my debts and then get back in somewhere else.Also if you continually tie up your equity you are burning the candle at both ends, all your properties will have a big mortgage and if the market dives, homes become difficult to sell, interest rates go up and you find it difficult to tenant some properties you could be in big, big trouble, especially if you are getting in the market at this point, a very bad idea imo.
Markpatrick..
On the investment side of things… do what ‘you’ feel comfortable with, good to see you’re open to other ideas though..hey your on this forum.
With the tenant, i’d be on the Agent’s back ‘big time’ that’s what he’s paid for, as liverpool said, cover yourself with your insurances, rental agreement should have been sorted- agent’s fault,
as with rental arears..As far as ‘how should you handle it’… how would you handle it if the person was not in a wheelchair ? It’s only ‘Discrimination’ if you follow the course of action solely because of the wheelchair.
On another subject.. how do you go about doing renovations ( And i presume some are major, with the tenants still in place ? ) I wouldn’t be happy with a tradesman working on the property all the time and the inconvenience caused..
Seriously though.. I’m interestedREDWING
“The man that thinks at 5o as he did when he was 20 has wasted 30 years of his life”
I have in the past renovated a home with a family of six living there, you see I`m a painter so I have done this for 20 yrs.
I let them live there rent free while I`m doing it, only takes 2 to 3 weeks intensive work, and I`m there every day to make sure they are happy as possible, I wouldn`t recommend it, it`s only that I am used to dealing with people in this way everyday, it takes a certain personality type I think.
Failing that I would wait until the tenants move on, they know that my object is to renovate eventually, from the start, so one way or another it works out good, I have some big advantages over your average rehabber in more ways than one.
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