old thread was too old and i'd rather have one pertaining to my exact situation...

My mortgage is 1157/mo (i can refi free and make it 1060/mo right now). I owe 175k on the house and would like to wait 2-3 years to sell it so i don't sell low. at best i think i'd get 175-180k for sale by owner and i don't know how quick it'd sell.

I have a renter that is willing to pay 1150/mo starting May 1 (when i want to move, when they need to move). I just listed it YESTERDAY.

They will pay 675 now for deposit and the rest the day before they move in, along with the first month's rent. They will pay a pet deposit and a smoking deposit (haven't decided on either).


They have 2 dogs, 1 cat, and they smoke. They are, however, clean people, owned a carpet cleaning business and agreed to clean the carpets every 30 days and will repaint the house when they move out themselves (i'll pay for paint maybe). They also, apparently, and i could tell, stay clean and don't want to live in scum. They rented a house in Ohio for 19 straight years, and have lived in apartments near hear for 2 years with no gap in renting. No evictions, no foreclosures.

The guy in the house works at Harbor Freight and used to work at Lowes and used to be a carpet cleaner. He will do all repairs needed including cleaning the carpets he said.


What should I charge for each dog, the cat, and the smoking? should all or part be non-refundable? etc?

Should I add into the contract that ANY damage done to walls/carpet/etc from smoking will not be normal wear&tear and will not be covered in the non-refundable deposit? is that possible?

What kind of documentation should I go through to make sure they don't say "well that was there before we were." Video tape the whole house and make sure the date is displayed somehow?


[Edited on February 17, 2009 at 8:10 PM. Reason : new mtg would be 1060 not 1070, so nearly 100/mo savings after first year for rolling in costs]

2/17/2009 7:57:11 PM

I would say a $250 pet fee, of which $150 is non-refundable. Refi the house, and put the extra 70 in an account for repairs. Its bound to happen. If they clean the carpets every 60 days, that should be fine. Make sure everything is in writing. I have a lease I can get to you if you want one.

Take pictures of every room from every angle. Including garage, closets and the outside of the house. You do have to expect normal wear and tear...As long as you get first and last month's rent, and you really followed up with their past landlords, it should be legit.

2/17/2009 8:04:40 PM

I think i'm going to shoot for the $150 per pet non-refundable. I sort of mentioned it to them earlier and they seemed okay by that.

They are IN LOVE with my house and I could tell, so I should have decent leverage.


What about smoking? Should I take a refundable deposit for that? $400 too much?

2/17/2009 8:08:44 PM

ask them to smoke outside and see what they say

2/17/2009 8:14:06 PM

i did. the older woman balked at the idea. i think even if i told them to and had it in contract, they'd still do it, though. if they did, would i get the full deposit to me?

2/17/2009 8:22:15 PM

You will have to WORK to get the smoke residues out of the house when they leave.
I would tell them to only smoke outside, or in the garage if need be. Smoking will stain the walls/ ceiling.
$400 would not be too much for a smoking fee.

I also own, and rent rooms out of where I live.

[Edited on February 17, 2009 at 8:38 PM. Reason : .]

2/17/2009 8:37:43 PM

Quote :

"i did. the older woman balked at the idea. i think even if i told them to and had it in contract, they'd still do it, though. if they did, would i get the full deposit to me?"

most definitely youd get the deposit

i would leave the options open to see if you can find someone else that will rent that doesnt smoke

2/17/2009 8:41:47 PM

i'm mainly scared i won't find someone to rent that i know will pay like them. i know they'll pay (from what i can sense) and i know they'd keep the house in good condition (including helping w/ carpet cleaning b/c they smoke and doing small repairs). he even said he'd do major repairs if i just bought the hardware.

one girl is in military, other is manager at a local store. they'd both sign lease so can't get out on the whole military orders deal.

oh well i'll stall for a week and see if i can get anyone else interested. the trick is to get them here. it's fully renovated with no work needed.

2/17/2009 9:24:59 PM

Quote :

"they'd both sign lease so can't get out on the whole military orders deal."

What?
Are you saying that they'll sign a lease that goes against state law?
Or did you forget a word or two?

2/17/2009 9:52:03 PM

i'd like to not have only military b/c of being able to break the lease when leaving... however i won't discriminate based on that. it'd just be nice to not have to deal w/ it.

and of course that wouldn't be in the contract... sorry for bad wording

most of my family is military so i'm not a hater!

i've had friends sign year+ leases knowing they were just getting out of it in 4 months - which is shitty!

[Edited on February 17, 2009 at 10:37 PM. Reason : ]

2/17/2009 10:36:21 PM

I would not allow smoking inside. you will never get that smell out.

I would not worry about finding another renter. this market is very renter-friendly.

2/17/2009 10:39:09 PM

That's cool...it's why I asked

I'm gonna chime in on the smoking.

When my fiance bought the house that we live in, the previous owners were smokers, and had lived there since the house was built in the 60s.

We could not smell a bit of smoke in the house. Never have been. Some of the carpet is from the 80s (judging by the color ). We're pretty sensitive to this stuff: it aggravates him, and I just have a keen sense of smell to start with.
The worst evidence we could find of smoke was on the cabinetry, doors, and walls. I think they were pretty conscientious about cleaning the walls, as those haven't been so bad, but the doors and cabinetry... I probably spent half a day on one door in the hall, with murphy's wood oil soap, cleaning the door. I never did the rest of the hallway doors. You couldn't tell a difference.
You could on the cabinetry, so I got them all to the same color of dirty And now we have a new kitchen.





[Edited on February 17, 2009 at 10:43 PM. Reason : dlfkj]

2/17/2009 10:39:23 PM

man if they balk at smoking outside, then they are HEAVY smokers. be prepared to spend a lot of time and money trying to get rid of the smell after they leave.

2/17/2009 10:41:12 PM

yeah only 1 of them balked at the idea, and she looked like the heavy smoker. i sent them an email that basically asks them how much it's worth to them to pay to smoke inside that will hopefully get them leaning more towards outside.

i have a covered front and covered back porch. it shouldn't be that big of a deal. hell, i have plugs all around, get an outside heater.

2/18/2009 10:34:49 AM

Quote :

"most definitely youd get the deposit"

You don't just get to keep their deposit because they broke the rules. You have to be able to prove that you spent the money on smoke remediation. It's not "free money."

As for the smoke smell, if they professionally clean the carpets and paint the whole interior of the house I think you're going to be in pretty good shape. Make sure painting the ceiling is included as that's where a lot of the residue will collect. I think I'd take a smoker if they are willing to enter a contract to do all those things after the house is cleaned out.

2/18/2009 10:46:30 AM

You have until May. Lots of people are going to be moving into renting situations. Even if you have to lower your rate to attract a clean person that doesn't smoke, I'd say it's worth the gamble.

2/18/2009 10:54:59 AM

yeah the think i'm having an issue with is i am guaranteed these people will pay. they don't care that i went from 1/2 a month deposit to 1 month and they'll give it to me early. maybe that's b/c they smoke and have pets. prob hard to find a house that accepts all of that.


i'm waiting on their response still and will update it on what they say.

[Edited on February 18, 2009 at 11:33 AM. Reason : ]

2/18/2009 11:30:19 AM

make sure the deposit is sufficient to cover recarpeting part or all of the house if need be. if multiple people are smoking indoors there is likely to be at least one cigarette burn.

2/22/2009 3:22:57 AM