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Looking (again) for a very reliable tenant for a small off grid cabin on a lovely acre near four corners. The place is nice, not ratty with solar power, catchment, hot water, furnished, very comfortable.
I've had a few good tenants and a couple of really awful ones that just about made me give up on humans lol.
I don't really want to advertise and attract the riff-raff and head-in-the-clouds dreamers or woofers with no money, so where does one find a good tenant?
I live on the mainland so that complicates things of course.
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wow, how do you manage or even find renters (let alone good ones) from the mainland?
The usual, checking background checks, and rental history. But it only get's you so far........... There is always a risk, you just gotta hope that weed out the bad ones. It's called playing the rental game! Hell, if it were that easy, everyone would be renting out their homes and bringing in the 6-800 a month in profits.
Even finding a good property management company is no guarantee. Best bet have a lot of trusting good friends here that you can pay to watch and fix any problems that might come up.
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We've used Craigslist and generally have done fine. You need someone local to show the place and interview people. Alternately, talk on the phone. Check references, pray a lot. When you get a good tenant do what you can to keep them happy.
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
Posts: 60
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Joined: Sep 2014
Are you a Canadian too, Mr. Vancouverislander? How have you managed to find good property managers?
I've tried four different people for managing. 3 of them quit within a year and 1 was so slow collecting rents that we moved to another one. But she might have been the best of the bunch in hindsight lol.
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PunaLover: yes. We have a friend who manages, but he's quite busy so we do a lot remotely (like hire handy man to do repairs) to fill in and we have a great tenant right now. We keep our rent low to give us a good selection and have asked tenants to show the place when they move out for times our manager isn't available. Our previous tenants both broke 1 yr. leases and were happy to help out to make up for it. My biggest hope is that our current tenant wants to stay long term. If they do move one day we'll figure something out.
My biggest problem as a landlord is that there are a great many young families looking for places but aren't the best applicants. My heart says one thing and my brain says another. If I won a lottery I think I'd buy up some properties to rent out specifically to these young families or as a rent to own or something along those lines. It's very sad when a 600 sq. ft. cottage is a major upgrade in living conditions for families of 4 or 5 in which both parents work at least one job.
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
Posts: 60
Threads: 16
Joined: Sep 2014
VancouverIslander: That's kind of how I've tried to do it too. My rent is also low now ($400 to $500 for a 320 sf cottage on an acre - it was $800 six years ago) and just like you said, that's a pro and a con. I get some people I would love to rent to, to help them out, but in the end, when I'm an $800 flight away, it really messes us up when they abandon the place or don't pay rent.
My 2nd last renter was a nice senior lady who was there for a year and a half til she stopped paying rent - and after giving her four months rent free, she actually refused to move out til I flew out there and had a face to face 'discussion' with her. I had a manager but he was ineffectual in getting rent from her and we both felt bad for her situation, but enough is enough. It was highly stressful for all of us.
My last renters were a fine young couple from the mainland who were going to run the place as an AirBnB for both our benefit. They arrived, she got pregnant, they went home and all my work, expenses and preparation came to nothing. Ouch. Took us most of this year just get out of the hole I dug preparing for the AirBnB.
Hence I need someone local to manage it again but I only know a few people well enough to trust them and they all have their hands full at the moment. Just not sure what step to take next. I want to find a manager before I look for another renter.
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When we rented our HPP place after moving to Kapoho I asked for physical addresses of current residence as part of my application, then I drove by every single applicant's place. That made it easy to rule out about 90% of our applicants. It would be worth it to pay whoever is your on island rep to do the same, if someone is a slob at one place they will be a slob at your place. One guy who claimed he was a "mechanic" had piles of motor oil jugs and rusty car parts all over the yard, plus at least one car with a small tree growing through the engine compartment. I like screwing around with my car as much as the next guy, but I don't want my place to get turned into a junkyard.
Because the house has an ohana studio unit we also included a limit on the total number of people who could live on the property, and required that all adults be listed on the lease after one family mentioned they were going to "sublet" the ohana to another family with 4 kids. That requirement weeded out another group of potentially bad tenants.
Good luck.
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quote:
Originally posted by shockwave rider
When we rented our HPP place after moving to Kapoho I asked for physical addresses of current residence as part of my application, then I drove by every single applicant's place. That made it easy to rule out about 90% of our applicants. It would be worth it to pay whoever is your on island rep to do the same, if someone is a slob at one place they will be a slob at your place. One guy who claimed he was a "mechanic" had piles of motor oil jugs and rusty car parts all over the yard, plus at least one car with a small tree growing through the engine compartment. I like screwing around with my car as much as the next guy, but I don't want my place to get turned into a junkyard.
Because the house has an ohana studio unit we also included a limit on the total number of people who could live on the property, and required that all adults be listed on the lease after one family mentioned they were going to "sublet" the ohana to another family with 4 kids. That requirement weeded out another group of potentially bad tenants.
Good luck.
So have you notified the County that you no longer qualify for the homeowner exemption ?
Posts: 1,219
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Joined: Dec 2014
quote:
Originally posted by Obie
quote:
Originally posted by shockwave rider
When we rented our HPP place after moving to Kapoho I asked for physical addresses of current residence as part of my application, then I drove by every single applicant's place. That made it easy to rule out about 90% of our applicants. It would be worth it to pay whoever is your on island rep to do the same, if someone is a slob at one place they will be a slob at your place. One guy who claimed he was a "mechanic" had piles of motor oil jugs and rusty car parts all over the yard, plus at least one car with a small tree growing through the engine compartment. I like screwing around with my car as much as the next guy, but I don't want my place to get turned into a junkyard.
Because the house has an ohana studio unit we also included a limit on the total number of people who could live on the property, and required that all adults be listed on the lease after one family mentioned they were going to "sublet" the ohana to another family with 4 kids. That requirement weeded out another group of potentially bad tenants.
Good luck.
So have you notified the County that you no longer qualify for the homeowner exemption ?
Not that it is any of your GD business, but we are happy to be getting the homeowner exemption on our much more expensive new place instead of the lower valued old house. You have a lot of nerve even asking that.
Grumpy Old Obie is at it again, demanding that individuals disclose private information as if they are politicians running for office, just because they post on an internet forum. What is the point of your question? Do you grill all your neighbors about their property tax status, and we are neighbors now, you almost ran over my disabled partner taking his walk one day right after we moved down to Kapoho. What about your neighbors who rent out vacation rentals, do you demand they all prove to you that they aren't claiming the property tax exemption for homeowners?
Posts: 4,904
Threads: 83
Joined: Feb 2009
quote:
Originally posted by shockwave rider
quote:
Originally posted by Obie
quote:
Originally posted by shockwave rider
When we rented our HPP place after moving to Kapoho I asked for physical addresses of current residence as part of my application, then I drove by every single applicant's place. That made it easy to rule out about 90% of our applicants. It would be worth it to pay whoever is your on island rep to do the same, if someone is a slob at one place they will be a slob at your place. One guy who claimed he was a "mechanic" had piles of motor oil jugs and rusty car parts all over the yard, plus at least one car with a small tree growing through the engine compartment. I like screwing around with my car as much as the next guy, but I don't want my place to get turned into a junkyard.
Because the house has an ohana studio unit we also included a limit on the total number of people who could live on the property, and required that all adults be listed on the lease after one family mentioned they were going to "sublet" the ohana to another family with 4 kids. That requirement weeded out another group of potentially bad tenants.
Good luck.
So have you notified the County that you no longer qualify for the homeowner exemption ?
Not that it is any of your GD business, but we are happy to be getting the homeowner exemption on our much more expensive new place instead of the lower valued old house. You have a lot of nerve even asking that.
Grumpy Old Obie is at it again, demanding that individuals disclose private information as if they are politicians running for office, just because they post on an internet forum. What is the point of your question? Do you grill all your neighbors about their property tax status, and we are neighbors now, you almost ran over my disabled partner taking his walk one day right after we moved down to Kapoho. What about your neighbors who rent out vacation rentals, do you demand they all prove to you that they aren't claiming the property tax exemption for homeowners?
I think you have me confused with someone else ! I have never seen you or your disabled partner.
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