[Hamilton Felix]

Rural house with a propane heater to supplement original electric baseboards, but no other propane appliance, is more of a headache than same house with propane water heater. Not only will the water heater work when the power is off and you're running the vital circuits with your 5kw generator, but the renters will pay the propane bill if they like hot water. In the first example, the renters will let the propane run out, stiff the gas company on the bill, use the electric heaters, then cry when the power goes out in winter.

You needn't ask how I know these things. ;)

[Larred]

Lol... Why don't you just get a new electric water heater, and then leave the place entirely electric? If the power goes out leave them to their own devices, and that way you don't have to worry about the propane...

DW and I managed (too many) low income apartments at one time... I've learned that they don't give a **** if it's not theirs. I also got to know the "shut the power off for not paying" guy by name....

[Potemkin]

Landlording Tips & Hints

Don't be one? :lol:

[Hamilton Felix]

You may have a point, Larred.

And you definitely do, Potemkin!

I try to take good care of my renters. We have small 4 bedroom, one bath rural houses, moved to their present locations from a little Seattle City Light town, where everything was/is electric. In their present locations, the power goes off in winter, sometimes for days.

Each house has a 5kw generator and a Gentran transfer switch. The generator will pick up the well pump, some lights, the fridge, the microwave, power for the fan on the gas heater and a few other small items. One of the houses has propane water heater, range and dryer, in addition to the direct vent wall heater. But it's a power vent water heater, so it still needs a little bit of power to run.

If the renters keep propane in the tank, they can be fairly comfortable during an outage of several days. And the renter with the propane appliances will be very comfortable. I certainly don't want well pumps, pressure tanks, or plumbing to freeze if the power is out during a cold snap. There are some lights under the houses that can be run by the generators.

I have not installed wood heaters (except in the shop I share with the tenant in Rental #3). Insurance companies frown on wood heat. It's messy. And some renters are likely to be splitting kindling on your living room rug.

I try to encourage the renters to take good care of themselves and their homes. The propane water heaters will help.

Every time we've failed to do a thorough background check, we've regretted it. And this especially applies to shirttail relations who "just have to have a place right away."

I've decided to take care of garbage myself, just bump the rent a few bucks. If you leave it to the renters, some will let it pile up instead of paying the garbage service.

Anyone want to invest in some nice little rental properties near Marblemount? :D

[Larred]

HF,

No thanks on the investment offer, I used to think I wanted rentals as a source of income until I managed apartments. Even in the market rate complex people just didn't care, and were constantly trying to get around the rules (pets was a big one). It's good that you care about your renters though, I've rented from a few people that couldn't care less so long as they got their check every month.

I see your point though about the propane water heater now, if you have extended power outages that makes a lot of sense. People don't want to take cold showers. Have you looked into the Toyo oil heaters? I occasionally see one of my old landlords who has a half a dozen old trailers and he swears by them. They're not cheap to put in, but he says they work like a dream and are pretty cheap to run as well (that was before oil went to the moon though, so I dunno about now).

Good luck managing the rentals, if you get good tenants things are great. I know what you mean about doing a background check, but even that isn't perfect. The same landlord I mentioned above was initially unwilling to rent from us because we were in the same church at the time and he'd been taken advantage of/abused by other fellow church members, pretty sad if you think about it...

[alpaca cath]

Much as Hubby and I love Rockport and Marblemount, we are going to have to pass on your offer on the rentals.

Question for ya. What's up with Marblemount? We go over Hwy 20 frequently when open and noticed that all of the restaurants have boarded up and closed within the past few months. Was there a public health incident or something? Hubby laughingly mentioned purchasing the Buffalo Run. Yeah, right!

Cath

[Ought Six]

The most critical thing with renting is to get references and check them out. If you do not bother to do this, your tenets will run up all kinds of utility bills, stiff you on the rent until you can evict them, and leave the place completely trashed. In some places, the utility companies will not restore services until the landlord covers the utility bills left by the dirtbag renters.

Probably one of the best ways to handle rentals is through a property management company. It costs money, but is well worth it, especially if you have several rentals.

[EdPPCLI]

Question for you LLs. I read somewhere that house "ownership" is at an all time high of 70%, they are offering mortgages with 0% down and interest only. Doesn't this mean that anyone with a schmeck of personal responsibility is an owner thus leaving you guys the dregs of humanity to rent to. That last statement was a little harsh :), but I am sure you get my drift. Have you LLs noticed a decrease in the quality of renters say in the last 5 years?

[Ought Six]

Yep, you will have to rent to scumbags like me. God help you. :eek:

[Hamilton Felix]

Well, that's a point, EdPPCLI. But there are people who may only plan on a job in the area for a year, and I suppose some people who simply don't want to be bothered maintaining a house. Sara and I have even talked about renting a house, furnished, for shorter times but more money, to contractor employees working on big jobs in the area.

It does seem that most who can afford to buy a house will do so, but not all. Personally, I think I'm better off living in a shack and paying on a mortgage, than paying the same money to rent a better place. Not everyone sees it that way.

There are also folks who no way can afford any sort of house, but receive some sort of rental assistance. These need to be checked out very carefully. While it's true that "HUD" or "Section Eight" renters mean you'll always get at least the portion of the rent that the government (you and me) pays, there's also a rule of thumb in renting to the effect that: The higher the rent they pay, the less likely they are to trash the place. If you are renting a house for $750, and HUD is paying $700, you don't have a $750 a month renter, you have a $50 a month lowlife.

There are wonderful exceptions to the rule, and that's what you want to find. I found one excellent renter. In fact, she has been MORE reliable than the Housing Authority when it comes to paying (always ticks me when I have to call the Housing Authority and play phone tag, only to hear some office flunky tell me she doesn't know how it fell through the cracks or they have a new computer system, but they'll be sending the check soon. My bank never tells me the mortage bill got forgotten this month). In fact, the sad truth is, that house is taking a lot more beating and is messier, now that she found my 30 year old recently divorced son as a live-in boyfriend. :confused:

Another HUD renter was pretty "low impact," herself. Left to her own devices, she'd have coasted through life as an "eater," never stirring the pot or accomplishing much. But her choices of friends and boyfriends left a lot to be desired. In general, out in rural "welfare country," you need to watch for the classic welfare mom (with all the benefits that exist for single moms), who moves in the classic ne'er-do-well boyfriend -- he mostly lives off of her foodstamps and rent assistance, dealing a little dope/drugs, sometimes doing some under the table work, mostly drinking, poaching and screwing off. It's a classic pattern.

There are still a fair number of decent young families who aren't in a position to buy anything, but need a place to live. But, as has been said before, you will never regret doing too thorough a background check. Pay for a good search, talk to prior landlords, try to see for yourself how they keep their car and current house/apartment. Listen to the local grapevine. Landlords do talk to each other, even have organizations.

And if you ever learn how to get rich at this, please let me know! :re:


Oh, for alpaca cath: No recent public health incidents in Marblemount. The only public health related problem in recent years has been that the state said the wells of local businesses are not approved as public wells. They admit there's nothing wrong with the water, but the wells don't meet state standards for public wells. This is part of the scheme to force a local water district by the county -- a horrible monster that will start out as a benefit to a few local businesses, then grow forever and unstoppably. It's a PITA for local restaurants to serve bottled water, but they are.

The jokers who own the "Buffalo Dung" managed to buy the Log House Inn, when Rich Green sold out. These jerks should NEVER have a public contact business. The only way their restaurant stays in business is through tourism, NOT repeat customers. Marshall and Candy run off customers in droves. But having bought the "competition," they're dumping the restaurant part and renovating the "inn." I doubt they'll be any better at the hotel business. Howie's Diner is for sale. I think Howie doesn't like the hours -- and he doesn't have the sense to be open when the traffic is present. It's a nice new clean little place. The Good Food drive-in is going through changes. Lazy Gary found a horny younger redhead and a good divorce lawyer, and bailed on Sally and the kids. So Sally and the kids are trying to live off that restaurant (which has never really made money), while paying Gary as well (I said he had a good lawyer). If you are serious about a restaurant in Marblemount, I'd look at Howie's.

[diamonds]

Rural house with a propane heater to supplement original electric baseboards, but no other propane appliance, is more of a headache than same house with propane water heater. Not only will the water heater work when the power is off and you're running the vital circuits with your 5kw generator, but the renters will pay the propane bill if they like hot water. In the first example, the renters will let the propane run out, stiff the gas company on the bill, use the electric heaters, then cry when the power goes out in winter.

You needn't ask how I know these things. ;)

Right now I really agree with you. I just went to one of mine yesterday and they have not filled the propane tank. The only thing on propane is the furnace. I found out they are heating with electric heaters instead. So now the floors are colder than I want with the water pipes under the floor. I did talk to hubby last night and we are going to put heat tape on the water lines because of this. A lesson learned thats for sure. I think if there is a problem with the hot water heater I will use your solution.

[Hamilton Felix]

I know how you feel. Stay on 'em. The last couple we had in #1 never did get any gas in their name, just used up the half full 500 gallon tank that was there when they moved in.

I'm looking around now; I think propane water heaters are about $300. Naturally a power vent tank is a lot more, but I'm not doing that again.

[MzJag]

When the last set of tennants in one of our duplexes skipped out leaving a huge hole in the ceiling that he'd cut for maximum growth of his marijuana plant exceeded the hiddeous neighbors in the adjoining apartment taking the kitchen cabinets off of the wall to take with them had me in tears...........WE SOLD ALL OF THEM. Oh, did I mention that the one before them left a freezer full of seafood shells in the freezer after skipping out a week earlier in 98 degree temps and I had to literally buy a new refrigerator. :( I don't miss it and hopefully won't ever feel compelled to go back to it.