Very Demanding Tenants

Hello Everyone,

I recently bought a property and have a newly married couple with a 1 year old as my tenants. The couple seems to be nice while speaking with me. However, they are very demanding and have called me 10 times to fix minor things like catch mice and patch drywalls behind the stove. Being new to this business, i am just concerned that they will start dancing on my heads. Is there a point of time i can say no and throw the ball in their court? Once i deliver the apartment as working, are they supposed to fix the routine problems?

Please advise.

Thanks.

Comments(14)

  • vashistha27th June, 2005

    thanks vguess99 and alexlev,

    There was one hole in the wall behind the stove and that was due to a lot of utility pipes running through, hence they left a small piece open.

    Your point is well taken alexlev that i should not have rent a property out with any rodents. However, believe me i am living in the other unit and there have been no mice so far. The tenant also put a couple of mice trap but there have been no mice caught as of yet.

    This morning he called me to fix the knob on the bath tub that allow the water to flow properly and trust me this knob was working fine before they moved in.

    I have tried to fix all there problems within 4-5 days but things which are their mistake (something that was working fine before but was broken due to their negligence and not the normal wear and tear) is really what concerns me.

    Also please advise if snow removal and landscaping should be my responsibility in a multifamily (please note that i live in MA) or should the tenants be responsible for it?

    Thank you guys again.

  • monkfish27th June, 2005

    If you wanted your tenants to take some responsibility for landscaping and snow removal, you really should have included it in their lease.
    [addsig]

  • vashistha28th June, 2005

    thank you Monkfish. will take care the following year

  • vashistha29th June, 2005

    thanks for the suggestion d_random...i will certainly suggest the tenant to try using that...

  • NewKidinTown21st July, 2005

    I once stayed in a newly constructed "dorm room" when I was in school in KS. The room was a two BR suite with a common kitchen. My roommate had one BR and I had the other. We were the first occupants in this room.

    At some point during our tenancy, we were visited by mice. The only way we knew we had mice is that we saw their droppings under the kitchen sink and in a couple of kitchen drawers. Under the sink, the plumbing and the water drain went through the wall and the opening in the drywall was a little larger that needed.

    We baited our mousetraps with Peter Pan crunchy peanut butter. When our traps were no longer being tripped, the body count stood at nine. We figured we had wiped out an entire den of field mice that were displaced by the new construction.[ Edited by NewKidinTown2 on Date 07/01/2005 ]

  • vashistha3rd July, 2005

    i just got off the phone with my tenant and he said he was able to trap 5 mice by using Skippy peanut butter. he was very happy. thanks to all of you!!!!!

    PEANUT BUTTER ROCKS, GO SKIPPY

  • d_random5th July, 2005

    AWESOME vashistha!!! And kudos to hoober for the Skippy suggestion!

  • vashistha6th July, 2005

    thats a great idea gmackk, i think its good for everyone to have an initial walkthrough with the tenant with a checklist and upfront determine on whats going to be done and by when. this will eliminate a lot of assumptions.

    it might be a little pain to come up with a checklist initially but once we make it we can use it for all our existing properties and future purchases.

  • vashistha7th July, 2005

    god damn it!!!! you guys are good.

    i was thinking about taking a real estate class in school to educate myself; instead it would be a better idea just to read all articles on this site. i am gaining good knowledge on this website.

    thanks to all of you!!!!

  • d_random7th July, 2005

    HA!
    This place IS a great resource, and taking classes IS a good idea. I am taking a property management class at a local community college. The woman that teaches it has 19 years of property management experience, her depth of knowlege is amazing. I have learned so much in the class, well worth the $69.

  • molarband12th July, 2005

    I would place exclusions on the lease.

    For example on my lease, I excluded maintenance on the refrigerator, washer, dryer, jacuzzi and everything outside of the house. They are only there for their convenience.

  • molarband12th July, 2005

    I would place exclusions on the lease.

    For example on my lease, I excluded maintenance on the refrigerator, washer, dryer, jacuzzi and everything outside of the house. They are only there for their convenience.

  • molarband12th July, 2005

    wow that sounds like a good idea. I am currently writing my own rental contract. Does this sound right?

    "There will be a $25 deductible for all repairs"

    Is there a better way to phrase that on a rental contract?

  • smithj214th July, 2005

    I like the "$25 deductible" idea. My concern is that this could encourage the tenants to leave some minor repairs unreported and then these could escalate to major repairs.

    I guess combining the deductible with frequent inspections might be the way to go. Thoughts?

    JS.

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