So about 4 months ago I rented out my house in California and moved to Texas.
I bought at the end of 08 so with the market bouncing back slowly I though Habging on to it was the best move.
I had a guy, you could consider him a friend move in wity his girl and new born. (Never rent to someone you know) I thought great the guys clean and had a kid he's got to keep a roof over
Well it's been a horrible horrible experience. Every month when rents due there is some problem, this is broke or that's broke and being 2000 miles away I can't check to see if it's broken or he's trying to scam.
Well I finally had enough and hired a landlord and what happens? The guy freaks out and know won't pay rent due to "mold" in the detached garage that I didn't know existed.
So what's my option? Evicted him. Well that cost 1400 and I'm still not getting paid and the process takes a long time that's if he dosnt try to fight in court. Which he won't win but will end up costing me more.
Moral of the story never rent to someone you know, get a landlord off the bat, never talk to the renter ever and if you don't have a spare 1600 or 1700 bucks a month laying around to pay double rent don't do it.
Live and learn. All this seems like common sense now but hind sight is 20/20
Your “friend” was certainly a jerk, but the fault was yours. The lessons you learned could have been culled from common sense. Did your friend pay first, last, and security deposit before he moved in or did you let that slide because he was a “friend”? Did you review all 20+pages of his credit report? Or did you let that pass too? Renting is always a gamble, and you must do what you can to hedge your bet. I suspect you did not do that. As you now know, you should
never rent to a “friend.” Use a realtor or place an advertisement in a suitable venue and
screen your tenants rigorously. Most landlords are so greedy for the money that they end up taking a tenant that they shouldn't.
When I rented my place I told the realtor that anyone who wanted to rent my house had to have first/last and security. They had to have a credit score above 800 (no exceptions) and they must be willing to show me all pages of their credit report. The realtor kept bringing me applicants who had first/last and security, but they didn’t have the credit score or they could not provide me with the complete report. I rejected them. At one point she brought me a few people who wanted to pay first/last or security in installments. I rejected them too.
Eventually, she told me that I needed to be more flexible because many people had been hurt by the economy and their credit scores had suffered. I told her that I understood this, but that was not my problem and if she couldn’t get behind my criteria then I would find another agent. That shut her up. The next person she brought me was a single retired widower. His grown kids did not live with him, he had no pets, and did not smoke. His credit score was above 800 and I saw the entire report. I let him move in and never had a problem, late payment, excuses, etc. We actually had a great relationship. I visited the home about twice a year to inspect the property, landscaping, and work I had contracted for. Mr. tenant always greeted me warmly, invited me in, and told me I was free to enter the home even when he was not there.
If you do the heavy lifting
before, it eliminates all the problems later. By the way, I never used a landlord. Again, if you find the right tenant, you don’t need one. I had a local handyman who would address small issues for me and never had a problem.
