Renting Primary Residence-what to put in lease

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learned the hard way: make sure they change the air filters regularly. I would buy the ones you use to have on hand. Know someone whose hvac system basically exploded when the air filters were never changed by the renters and it wasn’t spelled out who was responsible to do it.

This is why you or a maintenance person come once a month and change the filter. It also allows you to get eyes on the property regularly.

Not every 3 months ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yard and seasonal maintenance built into the rate.
No cats. For a dog, need to provide proof of vaccination and either proof of training or have passed canine good citizen. Give your neighbor the number to your property management company.

If you can find a way to get inside the property on a regular basis that would be great.

In addition make sure the pets have good credit history and no sex offenders list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Learned the hard way: make sure they change the air filters regularly. I would buy the ones you use to have on hand. Know someone whose hvac system basically exploded when the air filters were never changed by the renters and it wasn’t spelled out who was responsible to do it.

So, I'll comment on this one and add my $.02:

OP, you have a $2mil home and presumably you want to come home to it/keep it in general good repair to sell it. So DO NOT rely on tenants to do those repairs or basic maintenance. It's not the tenant's job, and/or they don't know what needs to be done.

So put in place an A/C heating maintenance contract. Keep your yard service. Send someone to clean out the clothes dryer vent. Send someone to maintain the fireplace. Have the gutters cleaned every quarter, pay for leaf removal, whatever. Maintenance is on you and don't expect anyone else to do it. Quirks like "the leaves have to be removed from the drain everyday" are a gamble you are taking. My advice is do not take that gamble.

[Anonymous]

I would try to rent to a military family assigned to live here for 2 years (if they trash the place you can go over their head and they know it). Many high ups and docs get sent to the DC area - if you have any military friends, ask them how to get the word out on their list (our neighbors were military, and rented to military families twice in the 26 years we have lived here). Both times, nice families who took great care of their place

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re guidance about no pets - we never allow cats because they cause so much damage but we always allow dogs. People who own dogs tend to be out in the yard and neighborhood more, and that helps keeps the house in connection with the neighborhood. Dogs also help keep the house and neighborhood safer since they deter robbers.

Use the boiler plate. Don't go off on your own. Add addendums if you seriously think you need to but, honestly, when people start doing that they tend to get too restrictive and crazy. And the fact that your property is your "primary" house only matters in your own mind. Once you rent it, it is a rental. Contact Landlord-Tenant for your jurisdiction and get their info on what's required for your area.

We thought we were fine with a dog but our tenants let their dog pee and poop and throw up all over the carpets and either didn’t clean up for did a terrible job. They also apparently let the dogs scratch out several of the windows screens and claimed to have no clue how it happened. So no more dogs. This is why we can’t have nice things.

Cats spray and that destroys walls. You can't get rid of the smell unless you completely replace the wall. I'm okay with replacing carpets using the tenant's pet deposit. But you raise a good point about vetting the pet.

I don't know about spraying but cats can do a ridiculous amount of damage. Friend banned them from their rental after having to replace multiple window screens, scratching damage, peeing damage, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are about to rent out our primary home for two years while we're overseas. What are some tips for the lease? I have a realtor and a property manager (they are affiliated with each other) and the lease they provided me is boilerplate. FWIW this is a 2M home in VA. Keeping a security deposit of one month's rent would hardly cover maintenance and repairs if the tenants destroy our home. Any advice from other landlords would be appreciated!

You can collect two months in VA. The big issue though is what is considered ordinary wear and tear. For example the useful life of carpeting is five years. So if it’s already three years old, you may not be able to withhold money if they ruin carpet.

I agree with the others that you should set services in place. Renters often don’t know how to maintain a house so even if you require it in the contract it might not be done properly or even at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learned the hard way: make sure they change the air filters regularly. I would buy the ones you use to have on hand. Know someone whose hvac system basically exploded when the air filters were never changed by the renters and it wasn’t spelled out who was responsible to do it.

This and include running exhaust fan and that tenants are responsible for mold on caulk and grout.

Mold, caulk and grout is the landlord's responsibility if it's anything beyond basic cleaning

My DH rented a townhome with friends in Arlington when we were first dating. They were mid-20s guys but took good care of the place (had a housekeeper once a month, kept the kitchen and bathrooms clean, etc). On move-out they were charged $2k for recaulking both bathrooms and gutter clean-out. They were pissed but apparently landlords are allowed to charge for this? I told them they should fight it but they didn’t. IMO DC favors the tenant to an extreme degree, but VA does the same for landlords.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are about to rent out our primary home for two years while we're overseas. What are some tips for the lease? I have a realtor and a property manager (they are affiliated with each other) and the lease they provided me is boilerplate. FWIW this is a 2M home in VA. Keeping a security deposit of one month's rent would hardly cover maintenance and repairs if the tenants destroy our home. Any advice from other landlords would be appreciated!

You can collect two months in VA. The big issue though is what is considered ordinary wear and tear. For example the useful life of carpeting is five years. So if it’s already three years old, you may not be able to withhold money if they ruin carpet.

I agree with the others that you should set services in place. Renters often don’t know how to maintain a house so even if you require it in the contract it might not be done properly or even at all.

Wrong in VA there is no definition of wear and tear. We've kept carpet for 10 years and it's in great condition because we ensure tenants sign that they will return it in the same condition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learned the hard way: make sure they change the air filters regularly. I would buy the ones you use to have on hand. Know someone whose hvac system basically exploded when the air filters were never changed by the renters and it wasn’t spelled out who was responsible to do it.

This and include running exhaust fan and that tenants are responsible for mold on caulk and grout.

Mold, caulk and grout is the landlord's responsibility if it's anything beyond basic cleaning

My DH rented a townhome with friends in Arlington when we were first dating. They were mid-20s guys but took good care of the place (had a housekeeper once a month, kept the kitchen and bathrooms clean, etc). On move-out they were charged $2k for recaulking both bathrooms and gutter clean-out. They were pissed but apparently landlords are allowed to charge for this? I told them they should fight it but they didn’t. IMO DC favors the tenant to an extreme degree, but VA does the same for landlords.

Wrong , if you move in to a mold free bathroom then it's expected to be returned in the same condition as this is a cleanines issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re guidance about no pets - we never allow cats because they cause so much damage but we always allow dogs. People who own dogs tend to be out in the yard and neighborhood more, and that helps keeps the house in connection with the neighborhood. Dogs also help keep the house and neighborhood safer since they deter robbers.

Use the boiler plate. Don't go off on your own. Add addendums if you seriously think you need to but, honestly, when people start doing that they tend to get too restrictive and crazy. And the fact that your property is your "primary" house only matters in your own mind. Once you rent it, it is a rental. Contact Landlord-Tenant for your jurisdiction and get their info on what's required for your area.

We thought we were fine with a dog but our tenants let their dog pee and poop and throw up all over the carpets and either didn’t clean up for did a terrible job. They also apparently let the dogs scratch out several of the windows screens and claimed to have no clue how it happened. So no more dogs. This is why we can’t have nice things.

Cats spray and that destroys walls. You can't get rid of the smell unless you completely replace the wall. I'm okay with replacing carpets using the tenant's pet deposit. But you raise a good point about vetting the pet.

I often see people saying they don’t allow cats because of the damage they cause. How often has a cat sprayed a wall?!

??? Don't you know anyone who has a cat? It is a known thing. Cats spray.

+1 I've been a cat owner for 20 years. I've only had one cat spray and she was a feral rescue. The rest never did/do.

Do you have a cat?? I know this is a problem with some cats, but I hardly think it’s common. My cat of 12 years has never sprayed anything or gone to the bathroom outside the litter box. I’d be more inclined to allow cats in my rental (which is also my primary residence) than dogs. But there’s no carpet in my house to worry about. Either way, get a bigger security deposit and charge pet rent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learned the hard way: make sure they change the air filters regularly. I would buy the ones you use to have on hand. Know someone whose hvac system basically exploded when the air filters were never changed by the renters and it wasn’t spelled out who was responsible to do it.

This and include running exhaust fan and that tenants are responsible for mold on caulk and grout.

Mold, caulk and grout is the landlord's responsibility if it's anything beyond basic cleaning

My DH rented a townhome with friends in Arlington when we were first dating. They were mid-20s guys but took good care of the place (had a housekeeper once a month, kept the kitchen and bathrooms clean, etc). On move-out they were charged $2k for recaulking both bathrooms and gutter clean-out. They were pissed but apparently landlords are allowed to charge for this? I told them they should fight it but they didn’t. IMO DC favors the tenant to an extreme degree, but VA does the same for landlords.

Unless it was in the lease these are not the things that the landlord should have been able to take out of the security deposit- curious who told them they shouldn't fight it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learned the hard way: make sure they change the air filters regularly. I would buy the ones you use to have on hand. Know someone whose hvac system basically exploded when the air filters were never changed by the renters and it wasn’t spelled out who was responsible to do it.

This and include running exhaust fan and that tenants are responsible for mold on caulk and grout.

Mold, caulk and grout is the landlord's responsibility if it's anything beyond basic cleaning

My DH rented a townhome with friends in Arlington when we were first dating. They were mid-20s guys but took good care of the place (had a housekeeper once a month, kept the kitchen and bathrooms clean, etc). On move-out they were charged $2k for recaulking both bathrooms and gutter clean-out. They were pissed but apparently landlords are allowed to charge for this? I told them they should fight it but they didn’t. IMO DC favors the tenant to an extreme degree, but VA does the same for landlords.

Wrong , if you move in to a mold free bathroom then it's expected to be returned in the same condition as this is a cleanines issue.

NP and also a LL but not sure there is a connection between being mold-free and needing to re-caulk. I would expect to re-caulk every 5ish years or so and wouldn't charge a tenant for it unless they had moved in a year ago and done something egregious that would cause the need for recaukling- even then you would need to prorate it by the number of useful years left.

Also cleaning gutters is not something a tenant should be exptected to pay for unless the landlord includes it in the lease. Even then I would not entrust a tenant to do that because if they don't then the potential damage to the house is greater than the cost to clean the gutters

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learned the hard way: make sure they change the air filters regularly. I would buy the ones you use to have on hand. Know someone whose hvac system basically exploded when the air filters were never changed by the renters and it wasn’t spelled out who was responsible to do it.

This and include running exhaust fan and that tenants are responsible for mold on caulk and grout.

Mold, caulk and grout is the landlord's responsibility if it's anything beyond basic cleaning

My DH rented a townhome with friends in Arlington when we were first dating. They were mid-20s guys but took good care of the place (had a housekeeper once a month, kept the kitchen and bathrooms clean, etc). On move-out they were charged $2k for recaulking both bathrooms and gutter clean-out. They were pissed but apparently landlords are allowed to charge for this? I told them they should fight it but they didn’t. IMO DC favors the tenant to an extreme degree, but VA does the same for landlords.

Wrong , if you move in to a mold free bathroom then it's expected to be returned in the same condition as this is a cleanines issue.

NP and also a LL but not sure there is a connection between being mold-free and needing to re-caulk. I would expect to re-caulk every 5ish years or so and wouldn't charge a tenant for it unless they had moved in a year ago and done something egregious that would cause the need for recaukling- even then you would need to prorate it by the number of useful years left.

Also cleaning gutters is not something a tenant should be exptected to pay for unless the landlord includes it in the lease. Even then I would not entrust a tenant to do that because if they don't then the potential damage to the house is greater than the cost to clean the gutters

I agree with return mold free but Recaulking I would not charge, unless the only way at get rid off mold is to remove old caulking .
Yes gutters I would make sure they are clean by scheduling someone comping twice a week .
I wouldn’t trust tenant with that .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re guidance about no pets - we never allow cats because they cause so much damage but we always allow dogs. People who own dogs tend to be out in the yard and neighborhood more, and that helps keeps the house in connection with the neighborhood. Dogs also help keep the house and neighborhood safer since they deter robbers.

Use the boiler plate. Don't go off on your own. Add addendums if you seriously think you need to but, honestly, when people start doing that they tend to get too restrictive and crazy. And the fact that your property is your "primary" house only matters in your own mind. Once you rent it, it is a rental. Contact Landlord-Tenant for your jurisdiction and get their info on what's required for your area.

We thought we were fine with a dog but our tenants let their dog pee and poop and throw up all over the carpets and either didn’t clean up for did a terrible job. They also apparently let the dogs scratch out several of the windows screens and claimed to have no clue how it happened. So no more dogs. This is why we can’t have nice things.

Cats spray and that destroys walls. You can't get rid of the smell unless you completely replace the wall. I'm okay with replacing carpets using the tenant's pet deposit. But you raise a good point about vetting the pet.

I often see people saying they don’t allow cats because of the damage they cause. How often has a cat sprayed a wall?!

??? Don't you know anyone who has a cat? It is a known thing. Cats spray.

Male cats spray. Female cats, not at all. Have a 12 year spayed female cat; no spraying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have pets you should own a home

Been trying to do that. House search has been protracted.