Sunday, September 10, 2006

Problem Update

The electrician did show up on Saturday and finished much of what was needed inside the apartment. He still has to finish the garage and porch lights, smoke detectors, motion detector switches and light for the basement laundry room. He says "we should probably be okay for inspection." He does seem to understand our deadline.

We still don't have tenants yet though. Two sets of people wanted to take it last weekend, but we were not ready to rent it for a few reasons. For one, we didn't have our lease or application ready.

We wrote a new lease that covers all the building rules. One of the building rules is that making holes in any wood trim is not allowed! We are providing wood blinds in one room, nice shades in the bedrooms, and sheer curtains in the living room installed with tension rods.

We added things like no use of laundry facilities after 9:30pm and how to care for the refinished bathtub. For obvious reasons, we are being very picky about who lives up there. We were so burned the last time, we are wanting to be vigilant this time around and get the right person.

We did call back the couple who was interested, but they have not called us back so maybe they opted for another place. It's funny, renting an apartment reminds me of my single days when on occasion I'd be waiting for the phone to ring from some guy I was interested in. It's funny that way.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Jocelyn,
I'm sure you are old pros at the rental process, but the one piece of advice i got that saved my butt has been to call not just the current landlord, but 2 previous ones as well. If the tenants are nightmares, their current landlord will be thrilled to get rid of them, and might lie about their virtues to get them out of there. I found my current tenants on CraigsList, and they rented sight unseen. It was such a test of faith b/c i had never met them (we live in the upstairs apartment) but they were great on the phone, and their references were stellar all around. Also, i had them give me a copy of their latest (free) credit report, instead of signing up for an expensive service to get them for me. Good luck!
And i have to say, although i miss the easy yard access (we also have 2 dogs) the lack of noise makes it a dream to live up there. It's also MUCH quieter from street noise and more private to boot.

Jocelyn said...

Hey thanks.

We always get the past 2 landlords for the reason you stated. And we do a credit check and background check.

There are pros and cons to living on the top and bottom floors. I really love our 1st floor unit- we have done alot to it. It is much cozier than the 2nd floor. But then, it would be nice to be above it all up there on the 2nd floor. Maybe we'll try it someday.... :)

Just A Girl And Her Craftsman Bungalow said...

I also have tenants below me-- it has been an interesting experience. Rented to one person, then the boyfriend moved in. (Sigh) Not much we could do about it actually but we did raise the rent.