How to get your landlord to hate you.

[Drew Dowdell]

Do this.

79 nails, 4 staples, 4 room apartment.

Lose $600

Thank you for your attention.

[Satty]

You got nailed?

[Drew Dowdell]

Wouldn't be the first time.

[Intrepidation]

Only took one post to get this thread tog o downhill.

That sucks dude...in our own house I did it to keep the rug in place, but then out hardwood floors are in crappy shape anyway so I don't care (last owner put nasty red and yellow carpeting over the hardwood floors).

[Drew Dowdell]

had this tenant not put so many holes in the walls I wouldn't have to repaint the place because it's otherwise fine.

[Intrepidation]

wall filler FTW?

[Satty]

You know what would be cheaper? An electrical "accident" that destroys the place. Insurance fraud is free!

[Satty]

wall filler FTW?

Unless is the magic wall filler that matches color to the wall around it, it'll still have to be painted.

[FAPTurbo]

My dad owns apartments, and has a few horror stories; a substantial amount of them involve tenants doing their own painting, often not using any form of planning, and choosing the worst colours evar.

[Intrepidation]

Unless is the magic wall filler that matches color to the wall around it, it'll still have to be painted.

Point, I don't know why I forgot that.

[Drew Dowdell]

The walls are white but she still put so many holes and did so much damage that I have to paint the place again.

The worst was the apartment next to this one. Albert and I use that former tenants first name as a descriptor of how dirty something is. "How dirty? Sadeeka dirty!" You know those beads people sometimes put in children's hair? I have a very rude, very un-PC, very likely to get me sued somehow, name for those beads because of that apartment.

[ocnblu]

Will you seek out Sadeeka and make her sad?

[Drew Dowdell]

To date, I have yet to have to give back a security deposit.

[ocnblu]

I imagine you keep those deposits in an interest-bearing account so you never lose money on repairs you find necessary.

[Drew Dowdell]

I imagine you keep those deposits in an interest-bearing account so you never lose money on repairs you find necessary.

not allowed.

If I keep the deposits in an interest bearing account, I have to return the interest to the tenant at the end of the lease term. It's too difficult to keep track of so I don't do it.

[Robert Hall]

At my last apartment, I got back about $20 out of a $300 security deposit. Besides the destroyed garage door (I backed through it when closed), I also pretty much destroyed both bathrooms (weak modern low-flush toilets always stopped up, the tub separated from the wall, carpeting pretty much worn out, etc.. It was a brand-new place, I was the first resident, stayed there 5 years until I bought my 1st condo.

[ShadowDog]

My first apartment had a $300 security deposit. We had pictures nailed up and some black bedding pigment rubbed onto the bedroom wall; however, after we replaced a light cover that was cracked (wasn't our doing and was missed on pre-inspection) we washed all the walls, closets, cupboards, windows, fireplace, deck, storage room and cleaned the carpets to have $250 returned. $50 covers mandatory carpet cleaning when moving out. We offered to fill all the nail holes but the building manager said he preferred to do it himself because they had poor experiences with tenants in the past botching the repairs. To be honest, we cleaned areas that had never seen a cloth. The tops of the kitchen cupboards had layers of dust and grease that had been there for years. The manager admitted that he rarely ever returns any deposits; however, we were so good to the place and did such a great job cleaning that he was just glad that hole filling and spot painting was the ONLY thing he had to do for the next tenant.

For many landlords, a security deposit will cover simple repairs; however, many tenants also get charged for additional repairs if they were responsible for the damages. My mother has a rental place and I hardly ever feel any compassion for tenants when it comes to the amount of damage they cause to the living space. Being a landlord is tough.

[Satty]

Owning > renting

[Paolino]

Haha, Drew, you would LOVE me as a tenant... when I went to leave my old place and they did the walkthrough to see if I left things in good order, the guy said, "Wait, did you even live here?! My GOD, other than a coat of paint, I have to do NOTHING. It's IMMACULATE."

I'm a neat freak, what can I say.

[Intrepidation]

Owning > renting

[Satty]

Yep, owning means I can put holes wherever the hell I want. Just looking around in the office ('twas my bedroom in high school) there are about a dozen holes, plus the piss-poor patch job on the wall where the door handle went into the drywall. The other rooms are probably just as bad, I didn't bother looking around when I bought the place, I knew what I was getting into. I've got to say, my dad did a hell of a job fixing the hole in the ceiling created that one time I was in the attic and mis-stepped and fell into the hallway.

Edited February 23, 2009 by Satty

[daves87rs]

I can't wait to own....

[ShadowDog]

I can't wait to own....

It has its perks, as well as its drawbacks. We rented our house for a year before we bought it from the owners. That was the best advantage because anything that ever needed repairs was covered while we were renting; so by the time we bought it, we knew exactly what was good and bad about the place. The biggest problem with owning is all the potential extra costs, if you can't manage to do any of the repairs yourself with just the cost of materials to worry about. The biggest advantage is utilizing the value of the home for equity.

[2005 EquinoxLS]

I am so glad I own with my Mom. And a brand new house so I shouldnt have to worry too much about repairs for maybe 20 years or so. Rent iasnt cheap here either so I am just as glad I own. Plus nobody playingt their TV really loud in the next apartment or partying and waking you up. And you are building equity.

[daves87rs]

It has its perks, as well as its drawbacks. We rented our house for a year before we bought it from the owners. That was the best advantage because anything that ever needed repairs was covered while we were renting; so by the time we bought it, we knew exactly what was good and bad about the place. The biggest problem with owning is all the potential extra costs, if you can't manage to do any of the repairs yourself with just the cost of materials to worry about. The biggest advantage is utilizing the value of the home for equity.

Considering the bashing I'm getting this year, rent to own could work (though I'm not a fan of it)

As far as repairs, it helps to know "people"...

[ocnblu]

Some folks need to continue to rent because of any number of situations they find themselves in. I am glad I own. My payments go to benefit ME and no one else.

[daves87rs]

Some folks need to continue to rent because of any number of situations they find themselves in. I am glad I own. My payments go to benefit ME and no one else.

Lots of those, sadly...

[the_yellow_dart]

I've never personally encountered anyone losing their security deposit - seriously, how bad do you have to be to warrant losing several hundred dollars??

[Robert Hall]

I've never personally encountered anyone losing their security deposit - seriously, how bad do you have to be to warrant losing several hundred dollars??

When the post-move out repairs meet or exceed the deposit. I've never gotten back a full deposit.

Edited February 23, 2009 by moltar

[Sixty8panther]

I can't wait to own....

True that.

Wish I could afford a house within 100 miles of Boston.

[Satty]

Even without getting into a toxic mortgage, its usually possible to buy a house for what renting costs. Property taxes, homeowners insurance, utilities, etc may make it pricier in the short term, but in the long run its worth it.

There is a 3br on Craigslist for $85,000. Running quick and dirty numbers through Bankrate's online calculator puts that at $467/month on a 30 year mortgage at 5.21% Renting a 3br house runs $700-800 around here typically. I know one company has had problems renting out some of theirs so they're renting for $550-650.

[Robert Hall]

Even without getting into a toxic mortgage, its usually possible to buy a house for what renting costs. Property taxes, homeowners insurance, utilities, etc may make it pricier in the short term, but in the long run its worth it.

There is a 3br on Craigslist for $85,000. Running quick and dirty numbers through Bankrate's online calculator puts that at $467/month on a 30 year mortgage at 5.21% Renting a 3br house runs $700-800 around here typically. I know one company has had problems renting out some of theirs so they're renting for $550-650.

I've seen some incredible bargains here in Phoenix lately (so many forclosures also). A nice 5br suburban house--less than 10 yrs old-- w/ 3 car garage, pool for $250,000. I've looked at buying something like that in the Denver suburbs, and w/o a pool, and they have been easily $350-400k in the past few years. I'd like to sell my condo (I got it before the value ballooned and crashed so I'm not upside down on it) and move up to something in the 3000sq ft range in the next year or two....but I really don't think I want to buy in Phoenix, probably most likely back in the Denver area.

(By house sitting in Phoenix and (paying my sister nominal rent and the internet and cable TV), I'm taking care of her house and doggies, and I'm saving her the cost of the house cleaning service, in-home dog sitter, and probably soon the yard service--her last yard service was horrible). I did replace one toilet I destroyed, but I do that everywhere I live..

Edited February 24, 2009 by moltar

[Satty]

I drive by a pretty nice neighborhood everyday. On one corner is a house, listed at $99,900, its a 4br, 3 bath with a pool. I would love, love, love to buy it, at that price, in that area, unless the foundation is crumbling, its a fantastic price. The only downside is the back yard, it would be tiny compared to what I have now without the pool, then you've got the pool taking up all the space. But, unlike my property, trees are able to grow there, and have been growing there for many, many years. There are some pretty niec houses with walk-out basements listed at $149,900, an absolute bargain for 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and 2 good sized living areas.

And completely unrelated, a couple years ago there was a house in the paper, still under construction, that had 6 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. The +5 bathroom count bothered a friend of mine. The $400k+ pricetag bothered me.

[Satty]

And I'm still waiting for a worthy adversary in the uncloggable toilet challenge. I need to find one of those American Standard ones that can supposedly handle 29 golf balls.

[Robert Hall]

I drive by a pretty nice neighborhood everyday. On one corner is a house, listed at $99,900, its a 4br, 3 bath with a pool. I would love, love, love to buy it, at that price, in that area, unless the foundation is crumbling, its a fantastic price. The only downside is the back yard, it would be tiny compared to what I have now without the pool, then you've got the pool taking up all the space. But, unlike my property, trees are able to grow there, and have been growing there for many, many years. There are some pretty niec houses with walk-out basements listed at $149,900, an absolute bargain for 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and 2 good sized living areas.

And completely unrelated, a couple years ago there was a house in the paper, still under construction, that had 6 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. The +5 bathroom count bothered a friend of mine. The $400k+ pricetag bothered me.

Wow...that's pretty cheap.. $400k in areas I'm used to (south Denver suburbs) buys about 3000sq foot, 4-5 bedrooms, 3 baths, usually finished basement w/ a 3 car garage in a cookie cutter subdivision on a small lot. But for a bachelor pad w/ easy access to downtown and the airport, it would be perfect for me. A 1200 sq foot condo w/ 1 parking space was fun for a few years, but I need more space.

Edited February 24, 2009 by moltar

[Robert Hall]

And I'm still waiting for a worthy adversary in the uncloggable toilet challenge. I need to find one of those American Standard ones that can supposedly handle 29 golf balls.

These modern, low-water volume flush 'environmentally friendly' toilets are my enemy. They aren't made for massive American BMs (and people that use a lot of paper like I do). Liquid Plumr Foaming Pipe Snake has saved me from many a call to the plumber.

[Drew Dowdell]

Are you all really that constipated?

[the_yellow_dart]

Low flow toilets really do suck. They had them at my last contract office and almost every time I was in the bathroom and heard a flush it was immediately followed by at least one more flush.

[Drew Dowdell]

My friends in Germany have this neat setup where there are two buttons on the toilet instead of one handle. The smaller button is for a normal, low flow flush. The larger button is for more super doody flushing capacity.

[intrigued]

these morgage payments are insanley low! I mean seriously a nice 3-4 bed 2.5 bath house around Westchester county NY costs like 500k I'm going to make about 65k this year but its all spoken for, paying down my mustang fast, paying for my last semester of school out of pocket and some other back expenses I owe. I can't believe what I have to do, starting next year, in order to get a house.

Next year I'll have 1500 a month taken from my paycheck depostited into a high yield savings account. Thats 18000. The year after that, when my GF is done with school, she is going to take over most of our daily living expenses (rent, food, phone etc.) about 17-20k a year, so I I can start putting away 45k a year. In 4 years or so when I reach about 150k in savings (I would have saved more but engagment rings and weddings cost a fair amount to even though we're not going crazy with it) we figure we would be able to afford a 600k house. Our plan is to check forclosures and fixer uppers that are structurally sound with good wiring and plumbing (don't worry I'll get a full blown insepction done) for like 450 k and then renovating the house top to bottom with the rest of the money.

So that's my five year plan. like Moi's five year plan or Captain Kirk's five eyar mission.

I can't wait to stop paying rent though. 1100 a month for a 1 bedroom is cheap around where I live but I'll still have laid out over 60k (about a CTS-V) by the time I get my house

[Satty]

these morgage payments are insanley low! I mean seriously a nice 3-4 bed 2.5 bath house around Westchester county NY costs like 500k I'm going to make about 65k this year but its all spoken for, paying down my mustang fast, paying for my last semester of school out of pocket and some other back expenses I owe. I can't believe what I have to do, starting next year, in order to get a house.

The flip side is that people dont get paid $h! around here.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

At my last apartment, I got back about $20 out of a $300 security deposit. Besides the destroyed garage door (I backed through it when closed), I also pretty much destroyed both bathrooms (weak modern low-flush toilets always stopped up, the tub separated from the wall, carpeting pretty much worn out, etc.. It was a brand-new place, I was the first resident, stayed there 5 years until I bought my 1st condo.

You do seem like a very unruly guy

TRUE STORY:

A friend of mine had a foreign exchange student that occupied a room in their house. Said friend walked in to witness said foreign exchange students "releasing the force" (You know, the same thing that happens when Satty sees a tricked out Prius ) all over the wall in the room. She kicked the foreign exchange student out, LOL.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Haha, Drew, you would LOVE me as a tenant... when I went to leave my old place and they did the walkthrough to see if I left things in good order, the guy said, "Wait, did you even live here?! My GOD, other than a coat of paint, I have to do NOTHING. It's IMMACULATE."

I'm a neat freak, what can I say.

Same here, LOL.

Left the last place in better shape than I received it. Then again, it's kind of hard to eff up concrete floors, brick walls and heavy timber.

(We just painted it really bright colors -- 2 different shades of blue, dark gray, bright green and dark red. Don't judge it until you see it.)

Some folks need to continue to rent because of any number of situations they find themselves in. I am glad I own. My payments go to benefit ME and no one else.

Renting has its advantages as well. For instance, if I hate my surroundings, I can move next week. The GF tried to get me to buy a couple of years ago. I told her no because I knew the marrket was going to go bust soon and I didn't want to get stuck somewhere, upside down for 10 years. Low and behold, I'm glad we didn't buy.

Edited February 25, 2009 by FUTURE_OF_GM

[Robert Hall]

You do seem like a very unruly guy

TRUE STORY:

A friend of mine had a foreign exchange student that occupied a room in their house. Said friend walked in to witness said foreign exchange students "releasing the force" (You know, the same thing that happens when Satty sees a tricked out Prius ) all over the wall in the room. She kicked the foreign exchange student out, LOL.

Well, I was living there when in my late 20s...I was wilder then, making the life transition from grad school to corporate America, I ate a lot more spicy food then, so had a lot more seat time in the bathroom then..

[cobaltSSwrecked]

Well this February I bought a 2 bedroom Apt in the Uptown section of Minneapolis,Mn. Well i paid my side of the rent but my roommate didn't pay his share of it so we were in so far at this in the story we were in $420 in debt. Well we took in a lil fella who is staying short term and well everything was fine until yesterday night. Well i was trying to sleep and the landlord gave my roommate a note saying that if we don't pay the rest of the rent we will be evicted by Saturday Feb 28th. So earlier today i gave him (one of the landlords) $210. The lil fella called his gram and his gram is sending $400. So now that we are getting the Money we can stay in the nice apt and the landlord wont be mad or hate us anymore.

[ocnblu]

Hehehe, a "lil fella", eh?

[Sixty8panther]

Low flow toilets really do suck. They had them at my last contract office and almost every time I was in the bathroom and heard a flush it was immediately followed by at least one more flush.

Just like that King of the Hill episode....

WTF is the point of a toilet that used 40% less water

when the damn thing needs to be flushed 3 times!?

[2005 EquinoxLS]

I dont have much of a problem with the 1.6 gallon ones in my house. And we have 3 of them. Even if you flush it twice its still 3.2 gallons versus one flush of a 5 gallon one. I thinki the really old ones might have used 7 if I'm not mistaken.