Re: Rental - what would you do? - Posted by Natalie-VA
Posted by Natalie-VA on February 23, 2009 at 06:46:59:
I thought the state was going to tell Allstate that if they didn’t provide homeowner’s, then they couldn’t sell auto either. What ever happened with that?
–Natalie
Re: Call your insurance agent - Posted by Natalie-VA
Posted by Natalie-VA on February 22, 2009 at 09:10:03:
HI Brandon,
When you file a claim, what the agent told you won’t matter anymore. You’ll be dealing with a claims adjuster who’s job it is to find reasons NOT to pay that claim. I wouldn’t rely on a rental dwelling policy for a house I’m rehabbing.
–Natalie
Re: Call your insurance agent - Posted by michaela-CA
Posted by michaela-CA on February 21, 2009 at 18:17:15:
Thanks, I will check with my State farm agent on monday. Maybe if I go with a large deductible , 5k or so, they won’t worry about all the little things that can go wrong, since they would all fall under that amount.
Michaela
Re: Some agents work weekends - Posted by michaela-CA
Posted by michaela-CA on February 21, 2009 at 11:27:49:
Rich,
I just spoke to my PM and she calmed me down. One of my big worries was that the tenant would use the old heating system and blow herself up or get carbon monoxide poisoning or whatever. When it gets cold people take risks that they wouldn’t normally. But
she tenant knows that she’s not supposed to use that.
Anyway, I’m going to wait until monday as I don’t want to just take any agent just because they’re available.
Technically, I’m still in Richmond, but in Point Richmond, just above the Marina.
Michaela
Re: Rental - what would you do? - Posted by Ben T
Posted by Ben T on February 23, 2009 at 09:20:29:
OK, from you post below my understanding is that these are “Fair Plan” in California. I’m not familiar with that. But I have had several vacant house policies through private insurance companies which were not prorated. Just a cautionary note to check this out though.
Ben
Re: Rental - what would you do? - Posted by michaela-CA
Posted by michaela-CA on February 23, 2009 at 08:39:54:
Kristine,
actually, I’ve had lots of ‘builder’s risk’ policies over the years and they were never prorated. You paid for the year and if you cancel the money is gone. Maybe you have a special agent that is dealing with these in an unusual way?
Re: Some agents work weekends - Posted by Sailor
Posted by Sailor on February 21, 2009 at 20:00:59:
Let’s hope she doesn’t decide to light her hibachi inside to keep warm, because no matter who set this up, the headline would not be landlord-friendly.
It’s always a pleasant surprise when happening upon someone who does a job efficiently, but this worries me because: (1) the potential liability is yours, (2) your PM put you in that position, & (3) I suspect she is training you to stay out of her way. I know, darling Michaela, that you want someone else to shoulder these rentals, but your job is still to watch her closely until you are absolutely certain you can truly relax.
I awoke this morning (Sat) @ 7:30 am to a ringing phone & a tenant reporting her heat pump isn’t working. Although the unit has an electric fireplace, it is still below freezing @ night & I know she keeps the place super-hot. Unable to reach my HVAC guy, & not knowing what dangerous resources she would use for heat, I had my nearby DD remove an extra oil-filled radiator (the only supplemental devices legal in my units) from a vacant one & take it to this tenant to use until her heat pump is repaired. The highest price I’ve seen for these heaters this season is $37, so I’m thinking that your PM should take her efficient little backside down to Target or Lowe’s pick up one or two for the new tenant to use until her furnace is operational. I keep a couple of these radiators in stock & they have come in handy numerous times. I’ve loaned them out for new or sick babies, too, & the gesture has been appreciated.
BTW, I’ve had good luck w/Farm Bureau over the years. They’ll even insure mobile homes, & my agent prints his home phone on his cards.
I’m glad your hard work has paid off so well for you, Michaela, & nothing is probably going to go wrong this weekend. Sorry, but I just can’t help worrying–
Tye (who has 3 generations of offspring who get tired of her reminding them to “take a sweater, just in case.”
Re: Some agents work weekends - Posted by Rich-CA
Posted by Rich-CA on February 21, 2009 at 18:00:18:
Cool location. Great views.
You might want to disconnect the old furnace so they can’t turn it on. Its one thing to be told not to, its another to be cold.
Re: Rental - what would you do? - Posted by Kristine-CA
Posted by Kristine-CA on February 23, 2009 at 08:47:15:
Michaela; these are vacant property policies, not builder’s risk. I don’t
and didn’t do the rehabs. A few of them I switched to occupied rental
props. The rest were sold and the policies were cancelled.
Most of them went CA Fair Plan, some were All State. These days the
only vacant policy I can get is Fair Plan.
You can never truly relax - Posted by Rich-CA
Posted by Rich-CA on February 21, 2009 at 21:25:02:
Like any other time you hire someone, you need to keep tabs on what they do all the time. Good contractors go bad, good PMs go bad, bad ones (rarely) improve. The thing is there are all sorts of pressures on the people who work for you but once they work for you, they require supervision to ensure they stay on track. I have had cases of both contractors and PMs who started out great and in a couple of years I needed to replace them.
I really like the oil heaters idea. At Target yesterday they were on clearance for $20. I use on to heat my home/office which was built in the garage. Works great.
Re: Some agents work weekends - Posted by michaela-CA
Posted by michaela-CA on February 21, 2009 at 18:20:51:
Love it here!!!
I found out that the gas company is going to come out on monday and they will condemn the system if they find it not usable and will unhook it. Until then she couldn’t use it anyway, because the gas is off.
So, I think I’m in a good spot. Just got a little worried this morning as I never planned to ever be a landlord again. And now I’m planning to buy even a few more when my next chunk of money comes in, because the REO prices are still so low and they cashflow unbelievable.
Of course it’s also a nice ‘problem’ to have a tenant too soon, than rather it taking a long time 
Michaela
It is a “nice” problem to have - Posted by Rich-CA
Posted by Rich-CA on February 22, 2009 at 08:55:41:
The norm is about 2 months. Did the PM do a thorough screening and give you copies of all paperwork, applications and so on? Since they are only your agent, you still have responsibility for the documents. I also make the PM give me a key copy. That way if I have to fire the PM (kickbacks, service degrades, they start delaying the sending of the rent due to financial difficulties and so on) I have everything I require in hand to get their replacement started. I start interviewing replacements the day a new PM starts. I have had to fire two companies (in AZ) for the decline in service, poor record keeping and charging for more than was authorized and did it on zero notice. Only reason I could was that I had everything their replacement needed in my file.
I have found that PMs starting out are a LOT more responsive than they are when they have 100 - 200 properties (which is what it takes to make a living at it) and when their slate is full is where you find out if they are truly good or they just were good because they had more time.
Re: It is a “nice” problem to have - Posted by michaela-CA
Posted by michaela-CA on February 22, 2009 at 10:08:56:
Rich,
I guess, I 'll find out ;-). I will make her give me copies of all paperwork. We only just started working together and this all kind of came together overnight, so to speak.
As much as I would love to have everything and everybody ‘perfect’, I know that that is not reasonable. Nobody is perfect, that’s the human condition. So, I try to look at the big picture and choose my battles: Is the alternative of the situation better? Are there other ‘problems’ that I would rather have than these? What’s the lesser of the 2 evils?
I know I have a higher ‘risk threshold’ than most people, but I’ve also found over the years that I like to give people a chance. When I look back at the times when I did, even though occasionally I may get screwed over, then the things I’ve gained with this approach far outweigh the losses.
So, if this PM is more pro-active than I expected, but if overall things really work out good, then I will take these little ‘hick-ups’ and look at the big picture.
For example, my carpenter: He’s ‘old school’ and that means that he doesn’t have a computer or cell phone. I even sent him a prepaid cell phone, so that we can reach each other, but he keeps it turned off in his pocket and the voicemail is not set up. He only calls me from his home phone in the evening, when it’s generally too late for me to do anything about the situation, since he’s 3 hours ahead in time.
I could be really picky about that and give him instructions to turn on the phone, but I won’t, because ‘old school’ also brings something else with it, that is very hard to find in these times: Pride and honor. He has pride in his work and is totally honest. I’ve had to kiss a lot of toads over the years. Finding a good and reliable and inexpensive carpenter is probably the most difficult quest for most rehabbers. So, I will overlook his individual traits, that may inconvenience me (and him) and be thankful that I have what I have.
The same with the PM. Yes, I will make sure that I’ll get all paperwork etc. But I will also look at the big picture’ and try to not nitpick on every little thing when I see that I’m really getting something good in the big scheme of things.
We’ll see
Michaela