Am I evil??

[Scanner]

Blame everything on your accountant.

Tell them your accountant sat you down and yelled at you that you were actually losing money on this property with what you were charging and you have no choice but to listen to him.

Yeah, you were probably undercharging. . .well. . .what's done is done.

I use the ol' "my accountant yelled at me" excuse in my business all of the time.

It's a cheap way of washing your hands clean of the money situation.

If they leave and you are still $300 below market value, you'll get new tenants.

Business is business.

[poundwise]

When I first read this thread I thought that you were being unreasonable by jumping someone's rent by so much with so little notice. Yes, a legal amount of notice but still, inconsiderate.

However, if it is true that they have more people living there than they should, and have a dog when they aren't supposed to have pets, then that changes things.

First of all, I'm a bit taken aback by the dog-related news. I would say that as soon as "dog mess" was found in the house that would have been eviction time. I'm not sure why you (apparently) just let that go. If there is a no pets policy and they have dog manure in the living room, then I'm not sure why all the hassle about proving the number of people living there, etc. Evict them for violating the pet policy and not providing proper care of the house (which it always a part of any standard rental agreement.)

I'm not sure any of it matters now. If they are on a month-to-month you can tell them to hit the road without any real reason given. Of course, raising the rent to $1100 may do the trick for you.

[click4credit]

It is a pretty big hike. In future you should review the rent each year in line with market conditions to ensure the rent goes up proportionately each year rather than staying the same for a few years and then going up in a big hit.
If your renters do hightail it out of there it may not be the end of the world if there is a strong rental market in the area. New renters would expect to pay the market rate which may be closer to the $1400 the real estate agent discussed with you.
At the end of the day your not a charity and hold the investment to make a return so your definetely not evil!

[simpleyme]

it does not sound evil , to me any more at first i t did
I have a property manager for my long distance properties I try to do a quick drive by once a year and let the property manager deal with it every dang time the renters have a dang dog even tho no pets are allowed i think we should allow pets and demand a deposit when dogs are found, renters it seems will get a dog anyway ,they always move friends in so more people are always living there
I get a good rent and damage has been minimal but mainly because the first thing i do is tear out the carpets I got sick of paying for carpet cleaning

[cicy33]

WOW! all I can say is I am sooo glad I don't live in whatever state you do. We have a rental property here that is 3 bedrooms and a 1 car garage and we charge $425 per month. We could get more but we really need to do some work and want to finish it first before we raise it. but still the average around here for a 3 bedroom is about $600. that is for a house! apartments for a two bedroom are about $450. but those do include some utilities. Our house is a 3 bedroom and our mortgage is $400. I am assuming that the pay where you live is higher that ours.

on the business side of it, if that is average for rent in your area then that is your business and you need to rent it for the amount that it takes to pay for itself, any repairs that are necessary and have a little profit.

[sakigt]

Well, if you want them out, maybe it's a great idea to make it a big jump like this. Then you don't have to prove anything, just force them out w/ a market rate for rent.

Agreed! Let them get themselves out. Although I would raise it by $350 just in case they decide to stick around. That extra can go towards pet cleanup.

[Ima saver]

I think it is a little high too. I had 3 rentals and they were such a pain. It is almost impossible to sell them with tenents in them. Then when you ask them to leave, they trash the house. I will never do that again.

[Hot dog]

I was just wandering whatever happened to this story.

[mom-from-missouri]

the end of the story...

they are in the process of being evicted. They quit paying the rent, claimed they were deployed (a call to their co confirmed they were not deployed), were not mowing the yard, had a dog in the house (against the lease), and called the real estate agent (the house is for sale) and told her I said to stop showing the house....

[simpleyme]

that's too bad,I like my property managers as they know how to get people out fast i almost never lose any rent ,

I have never sold a house but if I was to I would have it empty , the people across the street from us were desperate to sell their house they let some "friends" live their to take "care " of it till it sold, they totally sabotaged every sale by acting weird and staring at potential buyers

[Adambnn]

Not that evil
But I think you could make it go up little by little. I mean, if you want to raise it to $1100, maybe you could raise to $950 at the first time. After a month or two , then make it go up to $1100 or $1200. This way maybe more acceptable by the people who rent it.

[mom-from-missouri]

You can't raise the rent every few months on a year lease.

[Hot dog]

Has it been a nightmare I am also renting a house out and have a fear of that happening is it hard to get them out? I have heard it said that you can't evict someone in the winter months or it is really hard. Does anyone know any good books about being a landlord or the tax benefits of doing so? I have been looking and haven't been successful

[mom-from-missouri]

My people are air force. All I had to do was call their CO and fax him a copy of the lease. He visited them, saw the dog and extra men in there, and he took care of the rest. He also got me my past due rent very quickly. The men told me they could not pay because they were deployed. He said no they weren't, had me fax him the lease then he went to visit them.
That's why I like to rent to military.

[ginene]

No that's not evil but that is a huge jump. I think I would go up no more than $100 at one time.