Now that I have another week to make some decisions before the renters comes in, I have to figure out what to do about the garage door (and a few other nit-picky stuff). I have already cancelled the electric service, so I would need to re-connect it in order to install an automatic garage door opener. The other alternative would be to hire a locksmith and rekey the garage door lock. But I think manually unlocking/locking and opening/closing the garage door will be a very big pain for the renters, so I'm steering away from the locksmith idea. My agent said she overheard another agent say he uses this one guy religiously to install garage door openers. She said she'll try to get the guys name, so I can call for a quote. I checked at Lowes, and I can get a decent one installed for a total of about $250. However, that still leads me back to my initial dilemma of how to get it installed when I have already shut off the electric.
Here is what I have in mind ...
Instead of going through the trouble of turning the electric on/off again for this one little thing, I'll wait until the renters move in to do it. I'll tell them ahead of time that I have someone scheduled to install the garage door opener, but it won't happen until soon after they move in. Three reasons why I plan to do it this way:
- With the slowness the electric company goes through when turning on/off service, I fear there may be an overlap in me activating/deactivating service and the renters activating it. All I need is another headache.
- For all I know the renters may back out of the agreement at the last moment, and I'll have stuffed more money into an empty house.
- Okay, I'm not greedy, so don't take this wrong, but I'll save a few $$$ by not activating/deactivating service AND by having the renters pay for the $0.20 of electric that will be used to test the opener. (I know, terrible reason.)
Another thing I need to do (which my wife is against me on) is install a battery for the security system. She claims it should be the renters responsibility to install a battery. However, since it is wired to the house current, if there is no battery installed it will make a constant "chirpping" noise (which tells the owner the battery is dead). I know I would have a sour taste in my mouth if I were in their position and was greeted with this annoyance. The system is similar to the one at our personal residence, so I know they cost around $20, which isn't a big hit on my wallet.
The so-so good news is that I ran figures on everything, and will actually come out ahead by about $1320 by the end of this lease (or, stated monthly, about $110/mo CF). Of course, that's IF there are no unforeseen repairs, which we all know is really wishing for a miracle. :-P
5 comments:
Does your electric company actually turn off the power when you cancel service? (Maybe they just shut it off at the circuit breakers?) Out here, they will usually take the service out of your name, but leave the power on for a week or two. I guess it takes them time to get someone out and actually shut it off. I know when I bought my first rental, I had power for a good three weeks before it was shut off and I had to call and have service placed in my name.
Not really sure, Shaun. I called on Sunday (when I knew they had verbally committed), and the rep said it wouldn't be shut off until Thursday. I'm assuming she meant that the electric would be turned off that day, but not 100% sure. I need to go over there this weekend anyway to get a few items in the garage, so I'll find out if it was really turned off or not.
Ugh.
I just got an email from my RE agent saying the renters are now questioning whether they want to go forward with the deal. She said the deposits are really eating into their wallets - not just the ones my lease requires, but also the utilities (she said the gas company is charging them a $250 deposit!). She said they are already going to leave their two dogs with a relative (Yay!) to avoid the $400 pet deposits, but that may still not be enough.
I told her that if need be, they can split the security deposit over two payments - half at lease singing and the other with their September rent payment. We'll see what happens. What is pissing me off is the fact that I just spent $180 on blinds just to accomodate their wishes.
Yet another lesson learned.
Well, you'd probably need the blinds for any tenant, so don't look at it as money wasted. And offering to split the deposit over two months was good. And if all else fails, remember you had some offers to buy the place!
Very true, Shaun. Although now it appears they will be tenants of mine (at least, as it stands this very moment I write this). :-|
Post a Comment