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Post by Kim Possible on Aug 22, 2008 7:23:41 GMT -5
My friend (another single mom and I) are looking at houses to rent. Yeah, hot, right? I posted a thread on ojar a while back, so we've obviously given this a lot of thought. We've seen a couple of places that could work for us, giving us the separate and common space we are looking for. Neother one of us can buy a house alone, or even an aparmtent, and with the market the way it is, a lot of people are renting out rather than selling. We are in NY, where parking sux, no washer/dryers in most aparmtents, no private yards. We are both living separately in 2 BR apts, and could pay the same thing combined for a house, and have all the amenities we are looking for. We've thought about the rules that need to be enforced, for both kids and parents. We've thought about all the what if's. We are ready to do this. But here are my concerns (and I was wondering if there are any house renters here): basically about being in someone else's house. Basically regarding heating/water issues, appliance issues, electrical, etc. I am not going to bring an inspector into the house before we rent it (like you would to buy it). We are certainly bringing "men" in (meaning my bf and her father, who are pretty knowledgable about the workings of a home), to "check everything out" before we make any commitment. We are looking at some houses through realtors/brokers, but some are not. So how does the lease work when you are renting from the owner? Are all these conditions in the lease (like, if the heater blows, they will repair it)? Or is it a given? I never gave this stuff much thought living in an apartment. And not to sound stereotypical, but with 2 women and 2 little girls living there, are they gonna try to get one over on us? My other concern is the length of the lease, and if they try to shorten it (b/c they want to sell). Also, if at some point like towards the end of the lease) can they just come in to show it to people? Like last night, I looked at a house, the house was occupied by tenants who are leaving. They were not home, and the owner had full access to the house (he said he called them and they know he is showing it). I just think I'd feel weird knowing the owner has keys (thus, full access) to the house. I'd love to hear some thoughts on this.
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Post by jules on Aug 22, 2008 8:44:23 GMT -5
I would insist on every detail in writing in the lease, but yes, it is standard for the landlord to be responsible for all repairs and upkeep on the property, as the homeowner. (Exactly what "upkeep" entails can be specified in the lease. i.e. yardwork?) Any landlord who won't agree to that is shady, imo. As far as access to the house, there should be a stipulation like the landlord must give 24 hours notice before accessing the property, except in the case of an emergency.
I wouldn't worry about the length of the lease. As long as you are good tenents (and it sounds like you'll be really easy tenents!) they will WANT to keep you as long as possible.
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Post by Bobfromacctg on Aug 22, 2008 8:44:53 GMT -5
I am renting a house after losing my house in the divorce and then 2+ years in an apartment.
As for the lease agreement, it will naturally favor the owner, thats just the nature of the beast. You can try to put something in there to protect yourself in case they do decide to sell it out from under you. Not sure if most owners would allow themself to be restricted like that but it would be worth a try.
My owner lives right next door and he is very quick to fix things. He does have a key but I do not think he comes over when I am not there but I don't know.
It is an adjustment thats for sure but a house is so much better than an apartment. The move for me helped my attitude 1000%!
Good luck.
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Post by freckles on Aug 22, 2008 8:50:40 GMT -5
Living with anouther Person can cause Problems
See Judge Judy on TV
What if something happens and you or your Friend get Fired
And get behind on the Rent or Utilities ?
The other Person will get Mad
OR what about Boyfriends sleeping over ?
The other Person may not want thier kids seeing a naked man in the house
Something to think about
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Post by freckles on Aug 22, 2008 9:02:22 GMT -5
P.S.
What if one of you decideds to get Married
Then what happens to the other Family ?
What if one of yous Boyfriend wants to move in ?
Or Other People ?
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Post by lqdKaos on Aug 22, 2008 9:46:13 GMT -5
My friend (another single mom and I) are looking at houses to rent. Yeah, hot, right? I'd love to hear some thoughts on this. My thoughts....hhhmmm.... 2 MILFs in the same house!!!! I'm thinkin about Kaos sandwich...a little light on the Kaos Seriously, I think Freckles has a point...somewhat. I think living with a friend can cause a bit of a strain on your friendship. I dont know this for sure. I base this on what I have seen from friends (and not Judge Judy). My friends had to know when to set their friendship aside and look at it from a professional standpoint. I think they were able to both be on the lease so they would each be held responsible for their own share. In the cases where only one person was on the lease, I think could lead to issues.
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Post by Bobfromacctg on Aug 22, 2008 10:32:15 GMT -5
I would definitly have both of you on the lease - that way one of you can not just change their minds and leave the other high and dry in a house they can not really afford.
Good point.
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Post by kittenhart on Aug 22, 2008 13:49:51 GMT -5
I agree that both of your names should be on the lease. Also want to second the idea that it can be harder to rent a place with a friend than with a stranger because feelings can get hurt if the expectations for how things logistically are going to work out are not clear up front. I would sit down and have a chat with your friend about how you both think things should go regarding 1. groceries and meals(are they shared or not? It can be hard for little kids to understand not to just go to fridge and eat the other families food...could lead to hard feelings) 2. childcare and supervision (you might be okay with watching her kids for a half hour here and there, but it could turn into entire afternoons, etc...are you up for being each others live-in nanny?) 3. rules about boyfriend sleepovers - cautionary tale: I had a roommate once, a friend who when she moved in had a nice boyfriend, but then he broke up with her and she went off the deep-end and started bringing home random guys from the bars, 2-3 nights a week. Then she would be asleep with a hang-over and I ended up having to have very awkward morning bathroom run-ins/ breakfasts with guys whose names I didn't even know....how safe is that? The whole thing was very difficult for me, as a friend, to deal with....if she hadn't been a close friend, I would have been able to just ask her to leave but..... 4. schedule for shared housecleaning tasks (so no resentment builds up about who always has to mow yard, or who ends up vacuuming more, etc). Write it down on a calendar so neither one gets pissed off....you can always be flexible and trade days/tasks etc if there is something that comes up. Just my two cents cause I have had alot of roommates over the years, before I got married....several times in houses.
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Post by Kim Possible on Aug 23, 2008 18:09:35 GMT -5
I do appreciate all of your feedback.... some of you more thn others Excuse me if I sound a bit defensive (I just tend to get like that when people tell me things I already know, and when my question is totally unrelated to that). But as I said, we have been thinking of this for a very long time, and the rules have been verbally discussed thus far. We have had many a conversation about "what if" and how will this happen or how will that happen. We are not going into this thinking it'll be like a TV show. We cannot just live an any type of house, it needs to have the room lyout we need, to suit our needs, as far as our children, SO's and entartaining friends and family separately. We are well aware that neither of us can just walk away at any point, as are the current SO's in our lives. If we had any plans like that in the near future, niether one of us would be doing it. As for the friend vs. stranger comparison, obviously a stranger is not an option, being a parent. There are PLENTY of friends I know I could not do this with. The only thing that anyone has mentioned thus far is maintaining the grounds ourselves, which I can totally understand. There are some places we've seen where we'd love to tear down bushes, but I don't know if that is possible.
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Post by rocko on Aug 23, 2008 20:14:35 GMT -5
We own a couple of rental places. They each have their own set of rules. We dicuss the rules with a tenant and put the really important ones in writing. We do not upkeep the yards for them. If something breaks, one of use try to fix it before calling in a professional. If you do something stupid, like shoot the toilet (yes, this happened) you pay for the damage. We fix it you pay for the materials.
Anyway...just get everything in writing and you will be fine.
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Post by freckles on Aug 23, 2008 20:23:03 GMT -5
I know someone that owns rent houses
The Renters used the Toliet for a Bar-B-Q
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Post by rocko on Aug 24, 2008 8:58:12 GMT -5
I am guessing that RP is a little more respectful of people's property than that.
I rented thru a company once and had a few problems with the way they handled a few repairs. They installed a new storm door (not because I asked them to or anything). The person who installed it did NOT install the little chain that is there to keep if from getting yanked across the planet on a windy day. One windy day it was ripped out of my hand and it had to be repaired. They billed me for that. They also chose to lie and say a storm door doesn't always come with those. That is total bullshit. I would know (family owns exterior home improvements businesses since before I was born). Even the cheap shit ones come with chains. I chose not to fight it and just pay the $35.
I thought it was more difficult dealing with a company. They left us without AC for 5 days one time.
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Post by Kim Possible on Aug 26, 2008 20:53:48 GMT -5
I am guessing that RP is a little more respectful of people's property than that. Oh, come now. That is exactly what I was planning on doing with the toilet. Talk about 'dirty water dogs'
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Post by rocko on Aug 27, 2008 7:35:53 GMT -5
One house we put siding on had two bathtubs made into a grill. the drain on the top one (it is upside down) was the smoke stack.
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Post by Kim Possible on Aug 27, 2008 12:50:00 GMT -5
So we are negotiating with two different houses right now. These people are quite demanding. They are really asking for the moon and stars. We are not buying, we are renting!! They obviosuly have no other offers either (both houses are on the market for sale as well).
I feel like people are thinking that because we are looking to rent, that we will settle for less. We are set on what we want (and both of these houses have what we want) but we are not desperate. We can hold out for what we want, and we can wait.
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