If you had tenants in your basement or other property?

amother

Thu, Dec 14 2023, 10:52 am

If you ever had tenants- please responsd. thanks

Can you tell me how it went? Did you have any bad experiences with tenants, ei. tenants not paying, damaging property ( more than usual wear and tear)

Anything else stressful that came up?

Did you think it was worth it?

Thanks for all your responses. Im considering renting part of my house and want to hear worst case scenerios.

amother

Chambray

Thu, Dec 14 2023, 11:24 am

Worst case scenarios both from experience and those I have heard:
(1) tennant did a crime dangerous to kids and all the neighbors got mad at you for hosting him but it’s illegal to kick out
(2) tennant late on paying
(3) tennant threatening and fighting with other neighbors
(4) tennant refusing to pay and taking months to evict

amother

Babyblue

Thu, Dec 14 2023, 11:46 am

I have had basement tenants over the past 10 years or so and they have all been lovely people. We BH never had a problem with any of them. With that being said, I honestly hate having tenants and if I could manage financially without them I would do so. My two greatest concerns are liability and quality of life.

If you have tenants you must always be cognizant of the fact that they can hear your noise (no jumping, riding toys, playing dreidel or rolling dice on the floor, etc.). I am sensitive to smell and get nauseous from smelling their supper cooking. I can't ever sing in my own house. I am nervous that they can hear me when I call loudly to my kids upstairs or use the bathroom on the main floor since the noise goes through the vents easily. I am constantly cognizant of the fact that there are other people in my "personal space".

We try to be careful when choosing tenants. We also charge less than the going rate in our area because we have found that tenants are happier and don't complain about small issues when they know they are getting a good deal. We make sure to have insurance as a multi-unit dwelling and encourage our tenants to get renter's insurance. Still, I try not to think about the liability issues ch'v in case of a fire, accident, etc.

I really can't complain because we never had any incident with a tenant but you definitely need to go into it with the understanding that it's not "free money".

Hatzlacha with your decision!

amother

Currant

Thu, Dec 14 2023, 11:56 am

amother Babyblue wrote:

I have had tenants in my basement for the past few years and I completely agree with everything you put here.

amother

Lemonlime

Thu, Dec 14 2023, 12:17 pm

I have tenants in a house (not where I live) which has so far been a positive experience. I’ve also been a renter in complexes and houses for the last decade.

My advice-

1. Do credit/background checks. It’s worth it to find out if they’ve had prior evictions or any criminal record and doesn’t cost so much

2. Have a solid lease. Make sure everything is written. Dates the lease starts and ends, day of month the rent is due. Fees charged for each day rent is late. Amount of notice needed to move out (standard 60-90 days, or 30 days for month to month lease). Policies on noise (“quiet hours”), smoking cigarettes or marijuana, damage, parking, trash, utilities, pets, etc.

3. For rent payments, the first 5 days of the month should be given to make a payment. After that it’s standard to add a one time late fee or fees per day the rent is late

4. Require renters insurance as part of the lease

5. Make sure the security deposit is kept in a separate bank account. Open a new account and put it in there and do not touch it. The tenants are also entitled to receive any interest earned on it over the lease.

6. Do a move in inspection and note any marks or damage. Do a move out inspection when they leave so you have clear documentation of any damage they did to the property

amother

Burgundy

Thu, Dec 14 2023, 12:26 pm

We've had tenants in our basement for many years and always had good experiences.
I also take care of renting out a relative's house and had mostly good experiences.
The 2 times I didn't is because I didn't listen to my instinct while listening to References.
1 tenant mother came to look at the appartment, was extremely pushy that they want it and they drove me nuts the entire time they were there.
If ppl are extremely pushy and don't behave with derech eretz, do not let them rent your place!!!!
The most important criteria to me and that tenants should have yiras shamayim! Because those behave well usually! Wink

amother

Burgundy

Thu, Dec 14 2023, 12:28 pm

amother Lemonlime wrote:

Yes to all of the above and if you're renting out to frum jews make a lease approved by beis din!! Better do it before that get into problems later on!!

amother

Glitter

Thu, Dec 14 2023, 1:16 pm

If you are going to have basement tenants be prepared to live differently
You can't just make whatever noise you want at all hours, you have to be considerate of the tenants

Everything sounds louder to the tenants. Your toddler throwing a tantrum, riding a scooter, dropping a can, playing kugelach, running across the house...
It sounds like a stampede of elephants, bowling alley, exercise class etc above their head

amother

Lightblue

Thu, Dec 14 2023, 1:16 pm

amother OP wrote:

We had one tenant who beat his wife. Other than that, they’ve all been good. Oh….I think we had one that we might have had to run offer every month for a few months, and didn’t want to pay for certain times they weren’t here (chagim, other vacations….things that didn’t add up to a full month, and it’s not like we could have had someone else for those times.)

tweety1

Thu, Dec 14 2023, 3:09 pm

Omg! It was a nightmare. The entitlement of my tenants was through the roof. Never mind how they left the place after moving. They left me with close to 10k not regular war and tear damage. Bh my tenants now are amazing. Such perfectionist that I'm loving it. Every tiny thing they need perfect in order. But at least I know the apartment is being kept up.

amother

Lavender

Thu, Dec 14 2023, 3:18 pm

New tenant claimed that since the apartment was over the valet that it was too noisy and that he couldn’t sleep at night.
We told him he could leave without a penalty of breaking the lease
He stayed for 2 yrs without paying
That’s how long it took us to evict him.

amother

DarkOrange

Thu, Dec 14 2023, 3:34 pm

I have had basement tenants for a long time. For the most part, they have been positive but I have had some situations that were not.

Situation number one:
Rented my apartment now to a young couple. They ended up getting divorced a couple years in. Wife left and married someone else. The husband stayed but he went OTD. I ended up having to tell him to leave since I couldn't have my kids see him drive on Shabbos, etc. He left the apartment a mess with all his wife stuff in it. He did give me money to have a cleaned out but it was my problem.

Situation number two:
This was years ago but rented to a divorce lady. It was a small one bedroom apartment. All of a sudden she decided that she's getting married and he's moving in with her. They were older, and he moved in with a few kids... And then they had a baby. Honestly, I ended up selling the house and moving so I don't know what happened but it was an issue. I'm also not sure how they all fit into a one bedroom apartment

amother

DarkMagenta

Thu, Dec 14 2023, 4:54 pm

If you are renting your basement, make sure it's legal. I have a relative who had illegal apartments in his basement that he rented out. One tenant got mad at him and told the state on him and told the IRS that he wasn't reporting the income. He had to pay to rip out the apartments, plus tons of penalties etc. Not a pretty situation, to say the least.

amother

Cerulean

Fri, Dec 15 2023, 12:24 am

And middle of an eviction , sheriffs cominh down on Monday iy'h
Tenant was fine for two and a half years with no incidents, but then when they decided not to pay that was it
Moving fast, the eviction process took 6 months from start to finish but that was 6 months of no rent being paid and we have no idea in what condition the house will be found...
Hashem yaazor this should be history, and we should recoup our losses somehow, I know Hashem can do anything
And I y h we will have better tenants next time around

amother

Sunflower

Fri, Dec 15 2023, 12:33 am

amother Glitter wrote:

I just want to say as a basement tenant this is really true! In all my videos I take of my baby at home you hear loud banging noises in the background and it’s just my upstairs neighbors living their regular lives.