I know some LL's who will give their tenants a rent discount each month if they agree not to call their LL for any repair that costs under $150.00. I know other local LL's that do Rent to Own make their RTO tenants handle all maintenance as part of their RTO agreement. No plumbing clog calls and if A/C quits working or the roof leaks, it is your problem not mine. Just make sure the rent is paid on the 1st.

I have a $350/mo garage apartment.

We had our Snowvid storm in February.

The garage apartment was the only place that had a rough time, mostly since it is entirely electric, so its ability to heat was heavily affected by the rolling blackouts.

In February, I get a message saying that a water line blew off the bathroom sink, but he thought he could attach it. It came apart at the coupling. I'm like, oh! How responsible! and handy! and impressed, but I tell him to let me know if he has trouble with it.

March comes and goes. I replace the roof. He mentions nails.

April comes and goes. Everything is all about rent, which I collect mostly-weekly.

Mid-May. He's talking to me as I pick up rent at 8 pm, and mentions that I need to get a part for the water line under the bathroom sink. He zaps me a photo. His brother, who lives with him, is a former plumber, and says he needs a sharkbite and a valve to fix it.

So I pick up a sharkbite and the correct valve the next day. It's $11. I think to myself, "They've been going without hot water in their bathroom sink for two and a half months because they didn't want to spend $11 in parts?" (Side note--- Mr. "Former Plumber" wasn't able to give his brother an actual shopping list to give me; no sizes or diameters or names.)

I also have a $70 sharkbite tool. I don't mind entrusting them with $11 worth of parts, but I'm not about to leave them with my tools until the moment they're ready to use them. So I tell him, "Let me know when you need the part and the tool."

That was almost two weeks ago...

So, yeah.

Deanna,

Roy, you are hoping and wanting free money in the form of little to no holding expenses. Sorry, that myth is not a reality. Even homeowners know that with ownership comes ownership costs.

I will never surrender my ownership responsibilities to a tenant in the hope they will claim ownership. Owners that really own, keep their properties maintained.

Sorry Roy - EXACT opposite here. We tell our prospects as we are showing a home for the first time, "PLEASE bother us. Call us, text us - TELL us if something needs our attention."

And we tell the story about the tenant who didn't want to bother us with that small water seepage around the toilet...until the toilet fell through the floor and DH was left have to replace the entire subfloor instead of a wax wring.

If I do it myself, it is done right.

Very early, nearly my very first tenant didn't want to bother me about a tiny leak in the roof. The leak dripped into the shower, so "it wasn't a problem".

When I got the house back, the roof decking was rotted, the wall behind the shower was rotted, the flooring under the shower was rotted. If they had called me when it started it would have cost $6 for can of roofing tar instead of thousands of dollars and complete gut of the bathroom.

Roy, they are tenants because they don't want to do maintenance. They don't know how to do maintenance. They don't own the tools needed to do maintenance.

I think you're chasing a unicorn, Roy. Think about how long it took you to learn those repair skills, doing it on a regular basis. Do you really think renters will have those skills, not to mention the tools, not to mention will they even NOTICE that the toilet is wobbly or that there's water leaking out from the base?

I think you all are misunderstanding me here, which is nothing unusual.

I am referring to landlords who actually give their tenants a rent discount each month in exchange for "do not call me if your toilet is clogged". If the tenant does call, they are reminded of their rent discount. LL says "I can send a plumber to you, but you will be paying him and not me".

Well we know of one local Landlord who does nothing at his places, and has operated that way for years. Tenants do any maintenance, even roof leaks.

Now he's old and he's trying to sell some places...and he is getting *hammered* on prices. He had a duplex which, minimally maintained, would have been $200-$250K in its location. Ended up selling for $124k. Had another house that was so gross and reeked of mold...I'm not sure that one ever sold, but if it did was for pennies on the dollar.

He had a gold mine: a youth hostel and campground with multiple units. If it had been minimally maintained, it was easily worth a million or more. Ended up selling for $600k, I think it was and that was a generous offer.

Even when you hire a fully licensed insured contractor to do a job, once a price is set, THEY MAY DO CRAPY WORK such as fixing a broken part instead of replacing it!

The same is for a tenant. If they need to fix something, like clearing out a slow drain (washing machine basin sink). They may use a hose bladder and flush the line to the point the drain is moving. Then all of a sudden it clogs again and you have a $5,000 flood. The tenant should have used a property drain snake and removed the blockage and fully tested the drain.

I make tenants responsible for all plumbing stoppages regardless, but I only manage sfh’s. I don’t offer any kind of discount for this. That’s part of my spiel at lease signing; “I don’t plunge toilets, so don’t ask”.

We have one (sketchy) management company in town that offers the maintenance discount. If a house rents for $1200 without the discount and $1100 with, they’ll advertise the rent as being $1100, but not mention ANYTHING about it being a discounted rent. They don’t mention it ANYWHERE except for in the lease.

As with most questions, it depends.

The RTO situation you mentioned is different than the rental with maintenance discount for one major reason: "Skin in the Game."

In a typical rental, the tenant just pays their rent and lives there for somewhere between 1 month to their entire life time. They may come and go as they please. If they are not collectible and are will to "settle" for cheaper rent, they'll often let issues go unrepaired to the point where the place is all but uninhabitable, then scurry off to find the next victim. All they lose is a meager security deposit that's often less than a month's rent and in exchange rack in thousands in discounted rent. The land lord loses far more fixing deferred maintenance than they ever saved from not being bothered. These properties often deteriorate to being slums as the next tenant moves in and promises to "fix and clean" is exchange for less rent or no deposit, and the cycle continues.

In a typical RTO, the Seller collects a fee of several thousand $$$ up front and collects a premium rent (+$100 to $300 or so per month) that is applied to the purchase price. That tenant has ownership in mind and has serious motivation because they hope to own a place in good condition, so at first they do pretty good fixing the stuff they can. But then what usually happens (over 95% of the time according to RTO sellers I've talked with) is they can't improve their credit enough to close out the deal, so they stop fixing the places and leave a mess at move out because they know they're not getting a penny back, but probably not a lot of damages. The Seller pockets the fees and extra rent which is more than enough to cover for cleaning up the mess.

That's what I've seen happen. YMMV.

Thank-you Sid for answering my question. Why did I even ask this question?

Back in 2018, at the last Mr. LL convention I attended, there was a nationally known investor/LL (name withheld) who gave a speech on stage about how he bought SFH and managed them. One of many things I remember him saying was that he gave a rent discount to his tenants if they did not call him for repairs! There were people in the audience who were gasping at hearing this. I did not find this shocking because I had already read it in his book.

In a period where so many folks are wanting to automate things, how are the residents suppose to learn how to do the routine things?

My move in process is long but my residents learn and get trained. So often do I hear on this site, my resident didn't do what they should do.....my question is how are they suppose to know how and when to change an air filter?

I can't help with the answer you're looking for because to me, many tenants will just ignore repairs rather than shell out $150. Actually, my tenants can't afford $150 extra without giving up something they want/need such as fancy Iphone, cigarettes, big screen tv, etc.

My tenants do their own lawn mowing and snow removal. If the lawn is not mown, in the Lease it states I will give a 7 day notice to mow and if not done I hire it done and the cost is added to their rent. I have hired it done only once in 18 years. (Mowing) Now the snow plowing doesn't bother me if not done, cause after they get stuck they learn. I have been asked to pull them out and have told them to call a tow truck. Works every time.

Having tenants work for you in any capacity is a terrible idea for several reasons.

I stay from having tenants do anything that could be considered work/employment. Ability is one reason and should they get injured I would be their employer.

Roy, I hope you check back because I had a thought regarding this after reading your most recent response.

You said, "I know local LL's who give those same rent discounts so they don't have to deal with their tenants nickel and dime problems"

If this is a concern, try treating it as a business profit center instead. What I mean is when tenant cause problems like clogged toilets, your lease should specify that they are responsible for those repairs. So you go unclog it (or better, send someone to do it) and then you bill them the cost plus your administrative fee.

Example, I had a tenant flushing tampons. The resulting clog and mess was $200. I billed her $250, and she paid. Haven't had a call for clogs since.

I fixed the issue and I got paid. That's how this business is supposed to work.

Sid,

Roy, in case Sid was not clear ( he was) Sid paid drain contractor, tenant paid Sid cost plus. Sid got fifty dollars for being the middleman, and all he had to do was make one phone call, then send one bill ( and follow-up that tenant reimbursed him costplus. )

i used to fo a few RTOs. I really depends on the quality of tenant. those with good jobs vs those on the system or at walmart mcd etc.

i used to fo a few RTOs. I really depends on the quality of tenant. those with good jobs vs those on the system or at walmart mcd etc.