Rentals Compared

Claremont Street issues

Mold in washing machine.  Debating whether to have it cleaned out by professional or get a new one.  Tenant attempted the cleaning but with no success.  Had been going to laudromat for six weeks.  New washer installed in October.

Non-working oven.  We tried to hold onto the Viking for as long as we could, but the repairs are outrageously expensive and slow, and tenant didn't have a working oven for over six weeks (fortunately it was summer, so likely he wouldn't have cooked much anyways?).  New oven installed in October.

Branch from neighbor's (dying) tree falls on our tenant's car and damages his car.  We contact neighbor, who says, Too bad.  We consider helping the tenant pay his deductible, but then we consider the property management fee we're giving him ($200/month), the reductions for the non-working oven and washer machine in August and September ($1000), and we let him deal with his deductible.

Electrician visits for oven and washing machine reveal that we need to replace electrical panel.  I heard this some years ago, and we tabled that repair.  Tenant reports to us, tells us it's a fire hazard (as electricians had told me the previous year), and we agree to have him schedule replacement.  Replaced in November.

Leaves in yard.  Tenant reports that there are leaves in yard still though we have folks dealing with the lawn and leaves.  Said folks send us photos of yard: looks good to us.  Said folks return to do another final sweep.

There's a snowfall of a few inches in November.  Tenant wondering what to do about this: in the lease we've deducted $200/month for December, January, February, and March, since Massachusetts law requires that landlord deals with snow removal.  It's November, and there's snow.  Daniel tells him, The deduction is for all snow for the season.  It's still unclear who will come out ahead since we don't know how much snow there will be.  We're not deducting more for November.

Dishwasher leaking in December.  By now we're really good with the Home Depot website: yes, get a new one.

Tenant tells us that our piano needs a tuning, and he could arrange it.  Will bill us the cost.  I say, Not now, but thanks and we'll tell you if we change our mind.

Tenant checks are taking a long time to reach us, too long.  We're out January and February rent until we find a better way to get the checks to us.  Paypal and Venmo aren't working.  Tenant says he can't get zelle to work.  Tenant tells us he's stressed that he's behind in rent.  We're still paying our mortgage.  Not sure whose stress is higher.

Tenant offers to buy our house.

We confirm with tenant that we're returning July 1, 2019.



Via Tomasso Carletti quirks

Apartment looked lovely upon first view...a few days of living here revealed dog balls under couch and bed; sand toys and much sand in front hall closet; drawers and closets and containers of clothing, souvenirs, toys; completed elementary school workbooks and notebooks; expired food.  Result: six bags of recycling; ten bags of give-away; twelve bags of trash.

Internet goes out fairly often.

Cordless phone must be moved away from internet to avoid future outages.

If you run two appliances at same time, you blow a fuse...which is now easy to correct since we know where and how, but blowing a fuse causes the internet to go out again.

Shock from dishwasher -- kids love; adults concerned.  When I reported to colleague in charge of apartments, he said, "You've got to read the binder!" referring to the binder with notes from previous tenants.  There is a switch in the kitchen that you turn off to avoid such shock.  Turn switch on when you want to run dishwasher.

Kitchen light.  One day kids heard a pop, and the light went out.  Daniel replaced lightbulb, but light still didn't work.  Waiting for electrician on this one.

Often no hot water in front of apartment until you turn on hot water in another part of the apartment.

Until two weeks ago, often no hot water or heat.

Dishes and glasses.  Break easily on tiled kitchen floor.  Oh, wait, that's not an apartment issue.  That's just a family issue.

Broken mirror in kids' bathroom.  Oh, that was Mary's curiosity: she said that she wanted to see whether there was anything behind it, like a medicine cabinet, so she pulled it and it cracked and fell down a little.  Then Connor went into the bathroom later and turned on the light above the mirror; the heat from the light melted the crack so that the crack extended from a few inches to a foot.  ...Finally 'fessed up to SYA that we needed a replacement and we'd cover cost.  New mirror is great.  Now to get rid of the four pieces of mirror that sit on the kitchen floor before they cause an injury.

Broken light fixture in the hallway.  Oh, right: that was from Sebastian and Hannah playing catch with Nerf football.  Debating whether to tell SYA now or wait til June.

Six inches of peeling paint on ceiling of living room.  Oh, no, that's actually from the slime that Connor threw up really high and stuck to ceiling.  Paint came right down with slime.  Ditto on debating when to share with SYA.  We might be the highest maintenance tenants they've had in a while.

Four months to go: this list could likely continue.