Why does my landlord want an appraisal done on the home im renting?
Im sure this question seems pretty stupid but i honestly do not understand how "buying/selling" houses work.. Ive been renting this house now for about 3 months and i was told today that the owner is wanting an appraisal done this week. I know that an appraisal is to see how much the house is worth but im not sure as to wether it would be because the owner wants to sell or is it to see how much the house should be rented out for? maybe even both... i have no idea what this means.
Landlord damage dispute and insurance company subrogation?
Over the holidays I left my college apartment to return home. I was notified on Christmas Eve that my pipes had frozen due to me turning my heat off. The landlord informed me that this happened every year and the average costs were $1000-2000 for the tenants involved. As terrible as this was to hear, I felt I could get through it. After a couple weeks I called the landlord again to see if I could get more concrete numbers. He informed me that the cost was nearly $4000 now, and mentioned some somewhat high costs for his own labor in addition to the company they hired to clean up the flood in the lower apartment. Amazed at how high the cost had risen, I asked if he could give me a HIGH ballpark figure where there was zero chance it could get any higher. He said $5000. Approximately 1 week ago I went to pay my rent check and the landlord informed me that he now had all of his figures in, and after talking down some company $1600 (keep in mind the actual estimate should be $1600 higher if they didn't talk them down) the new and final dollar value for damages was nearly $6900. I recently received a letter in the mail asking for the $1000 deductible the landlord had to pay to have his insurance company cover the remaining $5900. The letter stated they were unsure as to whether the insurance company would pursue any claim to the $5900 remainder after the deductible was paid to my insurance company. My question is this: 1) Based simply on my description of the story, does this seem legit or does it seem to have some issues that I may wish to fight the charges in court. I realize the legal system is expensive, and after attorney fees and court costs I may only save a few dollars if I actually win. 2) What in your experiences do you see the chance of the insurance company going after me for the remainder if I do go along and pay the deductible. Thank you, all help is appreciated.
If I refinance the loan for my house at a lower interest rate, what changes?
Two things will definitely change, and a third item may change. The value, either the market value or the taxable value will not change. Along with a few other items, your monthly payment is directly related to your interest rate. Since this is a move to a lower rate, you can expect a decrease in your monthly payment. "Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!" However, I tend to look at mortgage bankers as lawyers without college degrees (and used car salesmen as lawyers with a GED and so on..). If you have good credit, be wary of how much the mortgage costs. You are paying for this mortgage, but paying it indirectly. This money comes out of the equity of your home. So in effect your payment goes down, but so does your equity. I have seen some mortgages with a cost as high as $7,000, and this is obscene! As I said, if you have good credit, processing your mortgage is not a difficult thing to do, and you should be able to get the same deal from many mortgage brokers. If this mortgage costs you more than $1500 - $2000, go somewhere else. As I said, this is coming out of your equity, and there is a back loaded cost to this mortgage of having to pay for the lost equity. Also, I have heard rumblings about the mortgage lender's appraisal being used by a municipality for reassessment purposes. There are a couple of websites touting this as fact, but I have not encountered it, nor have I heard of it happening yet. Frankly, I'm still confused as to how the municipality even finds out that you have refinanced. You aren't selling the home, and nothing's filed with the city, so how do they even know? This is not something I would worry about, but since the information is out there, I figured I should make you aware of it. If it is a concern, you can very easily check with your local municipality's offices and do a little investigating. But the only "real" affectation of refinancing will be the lower payment and the loss of equity.
As a landlord do I have to have homeowners insurance and umbrella coverage?
"Many people" have no idea what they are talking about. An UMBRELLA, is EXTRA coverage, AFTER your regular policy has paid out the limit - usually at least $300,000. Plus, a HOMEOWNERS policy is ONLY for owner occupied homes - not rentals. Listen to your agent. So far, he's done a MUCH more accurate job for you, than "many people". Yes. There are two major differences between homeowners and "dwelling fire" policies - first, the homeowners REQUIRES the deeded owner of the home to be living in it, for coverage to apply. Second, a "dwelling fire" is more cafeteria style. You buy coverage for the building, but NOT the stuff inside. If there's no "other structures", you don't need to buy "other structures" coverage. Even liability is optional - and it's cheaper to add the liability to your homeowners policy for the house you live in (extended to the rental premises), than it is, to add liability to the dwelling fire policy. PLUS, you can include "loss of rents" coverage, if you're counting on the rental income to make the mortgage payment, and the tenants stop paying rent because of a fire or some such. BECAUSE you don't need contents coverage, or liability, or other structures, a dwelling fire DP3 policy is frequently CHEAPER than a homeowners HO3 policy.
My apartment is making me get renters insurance, can they do this?
Renters insurance is cheap. When I had it - I had 12,000 in coverage and paid less than 150 per year for it. A renters policy payment should not prevent you from feeding the children. Also- a renters policy protects you. True story - I had a renters policy that I paid less than 150 for for 5 years. A pipe in the ceiling of my appartment burst during a freeze and flooded the appartment I lived in. I had about 4" of water in all but 2 rooms. The renters policy paid to have a company come in - remove everything I owned - clean it - and put it in storage. (It would have paid to bring all my property back but I was moving out of state and did not need that.) The company made an list of all property that was ruined and could not be cleaned. The bill for this service was about &6,000. (An no--- the land lord is not responsible for your property - even when the damage is not your fault. The land lord's insurance only covers the building - not your property). Another true story - friend of mine had a grease fire in her apartment - she grabbed the fire extinguisher that is kept on the floor of the building and put it out before it caused much damage. However, she had smoke and extinguisher chemicals through out her apartment. Her renters policy paid to remove every thing she owned from her 4th floor apartment - carry it all down stairs - clean it and bring it back - and unpack it. Including cleaning ever article of clothing she had (smoke gets inside your drawers and your clothes smell). Her renters policy paid over $12,000. A claim I handled - car parked in a parking lot. Unknown person broke into the car and stole the lap top computer that was inside. -- Guess what, your auto policy will pay for the damage to the car but not the personal property in the car! Renters policy paid for the lap top computer. If your dog bites someone -- yep - renters pays. Trust me on this -- renters insurance is money very well spent. Although you are being irrational -- you are largely uninformed about what renters insurance is and does. Hope I have been able to shed some light on it for you. Call the company who has your auto policy and get a renters policy from them. That way, you get a multi-line discount! (usually 5%).
My rights as a UK landlord are quite clearly set out in the Housing Act 1988.There is a list of reasons for which I can enter the property without needing your permission. However, unless it is an emergency, I must give you 24 hours’ notice and enter at a reasonable time (so, not at 3am). You have the right to have a witness present during the visit (in case our relationship has turned hostile). My visit must be for one of these purposes:To make repairsTo inspect the propertyTo empty a coin-operated fuel meter (rare these days)To clean the property - if this is specified in our contractTo show the property to new potential tenants - if this is specified in our contract. (The standard Assured Shorthold Tenancy contract allows landlords to do this in the last 28 days of the lease)If I want to enter for any other reason, you have the right to refuse me entry. In those circumstances, I cannot legally enter without a court order.Edit: As Mark Harrison points out, this means I can give 24 hours’ notice and enter for an inspection, whenever I want. However, it must be for an inspection: I can’t give 24 hours notice, then come in, put the kettle on, sit on the sofa and start watching TV (even if I own the kettle, sofa and TV). It must only be to inspect the state of repair of the property - I can’t start reading through my tenant’s files. And if I started inspecting the flat 3 times a week every week, then that would probably be classed as harrassment, because it would be difficult to justify that they were genuine inspections.
Disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer, so this isn’t legal advice. For that, you need a lawyer.I’m not sure I understand the question.You’ve been renters for 20 years.You have a new landlord.He “suddenly increased our house for sale to 228% compared to the previous price.” That’s what I’m not understanding. You, as a renter, have nothing to do with the sales price of a house. The closest I can come is that a new landlord has increased your rent by 228%.If that’s the case, then:Different states and even cities have different regulations on rent increases. Some areas would allow a 228% increase. Others wouldn’t.Did you have a lease that was in effect? Not a month-to-month lease, but a longer one that would have included the time you’re being asked to pay more? If there was an existing lease in place, then a new landlord must comply with the previous rent for the length of the lease. If you had a valid lease that required you to pay one amount, changing owners does not allow the new owner to raise the rent until the lease expires.The length of time you rented doesn’t affect the situation. It’s possible (but highly unlikely, and not what you’re asking) that the city/county/state passed some new law regarding allowable rent increases during the 20 years you’ve been there . . . and it may have “grandfathered in” previous regulations for people who owned or rented before the change was made. But that would usually benefit the owner, not the tenant.If you had a lease-option on the property allowing you to buy it at a certain price and the new owner has raised that figure by 228%, then you’re out of luck; see a lawyer. It’s very unlikely that you’d have a 20-year option, or anything close to that. But assuming you did, the option was between you and the original owner. Unlike a lease, the provisions of an option don’t carry over to a new owner. Someone in that position should immediately secure the option by “clouding the title”—a procedure that makes it difficult if not impossible for an owner to sell the property without your permission. If it’s been sold, then the option is no good.If you actually did “cloud the title” but the house was sold anyway, contact a lawyer and have him pursue a claim, probably seeking compensation from title insurance.For more information, consult with a lawyer.
How do I negotiate rent with a landlord or company?
I am a landlord. If someone tries the route of finding fault to get a discount...I make sure they rent somewhere else. To me that method is a red flag of a trouble tenant, I don't want that. I know my market. I know my units. I know the fair price in the market. I know that prices are rising everywhere. I know that the demand for rentals is rising. If you don't like my price..you do not have to rent from me. I believe that most landlords are going to handle this in the same way I do. Find a place you can afford.