gale's Profile
- Gale Kooch
- 1991
- 2006
- Brooklyn
- Park Slope
- House
- self
- Female
- 39
Author's Posts
November 3, 2009
Tenants Breaking Lease
My tenants informed me that they want to break one-year lease after only 3 months citing personal reasons and bad planning. Which would leave me with a vacant apartment in December. I hold one month security deposit but it seems to me that wouldn't be enough to cover my loses and a headache.
October 16, 2009
Temperature in Apt.
I'd like to ask all the landlords out there, any input will be appreciated. The question is simple. What is the temperature you keep in the tenants apartments? The reason I'm asking is that my new tenants called and complained yesterday that it was too chilly in their apt. during the day. I keep temp. at 71 till 11:00 at night and 68 during the night. I think it's preaty dicent. They are good tenants and I want to keep them comfortable but I politely refused to turn the temp. up.
August 29, 2009
Security dep. deductions
I would like to ask for the opinions of fellow landlords in this matter.
My tenants just moved out after less than 2 years (21 months)in the apt. When they moved in apt. was absolutely new. We gut renovated the whole bulding. They were the first tenants in the apt. We had it clear from the begining that apt. has to be left thoroughly cleaned and damage free (have a separate rider to the lease). When they moved out the kitchen countertop was gamaged by water overflowing(I guess), it was also warped. The wall they hanged they TV had four wholes (about 1 inch in diameter each) plus 2 feet long deep scar. Also some water damage under the window sills on the wall. The glazing on the top of the bathtub was severely damaged.
But the worst think was the filth. We had to use acid to clean the bathroom floors and tiles, stove and oven took 5 hours to clean with 3 applications of Easy Off, all the kithen cabinets were dirty inside and out. All the doors in the apt. had to be repainted because they were beyong cleaning. We replaced the countertop, repaired the walls, painted almost all of the walls and windowsills, cleaned everything. I deducted 490.00 for the damage and cleaning from the sec. deposit. I e-mailed them pictures of the damage and itemized account of the deductions. But tenants are disputing the deductions saying it was normal wear and tear and they cleaned the apt. They did hire the cleaning lady who spent in the apt. 4 hours picking up trash and cleaning fridge after the moved out. For cleaning everything else she said she was not going to do it because it's too much. In all the repair of the damage cost twice the amount, but we only charged them for work that was done by repairman. For repairs that we did ourselves (took almost a week of hard labor)we didn't charge them. Any thoughts?
August 17, 2009
multiple images
Does anybody know how to insert more then one image into a post? The pic is the section of the mantel before I touch it up. If I can't figure out how to insert more than one image at a time, the manual will be posted one page at a time.
fireplace mantel restoration
For anybody who is still interested about the process by which the slate mantels were marbelized I'm posting a manual I have found that describes the the process in great detail. And since I can't use the same technique I'm trying encaustic (wax and pigments) to come as close as I can to the original.
July 16, 2009
Fire place mantel restoration
I'm trying to restore an original trompe l'oeil marble on my mantels. Does anybody has the same mantel piece that was never painted over? Would love to see it. Does anybody know the painting technique that was used originally?
June 23, 2009
Too long to rent?
Hi, everybody. Would appreciate any input. I have a 2BR apt. for rent in my brownstone, it's been on the market for 6 weeks but no takers yet. It's floorthrough 900 sf 2BR+office alcove. It totally renovated with everything new, two original mantels, light, on a quite block in central Slope between 6 and 7 ave. I'm askind 2850 for it, tenants who are moving out paying more. I looked at couple of apt. for rent in the neighborehood just to compare. I have to say they were comparable by size and quality and asking rent was around my number.
Here is the question. Is 6 weeks on the market normal and would can I do besides advertising it on Craigslist and with couple of realtors. Did anybody tried to rent out apt. recently?
Author's Comments
There is no clouse in the lease, they are liable for the reminder of the lease. These people have money, the also have couple of properties in Florida.
Posted by: gale at November 3, 2009 2:31 PM in response to Tenants Breaking Lease
Snowbunny, it does matter. First: Because I pay for heating and second: if other landlords keep apx. the same temps. than they can look for the new place all they want but will end up, probably, in even colder apt.
"Although 71 may be comfortable for many people, not everyone is comfortable at the same temperature".
What if the comfy temp. for somebody is 80? Should I keep it 80?
Posted by: gale at October 16, 2009 1:08 PM in response to Temperature in Apt.
The thermostat in the tenants apt., reading is accurate. I know all about the regulations. The temps. we keep is above the regs. That's not the question. I'm wondering what are the average temps. landlord in PS keep in the tenants apt.
Posted by: gale at October 16, 2009 11:45 AM in response to Temperature in Apt.
We keep the same temp. in our apt. Their apt. is insulated preaty good, except the AC they still didn't remove from one one the windows. It might leak some warmth but still the temp. is 71 in the apt.
Posted by: gale at October 16, 2009 10:26 AM in response to Temperature in Apt.
I was in the same situation two months ago. I couldn't rent my apt. till tenants were still there. As soon as they moved out and I cleaned and repaired the place it rented in a few days for the same rent.
It seems that when it's occupied with all the tenants junk and clatter, it tough to rent. I don't think you have to lower rent even more if you feel your price is reasonable. Do some research, go see similar apts that are on the market and than you'll know if your price is market or above. That's what I did. You don't have to get desperate, yes, less people are looking for the apts. right now, but prices are not that much lower than 1-2 years ago, may be 10%.
Posted by: gale at October 6, 2009 10:14 AM in response to Advice on Rental Market
I had some difficulties renting one of my apts. last months while the tennats were there. As soon as they moved out it rented very fast. You have to do both things-Craigslist and realtors, prefferably few of them. And you don't have to give them exclusive. Take good pictures. It's better if the apt. is empty. Prices are lower now but not that lower, may be 10-15%. Good luck!
Posted by: gale at September 1, 2009 2:54 PM in response to Question for Landlords
How would you know it was Behr's ceiling white? If water is never whiped off the counter top and stands there for days -that's how. The same exact countertop is in the second apt. in the buiding and it's perfectly fine. So what is your point Modsquad?
Posted by: gale at August 29, 2009 8:25 PM in response to Security dep. deductions
Try to scrape as many layers as you can with the scraper before you start with chemicals. Don't need the heat gun.
Posted by: gale at August 25, 2009 12:35 PM in response to stripping a marble fireplace
Start on the side that is least visible. Get hevy-duty rubber gloves, lots of rags and razor blade scraper. Don't know what kind of chemical you going to use, Rock Miracle worked well for me. You might want to try PEELAWAY #7 for higly detaild areas like the key stone in the center. The residue from the striper can be removed with mineral spirits and fine grade steel wool. make shure you have good ventilation. Definately cover your floors with thin cardboard and masking tape. After you are done stripping the paint you need to repolish. Good luck !
Posted by: gale at August 25, 2009 12:31 PM in response to stripping a marble fireplace
Thank you for the links mopar, I remember that lively discussion.I've learned a lot.The technique was discussed, but in very general terms and I wondered if anybody had a professional knowledge on what kind of "tricks" were used. I wish I could see the never painted mantle up-close (pictures don't do justice to the craftsmanship). To answer your question I have to tell you it was very tedious and painstaking process. I used razor blades scraping carefully so that not to damage the trompe l'oeil. We have six fireplaces in the building, two in each apartament. So I spent at least one box of 100 blades to scrape 5 of them,on the first one I used ROCK MIRACLE and jt stripped everything down to the stone(I had no idea these mantles had such beautifull faux marble). It was really a labor of love I don't know if it would pay to do it commercially 'couse it took forever.
Posted by: gale at July 18, 2009 2:50 PM in response to Fire place mantel restoration
I'm not repaintig, I just would like to fill in the missing patches. I scraped many layers of paint, but was able to save the original trompe l'oeil. I guess I'm really interested (historically)in the actuall technique that was used. I'm not a beginner, but I was almost fooled by the quality and realism of the painted marble.
Posted by: gale at July 17, 2009 12:58 PM in response to Fire place mantel restoration
Apt. is on Craigslist by owner with no fee and also few realtors are showing it independantly from Craigslist.
Posted by: gale at June 23, 2009 5:48 PM in response to Too long to rent?
2400, 2500? Apts on 4 ave are advertised for more than that. Everything I saw in REAL Park Slope was from 2700 to 2900.
Posted by: gale at June 23, 2009 4:30 PM in response to Too long to rent?
Yes, the tennants are still there and apt is very cluttered and messy. I thought about it but there is not much I can do.
Posted by: gale at June 23, 2009 4:17 PM in response to Too long to rent?
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
I had a tenant constantly complaining about how cold it was. I would turn the heat up and turn it up, but finally the heat was so high I was afraid it was dangerous, so I went upstairs to see if there was some other problem.
The tenant (she was originally from Texas) was parading around in underpants and an undershirt. It was January, about 17 degrees outside. I reminded her she was living in North America in the winter and to put some clothes on and stop bitching, then I lowered the heat.
Posted by: Stonergut at October 16, 2009 4:43 PM in response to Temperature in Apt.
You're already keeping it toastier than required. 68 degrees daytime and 55 at night (which is pretty chilly) I believe is required only in 3 or more family dwellings. If it's a two family it's probably whatever your lease says.
Check on weatherproofing opportunities, then ask your tenants if they'd be willing to renegotiate the lease and pay an extra 100 bucks a month for turning it up to a sauna-like 75.
Whiney bitter renters :-)
Posted by: Bklnite at October 16, 2009 5:11 PM in response to Temperature in Apt.
You are keeping it warm enough. I had a similiar experience to stonergut except my guy was from Georgia, it was February and when I went up to check the apartment he answered the door barefoot, wearing gym shorts and a tee shirt. I told him to put some clothes on.
I inform tenants that it is their responsibility to remove ac's and lock the windows (which completes the seal). I had a tenant with an ac installed and a window open (not just unlocked, but open 4") complain about being cold. Not my problem.
Echo poster above who said it is not the landlords responsibility to accommodate the tenant's every desire.
The tenant has the option to purchase an electric radiator to supplement the 70-72 degrees that I supply. In 26 years that happened once - and she didn't move, she stayed 5 years.
Posted by: jfss at October 16, 2009 6:16 PM in response to Temperature in Apt.
I think this is a subject that always bothers tenants and landlords. Tenants feel they should have perfect comfort for them and landlords are running a business. No doubt all landlords will run into this at some time. Most tenants really don't care about the fact you're running a business, after all, it's really easy to spend other peoples money. Once this issue bugged me so much I thought getting over weight tenants would be a good idea. That didn't work either. I came to understand people have very different ideas about what temperature keeps them comfortable. What I ended up doing is getting the rentals to be in the 68-70 range and put the information in their lease. Doing my best at getting along with them is a plus too.
Posted by: Rick at October 18, 2009 8:39 AM in response to Temperature in Apt.
Op I'm having the same issue with a forced air system. 70 degrees wont please all.
I plan on installing a temperature sensor in the cold apt and wire it to the thermostat in the hall to help me balance the heat.
Posted by: jack slade at October 18, 2009 11:01 PM in response to Temperature in Apt.
It also matters if you live on-site or not. If you don't, then pushing too hard just might result in a midnight move out and you having an empty apartment on no notice at all.
I saw a lot of these when I lived in Manhattan, the friend's van or U-Haul pulling up in the middle of the night and people furtively looking around as they carried out their stuff.
If you do live on the premises it's much less likely (although some people would still have the balls to do it right under your nose!).
Posted by: northridger at November 3, 2009 2:34 PM in response to Tenants Breaking Lease
no, I believe what folks are saying is that since there is no opt-out clause, they are responsible for the entire term of the lease. You're thinking of it in reverse.
If they have properties in Florida, they aint got no money!!
Posted by: moreteasir at November 3, 2009 2:37 PM in response to Tenants Breaking Lease
Make sure they move out at the end of their paid up time, keep their deposit and use it to float the month it will take to fix up and re-rent the apartment. You can even be nice and offer to give them back a pro-rata portion of the deposit if someone else moves in sooner than that. That is more than fair and probably sets the stage for an amicable separateion.
Fighting people to pay up on a lease they want out of seems like it will cost more than you will recoup.
Posted by: Brokedeveloper at November 3, 2009 2:50 PM in response to Tenants Breaking Lease
Gale, I had to break my lease a month shy of fulfillment this week because of the downstairs tenants who moved in after me, as well as street noise that was way worse than I had expected. I let my landlady know and posted on Craigslist to find someone to take over my lease and had no trouble finding interest. I'm now completely moved into my new space and my landlady has a new tenant that she likes :)
My point being, (a) your tenants should at least help you find a replacement and (b) Craigslist is your friend.
Posted by: ettay at November 3, 2009 2:56 PM in response to Tenants Breaking Lease
I can say from experience that the litigious route is the worst. The best you can hope from an experience like this is to get them out of there as quickly as possible with as much cooperation as possible. For heavens sake, do NOT rely on them or expect them to find you a tenant. Their fabulous judgement is what caused this mess. You should explain that this is a breaking of the lease, that it is a big problem for you, that this is a bad time of year, etc. and see if you can get them to be cooperative in keeping their apartment both very tidy and neat and available for showing. Immediately. And then while we can't control everything, to the extent you can, analyze how you can try to avoid a similiar situation in the future, i.e. do a lot of screening up front. I am sympathetic because s**t happens but see what you can learn from this. And stay out of court. I had to go there as a last resort with an inherited tenant from hell and let me tell you about a way to age yourself.
Posted by: donatella at November 3, 2009 3:07 PM in response to Tenants Breaking Lease
The apt. is in Central Slope, nice block. It's two bedroom plus office, very elegant, thoroughly renovated with some original details. Current tenants are paying 2850.00.
Posted by: gale at November 3, 2009 3:54 PM in response to Tenants Breaking Lease