Would you want to rent this apartment?
If you don't care
about the condition of your rental units why would a tenant
want to rent it?
Here is an apartment I
inspected at the request of the owner. I'm putting my
report on display to show landlords what prospective
tenants see. The report itself and captions to the photos
will appear soon.
Let me run an analysis of your rental units and report on
what will need to be changed/improved for a good tenant to
lease the unit. Let me show you what I see with the eyes of
a prospective tenant who won't be as candid as I.
I charge $210 for each report with photos which requires a
minimum of 3.5 hours of work.
Appointments: Andrea Reynolds (814) 520-5230 handyande1@gmail.com
Here are my findings on one Erie apartment in 2008:
- Missing window screens
- Missing windows
- Broken window
- Filthy baseboards and window ledges
- Peeling paint inside windows, exposed when inside windows open.
- Filthy windows inside and out
- Dirty, broken window blinds
- Toilet running unless the lid is removed from the tank to jiggle it and stop it. Even then there is a dripping sound.
- Smell throughout apartment.
- Awful smell in fridge and freezer, like dead fish.
- Unpleasant smell in front entrance like mildew and mold.
- Gummy kitchen cupboards.
- I found a used sanitary napkin in the fireplace. (Disgusting)
- Ceiling light in bathroom doesn’t work.
- Half of kitchen ceiling lights don’t work.
- A tenant should not have to participate in paying another tenant’s utility bills when it is illegal and she refuses to pay the bills.
- A tenant should not be forbidden have a glass of wine - according to the lease - in her own home at dinner.
- A tenant should not be forbidden to use scented candles - according to the lease - or air fresheners to camouflauge unpleasant smell in building.
- There are no doors to the kitchen or living room to close for privacy when coming up the stairs.
- Glass walls and glass in doors in entrance are streaked and in need of cleaning.
- Carpets are old and need replacing.
- Spindle is missing in railing.
- Fridge doors open the wrong way.
- Bathroom window can’t be opened. Top window falls instead… like a guillotine.
- I could push open one of the doors to the other tenant’s unit with one finger without having to turn the knob.
- I could see lights underneath the door at night and could hear her cough as if she were in the room with me.
- Her cooking odors and perfume filled my unit because there is a 1.25 inch gap under the door. I doubt if this meets safety codes.
- The one door to her unit was secured only with a chain. A hook and eye latch should placed about 2 feet from the floor.
- A tenant wouldn't feel safe with a neighbor who refuses to pay her bills; if she’s that dishonest she might enter the tenant's apartment.
- A single tenant shouldn't be expected to pay 60-75% of the utility bills when there are two people in the other unit. At best she should have been required to pay only 1/3.
- The front door has been left unlocked at night which could leave a single tenant feeling vulnerable to people knocking on the glass door. If you go to the trouble of changing the lock why leave the door unlocked?
- The parties underneath the bedroom windows start at 11 PM and are rowdy.
- The light fixtures are dusty and one has broken glass and missing glass which makes cleaning dangerous.
- The constant beeping of the smoke detector upstairs whose battery is dead is an irritation.
- The exposure to the messy attic at the top of the circular stairs concerned me because in the case of a fire in the attic (all wood) there was no way to close it off.
- Phone and electrical cords are everywhere and one leads to a hole in the ceiling leading to the back unit.
- Some of the electric outlets are not usable.
- There was a small billiards table left in the bedroom that a tenant may not want.
- In the case of a fire or emergency the tenant would have to break into and enter someone else’s unit, and risk physical attack or even getting shot as an intruder.
- Your application fee of $20 is too high. Other landlords charge $6.50 to $10.
- Your 4 page lease is too long and has print that is too small to read easily.
