Sugar Land Real Estate-A Landlord's Nightmare
Landlords make huge investments of time, money and emotion into their rental properties. They expect to find the right tenant(s) who will take good care of the property.
Unfortunately, it doesn't always go as planned. A prospect who contacted me about purchasing Sugar Land real estate also gave me the address to a specific property. During my review of the entry in the Multiple Listing Service the listing agent's comment caught my eye. He noted that, because the former tenant had done extensive damage, the property was priced to be sold "as is". I decided to preview the property as it was not very far from my home.
From the exterior the house looked like all the others on the block. Inside was a totally different story. Upon opening the front door my brain had a hard time comprehending what my eyes were seeing. No room had escaped destruction. There were gigantic holes in the sheet rock, missing sheet rock, graffiti, entire stair railing missing, bathroom mirror shattered and so on. The tenant's personal belongings were strewn all over the house. Looks like they may have left in a hurry. To top off it all off they left a bible sticking out of a filthy toilet.
In reviewing the destruction I wondered what had the landlord done to have incurred the wrath of this particular tenant. It reminded me of the classic cases of "overkill" that are depicted in my favorite crime shows. The killer stabs the victim 50 times when only 1 or 2 was necessary. This tenant methodically went from room to room wreaking havoc when one room would surely have gotten the point across. It was obvious that the tenant had succeeded in inflicting maximum financial damage.
This piece of Sugar Land Real Estate truly turned out to be a landlord's nightmare.
Could this have been prevented? I have no idea. I know none of the principals involved.
I recommend that landlords do the following tenant screening:
1. Hire a professional to find and screen your prospective tenant.
2. Review the fully completed lease application and pay close attention to all the answers.
3. Verify employment and income.
4. Run credit and background checks and request a written explanation of any derogatory credit info.
5. Check references.
6. Obtain a copy of at least 2 forms of identification.
7. Make sure that the lease has no blank spaces and is signed and dated.
8. TENANT TAKES POSSESSION ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE LEASE ONLY AFTER MONEY HAS EXCHANGED HANDS AND LEASE IS SIGNED AND DATED.
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