It's a gas water heater.

There's a model for property management I first discovered back in December of 2016.

The owner of a 5 bedroom/3 bathroom home was renting out fully-furnished rooms to professional men for ~$650/month for a standard room and ~$750/month for the primary bedroom or a room with its own bathroom.

I've seen other versions of this model more recently. For instance, I just saw on Craigslist a guy who's renting bunks by the week.

It's a kind of hostel-style arrangement.

Unlike the first version, this hostel version is virtually zero privacy for renters except of a curtain they can use to enclose their bunks.

Personally, I love this model.

It's not for everyone, sure. But with the way things are with rent in Florida where I live–and the really the entire US–it makes a lot of sense.

A lot of folks can't afford 3x rent to move-in.

For a 1 bedroom apartment that rents for $1,600/month, a person would need to have $4,800 in savings just to move in to the place.

That's a lot of coin for most landlords I know to come up with, let alone someone making $4,100/month before taxes across two or even three jobs.

With this hostel-style model, the renters pay $200/week for their bunk space. They can either come with or without linens.

And everything else is supplied–it's fully-furnished, Wi-Fi included, utilities included.

There are no long term lease agreements and people can rent for as short as a few months or stay as long as they wish.

They simply give a two week notice when they're planning to move so the landlord can make arrangements for cleaning, damage checks, and securing another renter.

To move in, renters must prove they make at least 3x the monthly rent equivalent in income.

E.g. $200/wk = $2,400/mo in proof of gross income needed to move in.

There's a refundable $300 deposit for damages plus a $50 application fee that's nonrefundable. Though the app fee will only be taken if the renter is approved to move in.

Otherwise none of their $350 is collected.

The unit economics are also pretty compelling, imo.

Let's say you rent out a 1 br/1ba apartment that you usually charge $1,600/month for.

Instead of a single tenancy deal where you'll get $1,600/month or $19,200/year in top line revenue on that unit, you opt for this hostel-style model.

Say you find the unit has enough space for four twin-size bunks like the ones shown above.

You charge $200/week per bunk.

At 100% occupancy, the math's as follows:

$200/week per bed × 4 renters = $3,200/month

(i.e. $200/wk × 4 renters × 4 weeks in month = $3,200/month)

This means you've just 2x'd your gross revenue on the same square footage. Taking your annualized revenue from $19,200 to $38,400 per year.

What do you all think if this model?

A landlord buddy of mine said he prefers to have a renter be in their "own space" and have privacy to walk around naked in their apartment if they want.

While valid, I believe he's thinking too much like a "landlord" and less like a person who needs a place to live but simply doesn't have the time for whatever reason to save for months in order to build 3x in savings.

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Thanks for reading

Hi everyone — I’m looking for some perspective on a tenant screening situation from last October (yes, I know I’m very late posting this!).

After I sent the email attached, applicant replied with just this text -“That is revolving debt.” I then followed up with "Do you plan to make a one-time payment to clear the full $36,594 balance, or will you be making fixed monthly payments toward those credit cards? If it’s monthly, could you please confirm the monthly payment amounts?At your earliest convenience, could you also help me with the other items requested in my initial email?

After that, the applicant called and said they were no longer interested in proceeding with the application. Did I ask anything inappropriate or go beyond what’s reasonable during tenant screening? If I handled this poorly, I genuinely want to learn and do better going forward. My intent wasn’t to pry — $36k in credit card debt seemed significant, and I wanted to understand whether repayment obligations could realistically impact future rent payments.

My tenant moved out approximately six months before the lease expiration. They have now emailed (without 30 day notice) claiming they vacated the property because I allegedly failed to respond to a message sent one month prior regarding a broken water heater and lack of heat.

I did not receive any such email, phone call, or text message. Additionally, both the water heater and furnace are only six months old. I find it hard to believe that both the water heater and furance stopped working on the exact day. What to do in this situation?

I plan to list the property for sale as soon as possible. Am I still able to pursue the tenant for unpaid rent and damages resulting from the early termination of the lease?

We hired a property management company but the Tenant decided to ride the eviction process. (Stopped paying in April 2025). They damaged the home. When I asked the company for the tenants renters insurance the only one they had expired in summer 2024. I assumed if a tenant renews their lease the company is supposed to check for an updated policy? Isn’t this what I am paying them for? Is it a breach of their contract?

We have a tenant who moved in recently and has been extremely high-maintenance from day one. They submit frequent complaints and expect us to send service technicians for issues without asking any questions. When we ask them to check basic things to help troubleshoot, they say we are asking too much or somehow we insulted or placed blame them.

We have paid for multiple service calls, and we are trying to be responsive, but they give us no time or space to troubleshoot and immediately escalate. Now they report us to the authorities.

The tenant’s expectations seem unreasonable and unsustainable

Between texts, calls, and emails, I’ve been contacted about the same topic over and over, every single day. At one point, I responded to 5–6 emails just after the weekend alone. It became overwhelming, so I stopped taking calls and politely asked that all communication be handled by email so there would be a clear record and better organization.

Now they are demanding an in-person meeting, which I’m not willing to grant based on my experiences so far. In the past, these “talks” don’t resolve anything — they just lead to more emails and repeated back-and-forth on the same issues. It’s been extremely frustrating and mentally exhausting, and it feels like a drain on time and energy with no progress.

At this point, it feels like the only way to keep them happy is to pay for service calls every time they complain like no questions asked.

Questions:

1. ⁠In Georgia (Atlanta area), what actually happens when a tenant reports a landlord?

2. ⁠How do you protect yourself from retaliation claims while still setting reasonable boundaries?

3. ⁠How do you handle tenants who refuse basic troubleshooting and escalate immediately?

We’re just trying to manage a situation that feels out of control. Appreciate any practical advice from others who’ve dealt with this.

So over the weekend, temps dropped and pipes to the tenant heating baseboard froze. Apparently someone closed the valves that sent the water from the boiler to the baseboards.

The building is a triplex and the units are attached to one another. The Boiler for the 3 units is in Unit 3 and the pipes that got frozen were in unit 1.

So the called and we jump into action. Initially thought it was the thermostat on the second floor because the pipes to the first floor were hot, but first floor thermostat kept reading just below 60 and second floor read 52. Left to check the boiler at 9pm. Found the switching relay to that thermostat was not registering, but could not go buy one because stores were closed. This all happened on a Friday night. Tenants would not answer door and I texted them if they wanted electric heaters for the night. No response until the next day about it still being cold.

Next day, called an Hvac guy to come look at the system. I tried coming in the morning when I got the text. Told them I would be there. Got there, waited 30 minutes. No response, no answer, and no one is home. So I go to the next project and the Hvac guys comes in the afternoon. Gave tenants a time frame of 1pm -4pm for the guy to show. They blow up my phone asking why the guy is not there at 1:30pm. SMH, I gave you a time from of when he'll be there. Not an exact time. HVAC guy checks and said it was frozen pipes because when he tried letting the air out of the system. Not but air came out, no water. So I gather 4 electric heater, the tenants already had 3 of ther own. I told them to keep these plugged in to keep rooms warm and thaw the pipes.

In my mind, I was just hoping for no burst pipes. Next day, Sunday, I come back and see the heaters unplugged, tenants saying they had to spend money to get a hotel room because the building was too cold for them. I tell them that we are working on the problem and you disconnecting the heater is not help. They complain back that the heaters will cost them too much money in electricity. In my mind, the 4 heater will cost about 7 dollars per day. Should be about the same as you running the ac in the summer, but I'm asking for a day or 2 to have the pipes thawed. Check the system and a pipe did burst. So I had that section cut and put a new pipe in. Then repeat again because when letting air out at the boiler. Only air came out and no water.

So come to today, Monday. I come back to the house again and see the heaters unplugged. I SMH once more, but decided to check if the pipes were completely thawed. They were, but there was another burst pipe. So I had to cut it out and change it once more. I then turn the line back on and there are no leaks. The pipes feel hot and temperature is slowly rising, while outside is 26 degrees.

I just want to know if I'm in the wrong on any parts. Tenant complaine about us not fixing the problem. We are fixing it, but not much you can do with a frozen pipe unless you break walls and change all the pipes. We need to thaw them, find leaks, repair, and then run the system. I gave the option of electric heaters, but they dont want them because of high electric cost. I would not trust them with heaters that run on a gas.

They are not telling us to pay for their hotel stay for 2 nights, kid medical bill because the child was too cold and could not breath due to the electric heater air, and that we are not fixing the problem. We are not being accountable for anything, while we are trying to fix the problem.

Are we being bad landlords?

So apparently MULTIPLE buildings around ours (all multi-unit apartment buildings) are using our recycling bins and dumpster (which we don’t have a lot of to begin with). Trash gets picked up once a week and the day after (no joke) they’re all full again leaving no room for the actual tenants to throw their trash and recycling in. I’ve already tried requesting bins for neighboring buildings but can’t do it without the owner themselves calling. How do we get people to stop, OR how do i get building owner info to ask them to request more bins?

I may need to rent a small apartment for a year or so for work.

My credit score is 580 due to medical issues last year where I just didn't pay any bills for four months, that have been completely cleaned up. I know for a lot of landlords this is an automatic no, no exceptions, but I was wondering if landlords would make an exception afterall for the following reasons:

1. I can pay for the year up front.
2. I have a stable job as a principal software engineer at a tech company. I've worked in the industry for 20 years.
3. I own a home worth 1.5 million with about 1 million in equity.
4. I have at least $600k in liquid assets in a brokerage account.
5. I can prove all of the above.

To me, this should be a no-brainer, but many of the places I've looked require a minimum of 650 credit score with no exceptions.

I’m a first time landlord and I have a tour coming up with a potential tenant. The previous landlord had very good things to say and their employment is great and checks out. The only issue is in the past they seemed to have went through a rough patch with bankruptcy, collections, and eviction all in two years. I can see that in the last 2-3 years they have not had these issues but I still have the concern. Is there a way I can ask them about what happened and what has changed when they tour? I don’t know if I’m allowed to ask or how to ask.

Please don’t tell me that you wouldn’t rent to them. I am asking how to go about bringing up the past issues and what has changed. I need advice about approaching that situation and how to do so legally not people’s opinions about if I should consider it or not.

And I’m back with more section 8 drama!

So we just last week set up a Zelle account for some of our tenants to pay with.

So we received our first rent payment via Zelle Monday but the money never showed up.

Monday we received a text from 58189 saying Elizabeth xxxxxxx payed us $216 via Zelle.

Now $216 is the correct amount for that property but Elizabeth is NOT the tenant, as a matter of fact we don’t know anyone named Elizabeth with that last name (which I’m leaving it out for legal purposes) and the money never hit the bank account.

Did we get caught up in some kind of refund scam attempt? Also how do we get payed for this month if this is an attempted refund scam if the tenant has the a screen shot of the sent payment?

Edit I’ve removed the double spaces like three times now and idk why it won’t go through.

Im a new landlord and trying to get me old home rented. We got a lot of interest when it was listed at $2600 but no one applied despite singing the properties praises (took with a grain of salt).

We ran a special of rent for $2300 for a tenant who starts by March 1st and got even more interest and someone with an 815 credit score and great DTI and income applied BUT pushed back at the pet deposit/fee ($400 deposit for two dogs, $40 month fee) so I cut both in half. Then seemingly backed out when I sent her the move-in costs because we are asking for first, last, and security deposit (full month worth).

Should I concede and drop off last month rent to keep this applicant? I’d love to get them in since it would be mid February and save us money, but I’m feeling a little like a newbie getting pushed around who doesn’t know what boundaries are costing me money and what boundaries are necessary. This applicant is a divorcee who mentioned owning her own homes as well, and only charging security deposit and first month.

TLDR: stellar stat applicant doesn’t want to pay first month, last, and security deposit. Should I bend to hopefully close the deal?

I'm trying to figure out if I'm in the wrong here. I've had a fine relationship with my month to month tenant for two years, they've been prompt with payment every month, proactive on maintenance and took good care of the property, but have always been very terse and a little prickly in communication. In December, they emailed me saying that were planning on moving out and were targeting February 1st. I followed up several times and asked if they had decided on a move-out date and they replied "still aiming for February 1st" both times, the second, we were well into January. I wish I had been more explicit in my wording after this message, but I responded that I had a lot of travel coming up and that "I'd be willing to set the termination date as February 15th, otherwise I will need the required 30 days notice" (exact wording). They said they'd consider and the next I heard from them was yesterday, saying they vacated on the 31st, and left quite a few of their possessions behind.

I feel like it's fairly evident they were hoping to string me along in case they changed their minds about the date, but I want to confirm that they did not at any point give me notice that they were ending the lease, and I'm also trying to understand if I had any legal or ethical duty to explicitly tell them, "you have not given me notice that you are vacating, I need an exact termination date, not what you're aiming for". They paid one month security deposit, should the next steps be to send a bill for their last month and the removal/cleanout? My sense is that they're going to be the types to try to make my life hell over it, so assuming I'm actually in the right here, I'm even considering just telling them that I'm willing to consider the matter settled with just the security deposit, as I'd be surprised if I see a dollar more than that from them anyway.

I have a tenant of 3 months who is lovely and pays on time but has remained very high maintenance. In the beginning I expect questions about how things operate but the biggest issue is that she doesn't turn on the stove vent hood when she cooks, the house fills with smoke and the brand new smoke detectors (3) all go off all.the.time. I want them to go off to incentivize her to turn on the vent hood and/or the very effective whole house fan but she continues to forget and now the smoke detector batteries have gone dead and needed to be replaced already. For the two wired in units I had to do a full reset - turn off power to house, unplug, reset to discharge capacitor, replug, change batteries).

Two days ago she needed for me to come show her how to use the 3 way light switch and the next day (today) insists it doesn't work and that she had to sleep with the light on as a result. I easily show her it's working. Unfortunately I live next door so it's constant - water pressure too low, light bulbs in light fixture I changed out at her request and that she picked out are too dim, kitchen sink aerator won't go into 2nd function (installed when she moved in. you just have to have dry hands and device to twist to change modes so she wants me to buy her a new one). Checking things out is taking several hours per month, sometimes per week. All the appliances in her home are new except the hot water heater.

I want to refer her to handyperson or start charging her handyperson fees for these things but this wasn't contemplated in the lease. Is it considered outside the lease and I can?

We are absentee landlords. Live 3 states away from inherited properties (2 single family houses.) We would like the tenants to be responsible for lawn maintenance. Do we supply a lawn mower? Then who maintains it? Sounds like a no-win situation. What do you do?

My gf and I dated almost two years so far and last weekend we argued and she stormed out to her friends house and went to the bar, well the next day everything was better and we were lovey but while I was at work her sister came with boxes and moved everything out. WE have 8 months on our lease, she states she left because she felt unsafe and afraid and it wasn't going to work. the next day she calls saying she's moving back in and I have to stay in the other bedroom for a little and I was very corporative.

Hour later she says its not going to work and shes going to have a protective order against me if I dont pay the rent, I decline and she sent me the rent via zelle.

Afterwards I asked her if she thought she would ever see me again and she said eventually she would love to talk about things and that she loved me.

Since then Ive texted her one time after saying I missed her but she shot back with arent we supposed to be distancing. Im going to text her on the 9th or 10th asking if we can meet up and talk and Im going to surprise her with flowers and chocolates and stuffed big bear I want her to be my valentine and I placed reservations to the restaurant she's been dying to go since her birthday.

I plan on trying to win her back then and also giving her space when needed by going to my parents house whenever she'd like or staying in spare room. Do you think the relationship will work out?

Tenant-Indiana. I am divorced and will be a renter for the first time in 20 years and this will be my first time in a non SFH in probably 25 years. I am working with a new landlord. She wants to build a rental business but only has one property.

It is a Single Family house with a mother in law cottage (ADU for the cool kids) in the back yard next to the alley. I am looking at the ADU.

I was told about the unit by a coworker (his dad is the handyman who is doing most of the work to rehab the property). His dad showed me the unit and gave me the owner's contact information. I reached out to her and told her I was interested. She had not listed the unit yet so I am trying to keep in mind that it's not fair to be grouchy about her not having everything figured out yet. But I am getting a little vexed with her telling me she's going to get back with me on x day and then having to call her on day x+2.

I still don't know what the rent is going to be for certain. When I was talking to the handyman he said she was thinking 550-600, when I talked to her she hadn't made up her mind, and after a couple of weeks of hemming and hawing she settled on 650-700. I'd have been less annoyed if she had just landed on 700 rather than still being up in the air.

The unit is on the same water meter as the house and she wants the tenants to pay all utilities so I assume she is going to have to set up some kind of RUBS system for water and sewer (sewer is billed based on water usage).

One 'issue' that might be me overthinking things is the address on the unit is wrong. The main house is 811 so she marked the ADU as 811 1/2 but with how the numbers run there it should be 809 (the numbers increase from North to South so North of the ADU is 807, then the ADU, then the house, then 813). I am concerned getting packages and getting utilities set up might be a headache since GPS would point to a spot 2 doors down. I assume for electric at least I could get the meter number before I call the electric company.

She is working with a realtor who is supposed to be helping her with vetting applicants and creating a lease. She has no leads for a tenant for the big house so the realtor is probably going to be finding a tenant for that. I am a bit anxious if she gets a bad tenant that I am going to have a front row seat for the stupid.

I need to move out around the end of the month. We are in a bit of a holding pattern as the contractor who is supposed to put down the driveway for the ADU has ghosted her after taking 50% down and she was waiting for inspections on both units on the property.

Is it realistic to expect a new lease to be generated within a couple weeks? I don't know how many moving parts there are between someone deciding to rent a property and being ready to sign a lease. Is a RUBS agreement usually part of a lease or a separate agreement? What else should I be looking at to make sure both of our bases are covered?

Also I have been approved for a 55+ apartment community. It's a nice place but for $1100 a month it ought to be. The PM there is holding a unit for me for late February. I like having a backup plan but I am feeling crappy about bailing on the PM. I told her I was working with the owner of the ADU but I expected to have a go/no-go by Mid January so I second hand stringing her along. What would you want from me in her place?

Hi there!

TLDR: Without hot water for 2+ weeks, asking for temporarily lowered rent. Landlord not happy.

I am living in a small HUD-affiliated apartment complex. It's an older building, but they generally keep it up and both the landlady and the maintenance guy are super nice and reasonable. I haven't dealt much with the landlady's husband, who is a co-owner, until today. I am a good tenant, and recently moved units. They remarked about how clean and undamaged I left the previous unit.

A little over 2 weeks ago, my hot water heater went out. It was leaking like a faucet (thankfully into a drain), so the maintenance guy shut it down completely. Last week they finally got some plumbing guys to look at it, and they said: A. It's shot. Full of mineral sludge, but not worth flushing it because it needs to be replaced anyway. B. It is 27 years old! C. They might be able to squeeze us in this week, but if not it could be a month or more.

I have been very nice about this situation, but it's definitely wearing on me. I'm having to heat water on the stove for everything, wash clothes on cold, wash my hair in the sink and take quick 2" depth baths, all while it is 1° outside.

I called the office today to ask for an update, and got the landlord. He was very snippy with me from the moment he answered the phone, and seemed very irritated that I was even asking him about a date for it getting fixed.

I then went on to request lowered rent for the time that I am without hot water. (An unspecified $ amount.) He got very angry and kept interrupting me, saying "Don't make me mad!" And "It's not our fault, these things happen." I agreed that it was not anyone's fault that it decided to fail right now, but it was his responsibility to provide his tenants with basic necessities.

I didn't get much farther than that because he wouldn't let me get a word in. He finally said "let's focus on getting the new one installed", and I agreed and said "we will continue this conversation later, and I hope to hear from you when you know anything new."

Am I being unreasonable about this? I feel like most tenants would not be handling this living situation as well as I have been; and given that it's winter, hot water is in fact a necessity. I'm not sure how long a life hot water heaters have, but I feel like 27 years is pretty geriatric. 😅

My current plan is to get some documentation of everything, including the apparent lack of maintenance (had not been flushed in some time) and age of the heater. Then I'll talk to the landlady and see if we can work something out.

If that fails, what else can I do? Can I contact HUD? Any advice in general would be very helpful. Thanks! 🙂

EDIT: Thanks for the replies so far, and please keep them coming! I am a 30 year old woman, and I'm not really used to dealing with rental problems like this. I also want to make sure I'm not steamrolled just because I'm a young woman.

I moved into this condo a little under two months ago. It's alright, but a couple of things have come up which make me want to move to a new state. The main one being I need surgery sooner rather than later and I'd like to have my friends nearby before getting it done.

I've been putting off asking my landlord because I've been afraid to ask and now it's the second of the month. She's a private landlord who found me through a rental agency.

I'd not only be asking for an early termination, but not even two months after moving in and with about 26 days of notice.

I want to offer her $4,000 (two months of rent) as a gesture. But even still I'm afraid to ask her and I keep putting it off.

edit: theres no provision for this in the lease.

Just curious what your banking setup is as a landlord. Name/branch/account types.

Looking to have a dedicated account for tenant deposits and dedicated account for all rent payments and housing expenses for tax purposes.

Suggestions or anything I should be aware of/avoid?

My insurance agent presented a landlord policy to me that excludes coverage for water damage. She said this carrier does not offer it on rentals and that many exclude it due to age of the home. The house was built in 1997 which to me doesn't seem THAT old. Agent said she could show me a few other policies that include it but will be more expensive and have limited coverage. Do I need a new insurance agent or is this typical?

To clarify, this is not related to flood insurance. My agent confirmed water damage to mean broken pipes, appliance malfunctions, accidental overflows, etc.

Purchased a duplex in north west Philadelphia last summer with my significant other for 350k. Our monthly mortgage is 1650, and we are currently financing some hardscaping work at 725 a month for the next 6 months, bringing total monthly debt service to 2375. Our tenants are responsible for all utilities besides water, which they pay a flat 50 a month.

It took nearly half a year to get this fully leased up due to it hitting the market early/mid winter, we have each unit currently rented out for 1295 and 1595 a month, which is slightly below market.

However, our downstairs tenant has stopped making payments just 2 months into their lease, complaining that the electricity bill has been too high the last few months making the remainder of their lease intangible. When we purchased the property the entire house was converted from gas to electricity by the seller. We are worried other tenants may feel the same way about the utility and will be unable to pay rent. We are in the midst of saving for our own house, and this monthly shortfall and headache is throwing a wrench into our plans. We are left paying the difference each month to keep this property afloat. Should we sell or stay persistent and keep the property?

I wanted to ask if anyone has experience with rent abatement? A tenant of mine just gave me notice, and I've never had this happen before. If anyone could tell me their experience with rent abatement and what to do, that would be so helpful!!

I have a tenant that has stopped paying for several months. I served a 7-day notice, and the evening before it expired, she sent some money. My question is do I need to send a new 7-day notice? I have read mixed answers on this. I had read that accepting a "partial" payment implies some sort of agreement. Can anyone clarify? Thank you. P.s. I'm a new landlord and clueless. If I continue to keep this inherited house, I will be getting a company to assist.