Woman upgrades house for $12K and gets evicted by landlord

The way to do it is to work in either a rent decrease for X months for the work and materials or lock in a low rent for X years based on the work being done.

Another alternative is to do the above and get the landlord to supply the materials.

I've done it in the past and it has worked out well though usually for minor things (like replacing generic doorknobs with nicer looking ones, replacing a toilet with a better flushing one, or installing a ceiling fan).

Adding insulation to the attic if it's missing in spots can also make sense to do if you're paying the utilities. Though again I would get the landlord to at a minimum to pay for materials or discount it from the rent.

If the upgrades are things that will help make the unit more marketable when you move out, then they'd be dumb to turn it down.

Turns out, she's "never there" so, I'm assuming it's a second home. Like she goes to the area frequently enough that she doesn't want to deal with hotels. Makes this even dumber

https://twitter.com/eade_bengard/status/1696982908022739091?s=20

Nah she dumb

That's capitalism. If you invest money you want a return. It's the entire system. Maintaining anything if not required goes against the whole ethos.

A landlord was being shitty to someone and it was clear he wouldn't get his deposit back no matter what, so when the renter moved, he took everything. Meaning he unscrewed the plugs from the wall and took those with him, took the toilet seat and so on. Play stupid games, win stupid prices I guess.

If you know you can't be evicted unless you stop paying rent and the rent is cheap enough, it's not a bad idea to renovate it a bit. I told my friend he should quietly renovate his rental apartment because he hated the kitchen and all the flooring. He was paying $2k under market price, had rent control, and because it's a corporate landlord, they can't evict him unless he misses rent a lot or harasses other tenants.

My friend opted to buy a condo instead, so while his mortgage is more than his rent was, at least he's earning equity and a rising housing market.

I did that when I had an awesome landlord. I just sent pics about what I was fixing and gave her a price. Then I got my rent reduced by that much.

But that was the only rental property she owned. It was extra money for her, not her primary income. And I paid several hundred less than anyone else in the area according to Zillow.

I did basic repairs at my old place. The rent was well below market and I'd rather do it than have to deal with the landlord's odd schedule.

You only need 1-5% down as a first time home buyer.

FHA loans need 3.5% last I checked. So her $12k wasn’t far off for a $500k dollar place. Yes they also require PMI for a bit, but better putting money into something that causes gains for yourself than for a landlord. As this article so clearly proves.

You also need 2-6% for closing costs. People always ignore that.....

Nah you can put lower you just need mortgage insurance so you’re paying a bit extra on mortgage due to not having to save up for 5 years to afford it (which would mean the price probably rising by enough in those 5 years that you’ll need to save up for another year and now you’re 6 years behind on a payment lol.) if you’re saving up while renting you’re probably paying close to mortgage for rent (or more if you’re in certain areas) plus putting more aside to save for that down payment so you should be able to afford the slightly higher mortgage until you get to that 20%.

Some people don't want to be tied down with a mortgage and find renting to be better. It's similar to leasing a car.

I doubt your pulled out of ass price for a house. And you don't need a 20% down payment. The highest down payment minimum is like 10% and most people don't need that much. All depends on the type of loan though.

Assuming the median price for a home is $500k

Depending on where you live that's way too high. That's like an NYC price or something.

Think about how stupid the average person is and realize half of them are stupider than that.

• George Carlin

The blue check is $8/month

Your advice isn't helpful for people who don't have the means to own their own home. Being trusting or naive isn't something that should be shamed. There's a way to educate people with kindness and compassion. People aren't born knowing how to best handle the legal end of a renovation. But go on and call her stupid some more, that'll help the onlookers. You and I and everyone in this comments section will be smart and secure with the claws we have dug into the insides of the pretty housing bubble. Perhaps if we bicker even more, the problem will disappear completely.

Well no one is living in a rental car for years. I understand what you're saying but the comparison itself is pretty bad

A proper comparison here would be more like a leased vehicle than a rental car. It's not the "stupidest thing ever" for this tenant to believe she would be living there for 1 or more years and wouldn't suddenly be evicted. Your exaggeration only benefits predators, and your pity is hardly a reward to anyone.

Renting isn't the greatest decision, either. You're throwing money at a landlord and gaining zero equity. People often do it because it's that or homelessness. These systems are in place to take advantage of people who aren't the best decision makers. Just because they can be taken advantage of... should they be? Or should we be better than this and revamp how we house people so that it isn't a massive scam with the opportunity for extra side scams like we see here?

If the landlord wasn't a massive dick, they both could have benefited from this situation. She'd have the renovated bathroom she wanted, and the landlord knew his property was being taken care of without even needing to lift a finger. Instead he got greedy, and rather than blame the greedy jerk people want to jump on the "stupid" victim. Except it's not her fault her landlord was a prick.