May 04, 2009
Monday

I am a homeowner who currently has renters in my home. I'm fairly new to the game (just a few months), but I have to say if anyone thinks I am making money off the deal, they are just plain wrong. The rent covers the mortgage payment, the property manager's fee and the little bit extra goes to paying the increase in insurance from a homeowner's policy to a landlord's policy. If there is anything left, it will go towards a fund for repairs/alterations.

April was the first month I received rent after the tenants moved in and guess what?? I only received one-fourth of the total rent amount due to repairs that needed to be taken care of. So, obviously, we had to cover the cost of those repairs just so we could make the mortgage payment. I don't feel bad about that - if repairs are needed, we will make sure that they are taken care of - that is our responsibility. But, we'll have to see how next month turns out. If it keeps up like this, I don't even know how we will be able to keep the house and rent it out. We may end up having to sell it once the lease is up since we cannot afford to pay both rent at our new place and keep covering the mortgage payment on the house because of the repairs.

It sure was a heck of a lot easier living in the house since we handled all of the repairs ourselves. So, for those of you thinking that all landlords are just greedy people trying to take their renters for a ride, think again.

Sonia Streitmatter
Unalaska, AK

About: "Former Ketchikan resident, still a Ketchikan homeowner with renters."

Received April 30, 2008 - Published May 04, 2009

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