Tenant in, Tenant Out

I am really thankful that my tenant of one of the rooms, practically got replaced on the same day: one moving out and one moving in today.
The current tenant actually gave me very short notice for his leave.  But because he has always been making payments late in the month, I am almost thankful to let him go. Don't get me wrong, among all the previous tenants, he was quite responsible in doing his share of the work and better than the nightmare master room tenant that I had.
Anyway, today he handed over the keys. J and I were busy cleaning up the room and doing general repairs.  J replaced the broken washing machine drain hose which was leaking all over the yard, and I cleaned the yard.  We also rearranged the TV and dining table to spruce up the apartment.  I bought new mattress protectors for the new tenants.  The middle room will also get a new curtain as the old blue one was missing, through change of tenants in so many years.
The new tenant arrived from the airport later today, viewed the room and confirmed move in the same day.  So luckily we had cleaned the room as best as we could.  All in a day's work.

I am sending out good vibes that a good tenant will be found soon for the middle room as well.

Messy Room Left Behind By Tenant

One of my tenants left and I was not able to be around to get the keys from him before he left.
Luckily I have the spare room keys, and this is what I found when I entered the room.

And he has left the country for good and do not plan to come back, but there are remnants of books, clothes, 1 old computer bag, exercise dumb-bells etc.  No choice, J and I quickly cleaned up as best as we could.  At the end we manage to throw out most of the useless stuff, packed the books in a bag to keep, (in case any new students can use them) and even mopped the floor and cleaned the room.

Ready for new tenant to take over, hopefully a clean person this time.

Regalia Studio - Rented!

After 15 days, our Regalia unit is rented out!  Expatriate couple, 1 working near Subang Parade - therefore would be taking the KTM commuter to work.
During these 2 weeks we got many calls from property agents active at renting out Regalia units.  We also had many viewings but no takers.  Thankfully, today, the couple paid deposit and signed the tenancy agreement for a year.  Thank you to all agents who had tried to help us.  We hope that the tenants find comfort and convenience in this little apartment.

Regalia Studio for Rent

We have had quite a number of challenges trying to make our apartment a comfy place to stay, mainly because both J and I had been too busy.  This is also our 2nd experience getting a brand new unit with VP handed over to us, the first being many, many years ago when we weren't property investors.  There were so many things to do.
So the progress has been slow and we were taking our own time, which is not a good idea for property investors.  But while we set it up we often take the kids to enjoy the pool there - combining investment agenda with personal agenda, ahem, not professional at all.

Enjoying the Skypool

However on 31 May, we finally got everything more or less in order.

J repainted the Ikea table with walnut wood stain

The Ikea bookshelf makes a nice separator.

Washer and dryer included.

Should I rent out furnished or unfurnished?

A friend asked me if she should rent out her apartment furnished or unfurnished.  The rental for empty unit is around RM900, and she plans to furnish it fully and rent out at higher rental - RM1000.
In my opinion, if you were to put in furnishings into a 3-bedroom apartment, the furniture and home appliance could easily cost RM4000.  At RM100 increased rental per month, it will take 40 months (3 years and 4 months) just to recover the costs of the furnishings. For me, I would furnish only if the increase in rental is substantial, for example RM400 more.  Then it will take 10 months to recover the furniture costs, and then from the 11th month onwards it would be really cash flow for a few years.  So I told my friend if a furnished unit could only fetch RM100 more per month, then rent it out as bare unit.

Full House at Lagoon Perdana

Dining area

Pangsapuri Lagoon Perdana

Just some good news to share.  Sara's Lagoon Perdana apartment is, as of today, officially full house with all deposits by tenants paid.  There are 4 people living here in this 900+ square feet house, with most of them being students of the colleges nearby.  Congratulations Sara, you are now a landlady!  Welcome to the world of tenant management!

Update on Lagoon Perdana Apartment, Sunway

Finally after many months of work, Sara's apartment at Bandar Sunway is ready for rental.  Hopefully, the rental is smooth and without any anxiety to her.  Her hubby has almost done everything himself on the wiring, lights and even plumbing.  Sara only engaged contractor to do the grills.  The rest of the items are from the earlier "borong" sale, or picked up later.  Some of the items are brand new because they require delivery.

The selling point of this unit that it is bright and tastefully decorated. Sara even installed an RO water filter system in the kitchen because she knows that students are too busy to boil water for themselves and having safe and clean drinking water is a priority to students and their parents.
The apartment has 3 rooms, all equipped with study tables and chairs, beds and mattresses, wardrobe, lights and fans.  The common sharing items include fridge, tv, washing machine and a brand new microwave oven.
Good luck, Sara, hope you can get all your tenants soon.

SD Tiara - last tenant found

I am thankful that after the vacancy in November & December, the last room at SD Tiara is now taken up again come 1 Jan 2011.
The main problem was I was away for 2 weeks and didn't manage to show the unit to interested parties in time.  I also had many enquiries but not enough for viewing.  So far I had shown the unit to only 3 prospects. Thankfully today, I got a tenant who works at Bandar Utama which is about 5km away.  In fact, after viewing, he paid all the deposits on the spot to guarantee the room. So my unit is once again full-house.

SD Tiara looking for one last tenant again

Just an update here about my SD Tiara apartment.  By November I already had 3 tenants and no more empty rooms.  Then last week the last tenant who moved in about 3 weeks told me he had to break the contract and move out.  That was because his company who moved him to Kepong last month, suddenly moved him to work in Perak.

As he only paid the rental for November and also one month's deposit - he was supposed to pay 2.5 mths deposit and November rental but because he moved in mid month he asked for a little leeway to pay the balance by month end - he asked me how to settle the balance.  He actually owed me more than that, and the contract was already signed and stamped, but I felt pity on this guy who was suddenly moved again, and told him it was ok, I just forfeit that one month's deposit.  After all, I had no loss, except to find another tenant. He was very happy.  He told me that luckily the company was fair to him, they would let him claim the rental and deposit.

So now my apartment is looking for one last tenant. I believe if I am a fair and good landlord, eventually I will find my good last tenant.