Thinking of dealing with the devil...

[kathryn d]

I would not evict a good tenant. When the current tenant leaves, then consider your sister.
If she is finding a rental because she is a young single mum, imagine how much harder it would be if she had a dog. In this instance, I would suggest no pets for at least a year, and then you have decide.

Having a PM doesn't mean squat. You still have final say on everything. If you decide to rent to sis, save the PM fees, rent to your sister at the same rate your current tenant is paying. Use the difference for a Xmas bonus to sis if you want..or as an incentive to pay rent on time for a year...

 

[fokas]

A single mum who's finding it tough to find a place and she's likely to consider getting a dog down the track?
Baaaaaaaad idea imo.

With regards to the rental aspect... adding in a yearly rent increase in the contract sounds great.

 

[rugrat]

The current tenant is very likely to be leaving at the end of their lease, or not long after - they are looking to buy their own house.

 

[depreciator]

Given that the idea of you renting to your sister is probably now on the family table, you'll probably have to go through with it. I think you know that.

It's one of those 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situations.

Let her (and anybody else who sticks their nose in) be aware of your apprehension. Do the direct debit thing etc and try to keep things professional.

At least you're going into it with your eyes open and if she starts taking an inch you can stop that becoming a mile.

It's when people go into these sort of arrangements on a handshake expecting everything to be plain sailing that things can turn really ugly.

 

[nww]

Would you be happy sitting down with your sister for coffee and telling her the rents going up..

 

[rugrat]

Would you be happy sitting down with your sister for coffee and telling her the rents going up..

Very happy to do this, although I'm sure she would be less then pleased.

I am going to talk to my dad about whether he thinks it would be a terrible idea. He is much like me, and I think would be totally upfront if he thought it might cause problems or be a bad idea for me - he is not under any delusions in relation to my sisters personality and behaviour.

 

[Ed Barton]

Very happy to do this, although I'm sure she would be less then pleased.

I am going to talk to my dad about whether he thinks it would be a terrible idea. He is much like me, and I think would be totally upfront if he thought it might cause problems or be a bad idea for me - he is not under any delusions in relation to my sisters personality and behaviour.

no one's mentioned helping family here. you've all been stingy and probably with reason since you are on the hook to the bank, fair enough.

with a direct deposit i think you'll pull through.

 

[jaycee]

no one's mentioned helping family here. you've all been stingy and probably with reason since you are on the hook to the bank, fair enough.

with a direct deposit i think you'll pull through.

Sometimes you can't help but get overnnaalaysis when we open 1uestions to an open forum !

to me, random sounds like he/she has pretty much made up their minds and there is no "right & wrong" exactly.... you get get a stranger who messes you around like I got - family aren't the only ones where issues might arise !

 

[ACTInvestor]

I would run a mile if I were you.
I know you say now that you don't care if it all goes pear shaped and she doesn't get over it, but you being 'the wealthy one' affording an investment property and her being the 'poor single mother' and giving her rent rises and possibly having to evict her eventually. It's not just her you are going to be unpopular with, but the rest of your family too.
Agree with most of the other posts - go through your PM, it will be much harder for a PM to fix the dramas after they have happened.
However, it sounds as though (even with the very long list of cons) that you are going to rent to her anyway. My question is why?? You purchased an investment property to gain wealth I assume just like the rest of us. Why would you jepodise this to rent to family? wealth creation and family should be separate IMO.

 

[fokas]

My question is why?? You purchased an investment property to gain wealth I assume just like the rest of us. Why would you jepodise this to rent to family? wealth creation and family should be separate IMO.

Really??

 

[Piston Broke]

Geez the word "family" doesn't seem to mean anything to some people.

 

[skater]

I have seen a lot of this, usually when I see it it is because someone is begging me to manage their property as they rented to friends or family and things turned bad.
If you are going to rent to family then do it through an agent. It means there is a middle man, someone else is the bad guy and when she comes to you, you can stay guilt free "have a chat to the agent sis, want to keep it all above board". or the always good fall back "I would mange it myself because I know you are the perfect tenant but it is better for my tax purposes if I have an agent". By having a middle man you avoid huge family disputes (because everyone ALWAYS takes a side) and despite you saying you are happy to go through with the eviction process if need be it will be a ripple effect throughout the entire family. Ask your PM for a discounted management fee as you are finding the tenant and will be able to deal with a lot of things yourself, you should be able to get it (if not from your current PM then from another agency). Its a few dollars yes but it's not much for a safety net and peace of mind.

I agree! If your sister isn't that clued up on how the whole thing works (management wise) I would tell her exactly what I used to tell potential tenants that would knock on my door, wanting to rent my IP which was at the rear of my home. I used to tell them that I don't really have any say in who rents my property or how much the rent is set at as I have signed over all my rights to Agency that manages it. No, I'm not interested in managing it myself because I'm way too busy/don't understand how it works etc.

Don't underestimate how vital a middle man can be when there is a potential for personal conflicts of interest.

 

[Kanemicm]

At the end of the day, you dont know what a person is like until they move in.

I have seen some very messy homes lived in by professionals. Who would think.
and I have seen very clean homes by those on the doll.

Each tenant is different