F.A.Q.
Some Frequently Asked Questions:
Q. Do you accept Section 8?
A. Not currently.
Q. Do you have a minimum income requirement?
A. Yes. We require that your household income be at least 3x the monthly rent.
Q. Do you do a credit check?
A. Yes. The application fee is only $35.00 per adult and covers a credit and eviction check. We are concerned with judgments from other landlords or past evictions, those will result in an automatic denial.
Q. Do you need an application and fee from everyone that will live in the house?
A. Yes. Any adult that will live in the house must fill out an application, pay the fee, and sign the lease.
Q. I pay my bills and have a job, but I also have a bunch of student loans and medical bills that I owe money on. Will that disqualify me?
A. No. Student loans and medical bills are not a problem. We make sure that you have an income and good rental payment history.
Q. I owned my own house, but had a foreclosure/short sale. Will that disqualify me?
A. No. We understand that the real estate market crashed and many people lost their homes. As long as you have the required monthly income and can get the utilities placed in your name, you should be fine.
Q. I’m currently renting a house and the landlord is getting foreclosed. Have any of your houses been foreclosed?
A. Never. We have rented houses to many people in your same situation. You are paying rent every month and the landlord isn’t paying his bills. You will not have to worry about that with us.
Q. I rented a house and the sewer backed up. I called the landlord and he didn’t fix it. Do you fix plumbing problems in a timely manner?
A. Sewer backups can happen with older houses. If there are any plumbing problems at all, we have a plumber we can send out right away.
Q. I rented a house and it turns out that it was condemned. How do I stop that from happening?
A. All of our houses are nice. They are inspected by the city and have no problems, every house that Bauer Properties MI LLC is well maintained and taken care of.
Q. I rented an apartment and lost my job and they evicted me. Will that disqualify me?
A. Yes. Any eviction from a past rental will disqualify you. Evictions are a nightmare and we have no interest in going through them. We want to rent to people who pay their rent every month.
Q. I want to move in about two weeks. Can you hold the house for me?
A. Yes. You will need to make a deposit equal to one month’s rent. We will then take the house off the market and hold it for you. You will need to bring the balance of the money at time of lease signing.
Q. Can I just pay you the full amount when I move in and not give you a deposit?
A. If you want to cross your fingers and hope the house is still there, that is up to you. We will continue to show the property and rent it to a qualified applicant until we receive a deposit or the entire move in amount.
Q. Are any utilities included with the rent?
A. The landlord pays for garbage removal through the property taxes, but all other utilities are the responsibility of the tenant.
Q. I owe the electric company $1,000 and can’t get electric service in my name. Can I leave it in your name and just pay you every month for the bill?
A. Absolutely not.
Q. Do you do month-to-month leases?
A. No. We require a lease of at least one year, we prefer long term tenants as we do not like a lot of turnover.
Q. Could I live there for 20 years?
A. Yes, if you pay your rent every month. We can’t sign a 20 year lease as we don’t know how high rents will go in the future. We have never evicted someone that was paying their rent. (Some landlords decide that they want to sell the house and tell the tenant to move. We have never done this).
Q. Are pets allowed?
A. We prefer no pets. We allow pets on a case by case basis with an additional monthly fee. Our insurance company does not allow many breeds of dogs (pitbulls, rottweilers, etc.)
Q. Do you rent to smokers.
A. Yes, but there is no smoking allowed in the house. You and your guests need to smoke outside.
Q. What if it’s raining or really cold out? Can we open the window and smoke right there?
A. No. I’ve seen houses where the windows are so covered in nicotine that you can’t see outside. You smoke outside at work. Your house needs the same policy.