Being organized

[Joshua Kapp]

Hey everyone. I have the opportunity to potentially buy a property on land contract in the future. I'm curious if anyone has any tips or thoughts about being organized with paperwork and treating rental properties as a business. Would just like to pick the brain of any landlords out there. Thank you! -Josh

[Account Closed]

This is just a couple of things to keep in mind.

I found the following items very useful in running my business. The more
you throw yourself into the business, the more you will receive. You will
receive respect from your tenants because you are professional, and you
will receive respect from the courts and the community as well.

In this business, it is very important to protect yourself from lawsuits in
every way. The more you are prepared the better your chances are of
winning. By being detailed and organized it stops a lot of lawsuits and
having to go to court because a tenant doesn’t pay rent or says you don’t
take care of the repairs.

In order to make you a “Winner” I suggest the following items.

1. Vonage Phone. This service has been a lifesaver for me. It has an
excellent Internet Phone Record that you can access at any time.
When a tenant calls (or anyone calls, for that matter) the call will go
directly to voice mail and the message is recorded on your phone and
also on your computer in Vonage’s online Voice Records.
It keeps track of the time and date the person called you and the
time and date you called them back or the time and date you call
anybody.
So when a tenant says that they called you for repairs and you never
called them back and you did, you just print out the phone record

OFFICE SETUP

from your computer and submit it with a letter to the tenant showing
them that you did indeed call, highlighting the date and time, and
that usually ends that problem right away. I also take the recording
to court with me in case the tenant tells the Judge that I said this or
that. By having the recording with me on a laptop or on a tape
recorder, shows the Judge exactly what transpired.

But as I’ve said above, once you prove to the tenant that you have
evidence to the contrary of what they are saying and you send them
a copy of the event with a letter, it usually ends the problem right
away. This is why……………. I always let my phone go to voice mail.
I also tell my tenants if it is an emergency and I don’t answer the
phone, to leave me a message and I will call them right away. And
because I check my voice messages every 15 minutes, I’ve always
been able to take care of their emergencies immediately and their
minor repairs in the order it is received. One thing for sure, I will
always acknowledge their phone calls, no matter what it may be, but
it will always be in writing, UNLESS it is an emergency.

2. STAMPS.COM
This is another great program I have. It keeps a record of the time and date
of everyone that I send mail to. So whenever I write a letter to anyone
and they say they never received the letter, (such as a notice to quit) I have
proof that it was sent and I print out the records to show the Tenant or the
Judge and that solves the problem right away.

Vonage and Stamps.com are tools that should be part of your everyday
business. They are great tools in nipping problems in the bud before they
get out of hand and in preventing those stressful trips to the courthouse
that you may have had to take if you had not had them at all.

3. COLOR PRINTER
It is very imperative that you take BEFORE and AFTER pictures when a
tenant moves in and moves out.

A Judge does not want to hear you say “He said, She said”. A Judge wants
proof.

You’ve worked hard to buy the right property. You’ve worked hard to fix it
up and get it ready for the market. You’ve worked hard to find the right
tenant. So…protect yourself. When you are ready to advertise the rental
and show it, take pictures of it and have the pictures in color just in case
you need to prove to a Judge what the rental place looked like if you should
have to go to court and the Tenant tells the Judge it was a dump.

4. FAX MACHINE
This is a great item to have in order to fax work orders to your workers or
Independent Contractors. They in turn can fax you a bill when they are
through with the job. It saves a lot of time and gets the job done quicker
by having a way to get the documents they need (and you too) over to
each other in seconds. The sooner you receive your workers invoices, the
sooner you can pay them, which makes them loyal to you and puts you top
of their lists of jobs to do.

It’s also a good thing to have in case a Tenant needs to fax over a document
from their case workers for you to sign. Never have them fax over their
“Lease Agreement” though as that needs an original signature.

5. INTERNET CONNECTION-E-MAIL
You will need an Internet Connection to have “Vonage” and “Stamps.com”.
I like to advertise my properties on my web page. Prospective tenants love
taking a tour of a landlord’s property online. It shows them that you are

professional. Also, by having the pictures of your rentals online, it shows a
Judge what the home looks like prior to you renting it out.

I usually print out the ad from my web page and take it with me to the
Open House. By having the photos and advertisement right there at the
Open House, it shows the “possible tenants” that you have proof of what
the house looks like as they are touring it. And if you have to go to court,
you will have evidence that this is what the house looked like! It just
doesn’t get any better than that!

6. E-Mail:
E-mail is good to have as well. When tenants e-mail you regarding
anything, you have it in writing. I always want things in writing. Whenever
the tenants need a repair, I tell them to put it in writing. However, if it is an
emergency, they need to call me immediately and I will take care of it

If you are a husband and wife partnership, or an investor with other
partners, you will need to designate who will do what. Remember, being a
Landlord is a business and you need to treat it as such.

Most husband and wife Investors, have the wife handling the office and the
tenants and the husband doing the repairs. If that is the case, each must
stick to their own job duties. My husband stays out of my office, and I stay
out of his tool box.

If you are in a Partnership, you need to designate who does what and stick
to it too. If you don’t develop job responsibility, you will have chaos and
someone is going to quit.

You want to have a smooth running business. Don’t tread on anyone’s toes
once you designate job responsibilities, even if you do not agree with the
decision the other person may make. (Of course it is different if the other
person is going to get you in trouble or cause you to go bankrupt). I’m
talking about normal every day transactions. It is imperative that you trust
their decision in regards to their job duties.

If you need to discuss a more serious matter, then have a meeting (whether
you are husband and wife, or in a partnership)

I’ve touched on some very disturbing things about this business at the
beginning of this book. And this business is tough! You’re excited about
being a landlord. You found the perfect house. You worked day and night
to fix it up. You have given up family time to get this home ready, not to
mention have spent a lot of money, and now the tenant won’t pay rent, or
are damaging your house!!!! You want to break their neck!

This and the Eviction process take a lot of self-control. Once you realize
that this house is just a tool of your trade and not your baby, you will be
able to adjust and handle it. It won’t take away the anger to see your home
being damaged, but it will help you to visualize it as a tool; an expensive
tool, but a tool.

You have already fixed it up once, therefore you can fix it up again. (Most
damages are cosmetic damages anyway, and not structural damages,
unless of course the damage is due to fire.)

Later on I will talk about “Training your Tenants”. This book will help you
cope with what you may face. It will give you a different outlook on things
in order to cope. (At least I’m hoping to accomplish this in this book).
Your house is not worth your life, jail time, or losing your savings over. It is
just a house that you can fix up again…..always keep that in mind!

These are just a few things to think about. 

Other things would include

• Screening your tenants
•  Open House 
• The Proper Application Form 
• Selecting a Tenant
•  Section 8 Tenants vs. Non Section 8 Tenants
• Tenant Phase- 
• Training Your Tenants
• The advantage of a Written Lease Agreement
• Signing the Lease – What you should bring
• Co-Signers 
• The Lease Agreement
• Landlord/Tenant Relationship
• The Emotional Aspect of an Eviction 
• What is it like going to court?

Nancy Neville