Managing a rental for a newbie

[Jason Tees]

Hello all,

I am going to manage a rental for my parents in the Chester, VA at the end of this month. They have had trouble in the past with tenants and I have been educating via books in plans of one day owning a few rentals myself. So I felt this would be a good way not only to help out but also to learn. I just finished reading The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner and highly recommend it to anyone. I learned a ton of helpful information and am now ready to take some action!

So my question is for anyone locally. Where can I find  rental tenant screening forms and or contracts that I  could use as a starting point? Also I will post adds on craigslist and signs  to get started, but are there any other good places to get potential renter traffic?

If there is any thing I'm missing or should be aware of please let me know. 

I will be doing most minor maintenance my self as I am pretty handy in most areas. I have 15 years of HVAC experience as well as electrical and plumbing.   Thanks for any help you guys and feel free to reach out. If I can return the favor any on related HVAC or maintenance questions I will.

[Thomas S.]

The most important part of managing tenants is screening. This is where every landlord with a bad tenant has failed to do a thorough job. Applicants are not people they are only a collection of facts and information.

I suggest you only use M2M leases to maintain control of the property and keep in mind tenants are like a new puppy, if you do not train them you can never expect them to be good tenants.

You are operating a business where no good deed goes unpunished and emotions are a landlords greatest disability.