Beginner Landlord Questions

[Jay S.]

Hi all,

I just went into contract to purchase my first rental property. I'm getting everything set up in the 30 days I have prior to closing. I had a few questions:

1. Florida requires that tenant deposits are kept in separate bank accounts not co-mingled. What do you Florida landlords do? Do you just open savings accounts for each tenant and stick their deposits in those accounts? Or do banks have specific accounts for landlords?

2. What company do you use to do tenant background checks? Are you happy with the company?

3. Do you use specific income guidelines for your units? For example, when I was renting in a large building (owned by Gables or one of the other big guys) they required that I had verifiable proof of income that was a certain multiple of the yearly rent. 

4. I'd like to streamline my life and collect rent online, if possible. Does anyone use an online portal, and if so, which one? How has it worked out for you?

5. Any other general advice?

Thanks for the help! Here's to hoping this is the first of several properties. 

[Grant Shipman]

Great job so far. Keep going! I use Rentec Direct and love them. I only collect rent electronically and it auto bills tenants, records their payments, and assigns late fees. My tenants love it as well.