Do you want to become an investor/landlord? Here are some tips

[Omar Ismael]

1. Screen your tenants better. Do intricate research and invest your time in getting to know them beyond just knowing that they are people who need a place to live and on the surface seem to be able to pay.

2. Ensure you have all updated documentation and certification necessary and specific to the state/city you’re conducting business in because the necessities vary from state to state and city to city. In this case, the C of H required in city of Irvington.

3. Begin the eviction process as soon as they’ve missed payment because the process is long and tedious and it’d be easier for you to cancel the eviction as opposed to starting it three months later and end up losing out on multiple months of rent.

4. Involve the police as soon as anything as they’re reliable vouchers for any mishaps

5. Remain professional in adversity with your tenants because if you lose control of the situation it will be harder for you to receive justice from the court system

6. Place clearly in your lease agreement that tenants are not allowed to make changes to the accessibilities of the rented property, this includes locks and entrances because of the possibility of an emergency or the necessity of an inspection by the landlord or official inspectors.

7. If there are any plumbing issues such as anything caused to disrupt the functionability of the toilets or sewers, the tenants should foot that bill.

8. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with renting section 8 tenants. They’re usually well screened, you get market rate, the government pays 80%-90% of the rent, they can’t destroy your property because there are section 8 yearly inspections , the tenants have to pay their own utilities(excluding water), you can reach out to a case worker if there are any problems you need mediation for and lastly, no one wants to lose their section 8 privilege because it’s not that easy to be granted.

My new initiative to ensure efficiency and consistency on BP is to list a few tips based on my learned expertise, then make a follow up post about my experience on the specific topic. This is to benefit both investors and tenants alike possibly facing similar situation or would simply like to learn about the situation before making uninformed moves. Feedback is appreciated as always.