Purchased Property, Now looking for Tenants

[Marlia Stone]

Hello BPs,

I thought I should update everyone on my journey. I finally purchased my first investment property in Philadelphia. The costs wasn’t too bad during the process and it went pretty good for my second go around.The property needed minor changes such as, a paint job, new bathroom tiles, deep cleaning, etc. overall it was turnkey ready.

I am currently at the point to being almost finished the minor adjustments, and I am in the process of searching for tenants. Do you have any advice on where to look for tenants, or how to go about it if I were to manage it myself? what to ask tenants prior to acceptance ? What demographic is the most risk? Or Should I work with a property management group?

[Abel Curiel]

Good morning @Marlia Stone & congrats on your recent deal!

Property management is one route to consider but if you're going to manage the property yourself, I'd recommend going with a local Realtor with experience in the rental market. 

The Realtor can handle all of the time consuming work but still walk you through the process so that you can learn from it. 

The Realtor can:

• - take care of marketing the apartment on MLS and third-party sites
• - coordinate and attend all apartment viewings
• - pre-screen prospective tenants (i.e. collecting financial documentation)
• - collect and review rental applications
• - coordinate tenant interviews (once you've found an application worth pursuing)
• - coordinate lease signing

In my market, tenants sometimes pay the Realtor fees so all of the above could possibly be done for you free of charge!

Best of luck to you moving forward!

Abel