Newbie from Northeastern Maryland (soon to be Wilmington, DE)

[Robert Johnston]

Hello all!  I've been lurking around the site for quite awhile now and finally took the plunge & joined.  My name is Robert and I'm from a small town in Northeastern Maryland for the next 4-6 weeks and then I'll be in Wilmington, Delaware.   I'll use the "How to Introduce Yourself Thread" to make this semi-comprehensive.

I'm 31 years old and am currently an accreditation manager for a small Medicaid health insurance plan.  Until recently, I was always a product of the, "you have to go to school and get a degree to be successful" idea.  10 years of experience in the industry and a Masters degree later, here I am.

Technically, I have no real estate experience, but I am preparing to rent out my home as my significant other and I combine forces.  While conducting research on various topics related to becoming a landlord, I stumbled upon BP and I must say it's been a dream come true.  I've been lurking around here ever since, reading thread after thread, and just strengthening my own knowledge.  The biggest thing impact BP has had on me so far has been related to the importance of screening applicants.  That was a recurring theme in the threads I browsed and in fact, it's led me to deny the first two applications on my property despite my eagerness to begin renting.  I'm remaining patient and waiting for a better application.

I'd like this to become the first step in really getting into RE investing.  While I am proud of what I've accomplished in the corporate world and I would never go back and "undo" my education, I'd like to start building an investment portfolio and really working on my personal wealth for a variety of reasons.  While I never see myself owning apartment complexes or flipping properties, there's no telling where this journey may lead!

[JR T.]

If your rental property is in Maryland, you'll want access to the Corelogic eviction database which you can get through myrental.com 

Evictions in Maryland are not docketed which means you can't discover them by searching Casesearch or calling the courthouse with a name. Other screening services may not provide coverage in areas lacking electronic case records (everywhere in MD except Prince Georges County). 

Court clerks in two counties have confirmed to me that a Corelogic rep is in their office once per week to input all the new filings manually into their database. There is no other company seen with such regularity (per the clerks). Because I've heard the same story two places and the search is only $8 per applicant I screen every applicant through that database and boy has it saved me some headaches!