problem tenants in Baltimore County

[Daniel Suarez]

Hey All, 

Has anyone else been having problems with no matter what tenant they get (no section 8) they are always late on rent? I have 4 tenants currently that are constantly about a month behind. I haven't evicted yet because I have the funds to cover and I get the 5% late fee from each every month, but it is frustrating having to chase them every time for rent. 

All of these are 3 bed 2 bath Dundalk townhomes very nicely remodeled with pretty much everything new. The rent for each one is around $1500 but always the same case with the late rent. None of them have evictions, they make 3 x the rent they all have low credit scores though (seems very hard to find people with a score higher than 600 in this area) 

I would love to hear other people's opinions who rent in Dundalk (pretty good cash flowing properties)

[Rob Poole]

Hey @Daniel Suarez,

How long is it taking you to place a tenant at $1500/mo? 

The highest monthly rent I've charged for any of my properties in Dundalk (County) is $1395 and that's for a 3 bed, 2 bath single-family detached cape cod (renovated / in good condition) with a somewhat awkward layout (hence the lower rent for a single-family). I charge $1350/mo for my renovated 3 bed, 1.5 bath row/townhome.

These numbers seem to attract decent tenants for me so far. Anytime I've tried to push it higher it seems like I attract lower quality tenants (they can't compete for the more competitively priced properties?).

My single-family property tenants in Dundalk pay on time the majority of the time.

Some of my multi-unit tenants in Dundalk are more consistently late with their rent, but I do have some of those that are also good about paying on time (when the unit is priced right).

I don't know for sure, but you may be working harder for that additional monthly rent--which, maybe it's worth your time and the additional frustration. As long as you can keep them paying every month (regardless of whether or not they are late).

You mentioned that you haven't evicted yet--are you at least filing for eviction monthly as soon as they're late? I have my management company do this systematically for any tenant that is late. This is good practice for several reasons.

Rob