Successfully rented out my first investment property

Well, we did it. And it was not easy. It should have been easy, but we made it not easy. 

First of all, I want to give a shout out to my dad for doing a great job on his first flip. We posted on Zillow, Cozy, and Craigslist and averaged an inquiry a day for the month we had the post up. It received a ton of interest and positive reviews, so we priced it well.

What we didn't do well was screen. Even though I've been a landlord for 2 years. Even though I've worked for a REIT for 3 years. Even though I've listed to 95 BP podcasts. We still made some total rookie mistakes. 

We chose to rent to a young guy, about 22, and his 21-year-old girlfriend. They had little to no rental history as they were first-time renters. Even though we advertised that the first month's rent and security deposit were due at signing, we decided to accept a partial payment. We were too nice; I'll never make that mistake again. Sure enough, they split up before they moved in, and we were stuck looking for a new tenant. I try to look at the glass as half full; at least we didn't have to deal with an eviction. And we have his security deposit. 

We ended up hiring a leasing consultant to find us a new tenant. She charged the first month's rent, and she was worth every penny. The house is now rented through May of 2020. 

The only thing left to do is get that HELOC set up so I can pay my dad for the house. Fingers crossed for a smooth process!