All Forum Posts by: Alex S.

I got pretty confident with numbers while analyzing deals but one thing that always gives me a lot of pain is what is the best way to analyze a particular neighborhood (s). I can find a crime map, can see schools, walk/transit scores, median income, rent growth, etc but all this information is in different sources, and for different states it's even more diverse. Everyone is saying  A-B-C-D-F neighborhoods, where can I find a rank for the neighborhood I'm interested in, and also compare it to a nearby neighborhood like a heatmap or something visual? Is there a single place to check the neighborhood class-type map for a selected city/state?

Thanks for the congratulations, although I'm slightly overwhelmed :) This is a great checklist, thanks! Most of the non-money related items were on my too, could you please tell more on the two followings, which I didn't have:

1. Last month's payment - what is there reason to ask for that?

2. Copy of renter insurance - is it a best practice or a mostly required item? I couldn't recall it was discussed on a rental book...

This is my first rental property and first tenant and first least. What should I request from my tenant upon signing a lease? I assume it should be:

1. First month of rent

2. Security deposit

3. Pet deposit (if any)

4. Move in-out (including cleaning fee)

Did I forget anything?

Thank you, Grace! I'm now considering the Facebook marketplace even more, after your comment. I had this idea but after checking the listings it seemed to me not that popular because of the lack of listings (I'm in WA, probably it's less popular here). I guess I post and will see :) 

I self-manage my only investment property (just starting out) and wonder what is the best place to find tenants these days? Zillow so far has a pretty decent engagement, while others like Craigslist are fairly silent. Any other good places to look into?

Registered yesterday per your recommendation and it seems to be a pretty decent option for my current scale, will give it a try.

 Thanks for the advice!

I saw a few references to 3x ratio, sounds reasonable. Thanks!  

Is it a good practice to set rent-to-income ratio requirements for applicants? 

What is a good number considered as an industry standard?

I appreciate your advice. All three look complete but also overkill. I'm planning to grow the portfolio, but not significantly, probably less than 10 units in total.