All Forum Posts by: Alex Juarez

@Tony Castronovo Thanks Tony! I ended up going with Reliant. They have a plan that they said is geared towards landlords, which basically sounds like a month to month plan. There's no start-up costs, and no connection fees (only if you have a smart meter installed). When I get a tenant in place, they said to call them and request that they cancel the service on or before their move in date, and when they move out, just call and and request power on their move out date. The whole process to set up was about 5 minutes on the phone and had power the same day. 

Thanks!

@Agnes Greco thanks for the tips! I didnt think about offering an 18 month lease. I guess I was so used to hearing of 6 month or 12 month leases I didnt stop to think I could offer something else. 

@Ronald Rohde Thanks! offering a 6 month lease and letting them know I would like a 12 month renewal is what I was originally thinking, I just wasn't quite sure how I was going to present that. After reading some of the other comments though, I might try offering something other than the 6 or 12 month lease now. Also, I'm not really sure what you mean by ownership structure? Not sure if this answers your question, but I'm buying through a conventional loan. 

@Tony Castronovo Thanks for that information! I didn't realize realize getting water was going to be so much fun haha. My agent didn't really mention water, just electricity, so I thought it'd be the same as setting up electricity. 

So with Reliant would you sign up with a plan under your name and just transfer that plan to the tenants name when they moved in, or are there two separate plans? Yours that is only active when there is no tenant plan and then the tenants plan that is active when yours is not? 

I do plan on trying to advertise it myself, but if it goes sometime without being rented I would definitely ask an agent to list it. I would definitely like to avoid paying 1 months rent just to get it leased. You do make a good point that agents would probably steer their clients to houses where they can make some money. With that in mind, has anyone tried listing on zillow and dropping a note that says you'll offer the commission for any agents that bring tenants?

Y'all definitely opened my eyes to not having to stick with the 6 or 12 month leases. I really like the idea of offering 13 or 14 month leases until I creep up to March. I think that's the route I'll go with. I figure if March-Sept is the peak season, then if I can start my 12 month lease in March then I could maximize the time the house stays in the peak season. If I rent it out in March with a 12 month lease, when the lease is up and if the tenant leaves, there's going to be some down time to get the house back in rent ready condition, so it will naturally slowly creep up to September and then start something else like a 7 month lease to get it back to March. 

It sounds like a lot of people are using cozy and seem pretty happy with it. Have yall ever had any complaints about using cozy from tenants? Also, is that the only option that yall offer for rent collection?

@Rob B. Thanks, and I completely agree! There's a lot of good options that can definitely help streamline some of these tasks that come with being a landlord. I know I'd be a lot more nervous than I already am if I didn't have any of these tools available. Avail is actually one I haven't heard of yet, but I'll definitely be checking out your website in a bit. 

Thanks for all the information everyone! I really appreciate everyone's input and I'm really grateful for the awesome community we have here on BP! I hope I can eventually pay it forward and help someone else down the line one day!

Thanks BP!

Alex  

@Amy Fulbright Thanks for the facebook tip!! I'll check that website out. Also thanks for the facebook tip! I know I've heard it before and I believe they mention it in the book, but I actually don't have facebook so that didnt even cross my mind for some reason. I'm planning to start a DBA for this property, mainly cause the bank requires it to open a business account, but I'll go ahead and create a facebook business page as well. I didnt even think to look for parent groups though! That sounds like a good idea! Thanks!

@Michael Jones My lender actually told me about them. I spoke to the person they recommended and created an account with them, but I'm still waiting to hear back from him. I actually looked them up though and came across a lot of negative reviews on yelp. Do you have any personal experience with them? Most of the complaints were about about fine print items, and being over charged, but I figured I would call them anyways and see what happens. I would really only need utilities on during the renovations and then during any showings that I'll have, so I figured if I don't find anything else I'll just give them a try. Thanks!

Hey BP!

So I'm finally getting my first rental property this week and I have a few random questions that I was hoping to get some help with. 

1. Utilities - I'm not sure how the utilities work. There is some light remodeling I'm going to be doing to the house, should probably take me about 2 weeks max. I asked my agent and she mentioned calling around and asking for a short term utility plan, so I'm going to be looking for a month to month utility provider. I really just need electricity and water, so if anyone can recommend someone I would really appreciate it! Also, if there's a different way of handling utilities, I'd love to hear it, because I was unaware that there was a month to month option so that's really the only option I see for this. 

2. Advertisement - I'm going to be self managing this property, and seeing as how I will need to do some light remodeling my agent recommend I go ahead and put a "for rent" sign out front just to start advertising it. I think this would be a good idea, but I'm not 100% sure on how I want to advertise it yet. What has been yalls experience with "for rent" signs? I'm only worried about advertising to the wrong people that the house is vacant. When I think about it though, I also plan on listing it on zillow and whatever sites I can find, so either way, the house will be advertised as being vacant somewhere. It's in a quiet neighborhood in Katy, and the neighbors seem nice, but I'm just a little paranoid. I even looked into a short term security system, but maybe that's me being too paranoid.  

3. Timing - After reading the book on managing rental properties, for what seems like the 100th time, there is a section where he mentions renting in December and January. In the book they recommend advertising a 6 month contract to hopefully start the lease around July, which is the peak period for rentals. Just wondering what kind of experience the seasoned landlords/property managers have had with trying to get a property leased in January/February and if yall went the 6 month route or 1 year route.

4. Rent Collection - I know this has been brought up a few times and after reading a few posts I think I'm going to go with Cozy since it seems like that is geared more for the people who are going to be self managing. It seems like a really great tool that not only collects rent, but can handle tenant applications and screening, track expenses, manage maintenance requests and can create a website for advertisement. Is there something else out there that's free and some one would recommend over this? For those using or those that have used Cozy, what has been y'alls experience with it? Would yall recommend it?

5. Random Advice - Also, if yall have any random advice for a first time landlord, I would gladly accept it!

If you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read through this! I really appreciate any help/advice yall can give!

Thanks!

Alex 

@Aaron K. Thanks for your input! I went ahead and had "personal property" and "other structures" taken off. I know I didn't list it in the original post, but I figured I'd mention it in case someone was on the same boat as I was and wondering what I did. I went through each item with the insurance provider to make sure I understood what each were. The way personal property was described was basically anything not permanently attached to the house would be covered. In my case this would only cover the fridge and the washer/dryer since I'm not furnishing the house. Other structures was described as stand alone garages, dens/sheds, and the fence was also covered. In my case I have a built in garage, no shed, so it would only cover the fence. I kept the rest of the coverages I listed though. 

Thanks!

Hey BP! 

I have one more question about insurance, and I promise this is my last one (for this year)! 

So I shopped around for insurance and have a handful of quotes. For the most part they provide the same type of coverage, but I'm not 100% sure I need everything they listed. I know for sure the dwelling, liability and medical should be included, but I'm not sure about the rest. Below, I listed out what they are providing, but could someone advise on what they think I can cross off the list, if anything at all. 

• Dwelling 
• Liability
• Medical Payment
• Personal Property
• Fair Rental
  
• Foundation
• Water Backup & Sump Overflow
• Water Damage
• All Peril
• Windstorm/hail

Any input would be really appreaciated!

Thanks!
Alex

@Cameron Tope and @Andrew Postell thank you both for your help! I'll look into both of them! 

Hey BP!

Honestly I'm pretty confused when it comes to insurance. I've re-read the section in The Book on Managing Rental Properties when it comes to insurance, but there seems to be different policies available so not really sure what the best type/policy is for insurance on a sf rental property. Any help or recommendation would be really appreciated! 

I'm also looking for a provider that someone can recommend as well. I'm in the process of closing on a house, and they're asking me who the insurance provider is. I did some research a while back and I saw a few people recommend NREIG. I thought I'd ask if there was someone else that yall can recommend. Again, I apprecaite any help!

Thanks, 

Alex

Congrats! That loan sounds amazing, that's for an investment property? I couldn't find a place that would finance an investment purchase with less than 20% down. 

@Sai T. National Electrical Code (NEC) Section 210.8(D) is specific to the kitchen dishwasher circuit. It states the circuit to the dishwasher has to have GFCI protection. This can be accomplished either by a GFCI receptacle or a GFCI breaker. If it's hardwired then a GFCI breaker would be your option, but I think having a GFCI receptacle would be the best option. 

Hope this helps!