All Forum Posts by: Alissa Engel

@Cameron Riley

I was old school - all paper for 13 years! Then I was moved across the country with the military, and had to figure out a more hands-off system. Learned about Cozy on a military landlords forum.

I transitioned to it as we bought new properties and tenants moved. I love it for several reasons:

It’s free; it stores your listing photos and narrative, so reposting is vey easy; it stores all application, credit/background reports on all tenants; it’s easy to look-up past rents received for accounting purposes; you can set-up email notifications to let you know when rent has been initiated; tenants can pay with several methods which cost you nothing and keeps you out of their financial chaos; tenants pay for app fees, credit/background reports through the site, so you don’t need to collect money; and it’s made it so I (and the tenant) can do EVERYTHING from anywhere in the world.

There are some things that I don’t love.

I’ve heard mixed reviews on the background portion. Some in other forums report it missing big stuff. Mine have all come back clean (other than minor things). I’m not sure if that’s due to it being incomplete or the fact that we get A/B class tenants??? If you cater to C/D class tenants; I’d do more investigating.

I also don’t like it’s “syndication” option for listings. But I’m spoiled....I list on Craigslist and AHRN and find great people easily. I tried syndicating (I think Zillow, Hotpads, and Realtor.com) through Cozy and was scammed several times. We had tenants calling my husband’s work (this number wasn’t listed anywhere), showing up at the property when we didn’t list the address, and we got calls 4 months after I’d removed the listing. It was like the wild-wild-west and I will not do that again!

Also, you can only send notifications to one email. I called to see if I could add my husband so we are on the same page about payments, but it’s not an option. So, probably not great if you work in a team.

In regard to accounting....hire a CPA who uses Quickbooks online. They usually have someone who will teach you to use it in a couple hours (cost me $300). It links to your bank account, and your CPA can login to fix anything you mess up or aren’t sure how to allocate. I was skeptical, because I had a system (much more time consuming), but it’s been a good move.

@Alexander Vasquez

I can totally relate (not anymore unfortunately), but I bought my first duplex when I was 21. I’m 5’1”, female, and soft-spoken.

It was an issue on many occasions when I fIrst started. I actually had two dIfferent tenants “tell their parents on me” when I didn’t give the whole deposit back. Their parents called me like I was a child; demanding I give the money back 😂.

Needless to say, it didn’t work. And I learned how to be firm and stand my ground VERY quIckly. I also learned the laws, made sure I did everything by the book, and covered all my bases. If you act professional and are educated in all ways, people will be more likely to take you seriously.

@Alex Craig

I see the other side of this as a mental health therapist. I see couples that have their kids removed. You’d hope that would be the biggest motivator....to get your kids back.

Many are either homeless, being evicted, or living in squalor. So, a big hurdle to getting kids back is finding safe and adequate housing. I have a list of low income places, instructions for getting section 8, a few LLs who cater to C/D class, programs for downpayment assistance, etc. Lots of options. I do budgeting and teach the Dave Ramsey cash envelope thing, because most have no bank account.

They don’t do it.

It’s insane, but they have a YEAR to find a place; and they don’t do anything. Kids gone for good.

Let’s say you were the landlord getting the excuse every week; and you are “helping them out” temporarily. Sorry, but you are screwed. They won’t get their crap together for their own kids....they definitely don’t care about their LLs mortgage or family.

We have a saying in my field....never work harder for your clients than they are working for themselves.

@Cameron Riley

I do. Currently wrote an offer on a tri-plex and duplex contingent on four tenants being evicted before closing.

They have all been there at least 5 years. Several super old people. One lady with a broken back. Yes, I feel bad. But it’s just the way it is....

I always follow the law, and try to be as kind as possible. But I’m not sacrificing my investments or business, because I feel guilty. Just have to push through the guilt and do what you need to do.

In your situation; I would not feel an ounce of guilt. I have ZERO empathy for not paying your bills. They signed a contract, and are not holding up their end of the bargain. And if they are doing rent-to-own; this is NOT the first time they’ve had this issue.

@Cameron Riley

Always run a credit check!

Most of the reasons why have already been covered by others. Here’s an additional reason that I learned the hard way: people that say they have no recent rental references because they’ve owned for a long time. This is not always true....they might know that they have bad references. A credit report will show their mortgages.

@Kim Stuart

Usually, I view inherited tenants as a liability. Often, the tenants are used to doing whatever they want, having their run with a property, and living in dumpy place. That’s not how we roll, so I prefer to have most removed before closing if possible. The few that we allow to stay usually have a lot of bad habits that we have to break.

For example: currently 1031ing a condo for a tri-pled and a duplex. Both properties are run-down and have long-term tenants who do whatever they want (unauthorized pets, subletting, building unauthorized structure, smoking, etc).

Our offer was contingent on all but one tenant being removed. She was very helpful in letting us view the property, pays in time (verified with bank statements), and was clean. However, she will sign a new lease with us, have a rent increase, and be required to stop smoking in the garage, clean-up all clutter in the yard, remove an unauthorized and poorly built deck, and adhere to the 2 vehicle parking rule. So, she might choose to leave anyways.

The rent increase will be 50-100; which will get it in-line with market rents for a similar type property. It has nothing to do with purchase price. And I LOVE to show tenants that the rent increase is due to the tax increase after the latest “park, school, underwater basket weaving scholarship” fund/levy/bill was passed. I want to them to know that things aren’t free...it all gets passed down.

@Alejandro Ortiz

I’d like to toss out Great Falls, MT. It’s not the cheapest market, but it is very affordable compared to the other major MT markets. You can get a property for $150, but it will need some renovations depending on the class you are shooting for.

Born and raised here, and I see positive development.

Market is steady. You will see appreciation and good rents, but it saw much smaller movements during the recession. It’s not a boom and bust area, like SoCal....I was stationed in Riverside for 5 years. It’s 60K people, so there aren’t any HORRIBLE areas, and several “major” industries (Military, Medical, refining).

Husband is a realtor, so let me know if you want set-up on a MLS search. Zillow and such is NOT accurate in MT, so don't go off that info!

@Steve Hall

My now husband had school loans and cc debt. Only about 15K....and he’s actually really good with money. He just got complacent.

BUT...I came from nothing, and brought 8 properties and zero personal debt into the relationship. I worked my butt off, and I wasn’t about to pay his debt for him. Could have pretty easy, but I wanted him to feel the pain of getting rid of it.

I told him that he would need to pay it off before asking me to marry him. He did. And we have been debt- free (other than properties) ever since.

I have MANY girlfriends who were in the same boat. I do have very successful ladies that I spend time with though. THEY clean-up a pretty big financial mess when they get married.

In today’s world, I bet it’s pretty even. I am a mental health therapist specializing in couples counseling, so here’s what I think it is:

People don’t talk about money until it’s too late and you are engaged. Money and the way people handle it speaks volumes about who they are. Not that being bad with money makes someone a bad person; but it tells a story about their childhood, life experiences, personality, goals, etc. I encourage dating couples to really talk finances very early on in the relationship. Get on the same page about what money MEANS. What are your financial goals? And no; I don’t believe one person should rescue the other from their poor choices. The world won’t come to an end if you wait another year to get married while working down the debt.

@Scott Schultz

If this were me; I’d issue a warning letter stating that future issues will be billed back to all tenants in equal parts. Have them sign and return. I usually have this addendum in my initial lease signing also, because I’ve had so many issues with tenants clogging plumbing. It has made a huge difference. Now, whether or not you follow-through is a different story. But humans react differently to things they commit to in-writing.

In future leases, I would have a monthly “septic service fee”, because they don’t pay sewer to a utility company. This will off-set the cost of septic maintenance and pumping in the future.

Also, I would tread lightly when accusing women specifically. Men cook too...can’t just blame grease on women. And men might have other women visiting their homes that could be responsible for the tampons. And as a mental health therapist; there’s some WEIRD fetishes out there, so I’m pretty sure some men could find creative ways to use tampons too. Just be careful with your assumptions.

@James Wise

Yes! As an investor, I am 70% risk adverse. I lived through the recession as a very young investor, and was fine. Only because my lender strongly encouraged me to put 15-20% down on all properties despite having my VA loan available. I also legit had the reserves. I didn't fudge them to get the loan. I would be in a different situation if I hadn't taken the prudent path. As it was, I continued to cashflow on all properties. Without the down-payments, I would have been negative. It wouldn't have bankrupted me (I'll get to why later), but it would have changed my lifestyle. It took 10 years for prices to fully recover...it was a long road (that I am now reaping the benefits of), and I wouldn't have been able to stick it out had I used my VA and put nothing down. And I didn't loose a single night of sleep in a market that was demolished.

Now, why wouldn’t it have bankrupted me? Because I am a firm believer in “debt-free on everything but the house”....yes, yes, the Dave Ramsey mantra. And this is where I tell people to start. If you want to be an investor, get your personal finances together first. Pay off your ****....best way to get started. If you don’t have the self-control to pay off credit cards; I am skeptical of your ability to be a successful investor - LONG-TERM.

There is no “easy” in success. People are constantly looking for the way to get rich without any work. It’s not possible. And some of the “zero money down, start with 1K, be a millionaire in 6 months” crap preys on our society’s entitlement and laziness.