All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@jd 

@JD Martin Glad you mentioned this.  I have an applicant then mentioned they had medical debts and a judgement against them for that.  Do you look at medical debts differently than someone who is just being negligent with credit cards or is it all the same to you?  I understand medical debt can happen to anyone at anytime.

@Kim Meredith Hampton Lol great point, thanks!

@Michael Noto Thanks, this helped me relax a little.  I did do a lot of research on this, that's why I was getting a bit nervous, but like you said, its only been a few days now since I listed it, the more desperate people are the ones calling now.  On average, about how long does it take you to fill a vacancy? I know you're in a different market than me but a general idea of knowing what the waiting period is would be helpful.

@Kim Meredith Hampton Thanks Kim! I am now considering the renters history more than just the credit score.  Like you said, the credit score does not paint the whole picture of their financial situation.  I now have an applicant that has lived in the community for 4 years.  I want to call their current landlord to ask about them.  To you usually do this as well?

@Tyler Brown-Lewis That's a good point, that if they had better credit, they would probably just buy their own home.  I did not know you can request to visit a potential tenants home.  How do you go about asking that question to see a tenant's current residence?

I just recently listed my home for rent.  This will be my first time being a landlord.  In my ad for the rental, I set some guidelines that should help weed out some undesirable tenants.  The criteria I listed is 

First & Last months rent plus a security deposit, which is equal to the rent price.  

650 credit score minimum

No pets

The HOA that governs the property also requires a background check and credit check as well. The property is a 3B/2.5BA Townhouse located in a B neighborhood in Broward County, FL. I just posted the property for rent this past weekend and have received a lot of interest. However the problem I keep running into is that no one is able to meet my minimum credit score requirement. Like i said before, this is the first time I've listed anything for rent. Is 650 too high of a requirement? Should I go with a lower score? What are some other methods I can use to help determine whether a tenant will pay the rent on time. I am also requesting for applicants to send last 3 paystubs for proof of employment as well as references from past landlords. I'm also curious to know if this is just an issue for my specific market or is this something landlords deal with nationally?

Minna Nah Thanks, I left the money in the current 401k plan because I just did not know what my options were and I knew that I did not want to tie it into the IRA plans that some of the fund managers kept pushing me in.

Thanks for the clarification @Justin Windham.

Mark Nolan You said "No yo cannot invest IRA or 401k funds directly into a property that you have ever owned. Not even if you were to open a solo 401k plan. " What I'm getting from everyone else is that I can Maybe I'm misunderstanding what your saying...

Thanks everyone for the responses. It has helped guide me in a better direction.