All Forum Posts by: Angela Smith

We are prepping our first property to rent starting Oct. 1. It is a SFH built in '45. 1200 sq feet on one floor, and 600 sq ft unfinished basement with washer/dryer hook ups. 2 bed, 1 bath. The neighborhood is blue collar, about half are rentals. There is a duplex property next door with a unit listed for $750. It is comparable in square footage but does not have the basement or washer/dryer hook ups, plus one of the bedrooms is upstairs (very narrow stairs and steep ceiling angles in that bedroom). Ther also is a nearby duplex where both units are studio apartments. One of which is listed at $625. We can rent at $750 like the one next door and will bring home a profit of $325 after expenses. But I am wondering if the SFH should bring a little more than a duplex? Thoughts?

We are preparing our first property for our first tenant.  I have found templates for our lease agreement, pet addendum and a move out cleaning addendum.  However, there are some other forms I need to be pointed towards.

I am in need of a move in/move out a checklist, so the tenant can make a note at move-in of any concerns they have regarding the condition of the premises and to establish responsibility for any damages at the time of move out.

I also need a rental application.  Strangely, I haven't found one.  

Another helpful document would be a tenant screening checklist.  How do you prescreen tenants at first contact, and do you have a form for providing for a full criminal background and credit check?

I realize this is a lot of questions, and I want to thank you if you take the time to respond to my questions.  Any additional advice is welcome!

The lease ends 9/14/18. The problem is on the other three tenants. I would tell them to work it out amongst themselves. Although 9/14/18 is not a lot of loss on your part.

We're you present during the inspection? I was for ours recent first purchase. It was very helpful to have that one on one dialogue with the inspector.

Our property has an old chain link fence surrounding it, including fully enclosing the front yard. 

We have someone scheduled to come on Friday to remove most of it.  We are maintaining a portion adjacent to a home that has pets and need to keep the fence intact.

The contractor is cutting the posts at ground level and has instructed us to put topsoil over the what remains of the posts.  

Is this a reasonable way to remove the fence?  It us over grown with plants, in one area the fence is completely encased in a tree.

I'm a nurse practitioner. Hubby is a computer engineer. I found myself with a life changing diagnosis (MS) a little over a year ago. My treatment required me to step out of the clinic setting due to the risk of infection. So I am now teaching, which cut our household income by about a third. Thankfully, we had a solid savings that we recently used to buy our first rental. It is a SFH, it is a very modest first step that will net use about $425 a month. Not a lot, but we feel we can easily afford to carry the obligations associated with this property if we find ourselves with a vacancy or a non paying renter. I don't know what the future holds. I have recently returned to working in the clinic 1-2 days a month as a moon lighting gig. I'm testing the waters to see if I can practice safely in regards to maintaining my balance, learning how to manage the work load and avoiding infection. If I can boost our income by moonlighting, I can speed up our progress towards our next investment. If I cannot, we are blessed to be on the investment track even if it's the slow investment track. Thankfully, we both have solid 401k plans as well so retirement should be safe. We are working to replace my income should I find myself unable to work.

Just going by your previous threads. You have not been paying yourself a salary and are living paycheck to paycheck on your wife's income. I don't know if your bank knows this, but I agree that with the February target, the bank is wanting to see your W-2/tax return. Probably need to get some income for yourself soon.

What type of job opportunity are you seeking? What skills do you have? Are you looking at handyman kind of work, working for a property management team, working is your previous field?

Minor scratches, just repair and paint. Deep gouges or broken/rotted needs replaced. But replacing just the bad bits isn't that hard, it can be matched up to the existing and noones's the wiser.