All Forum Posts by: Angelo R.

Seems like Cozy, Turbotenant and Tenantcloud are the widely used property management platforms. I noticed Zillow also offers tenant screening, rent collection and of course rental listings. Anyone have feedback on Zillow’s property management tools?

I appreciate all the replies!

Nathan, in your example of 5 people are we talking about one lease including all tenants? Or one separate lease for each couple and another separate lease for the single person? 

To my original question about security deposits, if the unrelated tenants don’t meet the 2x income, would it then be OK to ask for a higher deposit as long as it’s in accordance with Fair Housing? Or would you pass on this scenario altogether?

Do you mean 2x the total rent or 2x their share of the rent?

Could having stricter earnings requirements for different parties present any Fair Housing issues?

Standard practice seems to be a fixed deposit amount per unit, regardless of the number of tenants. While there are other factors and exceptions, more people generally can cause more damage than fewer people. 

I always see landlords asking for additional “pet deposits,” operating under the notion that pets are potentially more destructive than people  

Applying that logic to a $1000/month rental unit that can accommodate 4 people, would it make sense to set the security deposit to $1000 for 1-2 people, and $2000 for 3-4 people?

If I wanted to increase cash flow and was willing to tolerate more risk, would it be wise to forego the security deposit and instead ask for higher rent?

Let’s say the market rate is $5,000 for my property and the security deposit is $5,000. Not many tenants could come up with $10,000 at move-in. What if I offered $0 security deposit and, say, $5,300 rent to compensate me for the additional risk? 

If a tenant would go for that, would that be too risky for a landlord?