All Forum Posts by: Angie W.

@Michaela G. - this right here made me crack up! I would take my dog with me but I don't think they would be too deterred by a 15 year old, completely deaf, half blind, 15lb Shih Tzu...lol

In all seriousness, I certainly take safety more seriously now. I took the sign out of the yard for now due to the psycho phone calls it was generating (although in reality it's the best way to find a tenant for this house) until I can check into removing my personal address from the county records.

Steps I take for safety are:

Get as much info as possible during the phone conversation. If I feel uneasy, I either find something said in the conversation that would not meet our qualifications, or I find a time when my husband can show the house.

When I do show the house, I let the neighbors know I am there, my husband knows, and I stay outside or right by one of the doors. I never put myself in a position where the person is behind me.

I never schedule a showing after dark (this is hurting me right now because it gets dark so early - but my safety is worth more than a months rent)

If possible I schedule more than 1 person for the same time - this helps in two ways. If they both show I feel more secure - if one flakes at least I didn't go there for nothing.

I do not have tenants mail their payments to my personal residence. Originally I set up a PO box, but it was a pain. After a year I did have my tenant send it to my address. That bit me in the a$$ in the end. That's how the psycho girlfriend knew where I lived. I would love to switch to electronic payments - however, the tenant base in this area just won't support that option.

Moving forward I am working on ways to put a little distance between me and prospective tenants and the tenants themselves when they are approved.

I would like to set up the owner and address differently on the deed and possibly change to a business name.

I will go back to a PO Box for rents - or possibly a UPS address

I would like to secure a good RE Attorney BEFORE I have any more problems who will allow me to use their address if I have to file any notices, can advise me properly on RE matters, and knows the law (the attorney I used was ok but I want someone on speed dial lol who knows the law thoroughly)

I will also try to get the first and last name (with spelling) of anyone who wants to make an appointment so that I may check them out ahead of time.

I am very interested in doing what you have done in the first quote above. I had a business a few years ago - with it I registered a fictitious name with my state, I then got a tax ID # from the state (this was a retail business) and was able to operate under this name. @George C. How do you have your business set up, if I may ask?

The second part of your quote is the reason I have become more aware of the risks to my safety and that of my family. My last tenant moved in a psycho girlfriend who he couldn't get to leave. She managed to get him arrested and banned from the property, and then moved in her new felon boyfriend by the time I got her out. She was bi-polar and very unstable and unpredictable. When my husband served her the papers to vacate we locked our personal residence down tight for the first week or two and was very conscience of our surroundings as she knew where we lived. I did not like the fact that renting a house had jepordized the safety of our daughter in this way.

Wow what great responses!

@Cuong Le I have become good friends with the older couple next door to my rental. Whenever possible I let them know when I am there to show the house and many times I come from their house when the people arrive. In addition, my husband always knows when I am showing a house. While they are there, I tell them to go inside and have a look around while I wait outside, if I do go inside I stay close by one of the doors. I know the area well (I lived there for 19 years, and my mom even longer than that) so for the most part I know the type of people I am dealing with. However, it is the people I get from online advertising that I sometimes become concerned about. I dress the same as they do (t-shirt/sweatshirt & jeans) and park my car in front of the neighbors. It's not a war zone area, but maybe a few steps above that now.

I normally don't feel afraid when showing the house, but I do try to show some common sense. I have never shot a gun in my life (even though we own several) so I probably wouldn't be a good candidate for CCW right now.

While most of us who invest in real estate (or anything really) understand the financial risks we are taking - how many of us really stop to think about the potential risk to our personal or families safety?

What steps do you take to ensure your personal safety when:

showing a house?

serving an eviction notice, or otherwise confronting a tenant?

collecting rent?

Do allow tenants to know the address of your personal home?

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt your personal safety or that of your family was at risk?

I have to admit that I gave it some thought when I first bought my rental 3 years ago. But it wasn't until everything that we have went through over the last 6 months that I really started to take it seriously.

Exactly! This was my last applicants. Male 32, female 25, 1 kid 8 years old. Only listed current rental residence of 11-12 months on application. When I told them they needed to provide where they lived before that neither one could/would tell me where they had lived and the female kept saying "but this is the only place we have ever had together!" They also wanted to move ASAP and their reason for leaving their current place was that they "wanted a more updated place".

@Michaela G. thanks for the advice. I never thought about finding a mortgage broker.

@Dawn Anastasi I have tried Craigslist for trying to rent it out - but not to sell.

In general many times I feel a little uneasy with Craigslist because of scammers, and potential crazy people (and I have run across both) that lurk around there.

For now, I have decided to sit tight until after the holidays to get my head on straight and develop a solid plan for dealing with this property. The further I have gotten into November, the crazier the people have become, and if I decide to sell most people aren't looking for a house during the holidays.

I appreciate all the advice. At this time I think I have decided to sit tight and re-market it for rent after the 1st of the year. Right now seems to be "crazy applicant/caller season" here and I don't have the patience to deal with it.

I would love nothing more than to hire either a PM or leasing agent. However, my experience in trying to find one or the other over the last few weeks has not been a good one. The PM's I have contacted have either not returned my calls, or have a lot of hidden fees that could potentially leave me with little to no income. Have not had any luck in locating just a leasing agent.

The problem with this property is that the tenant pool does not use online resources to find rentals. So online advertisement is a waste of time and produces no applicants. The best chance at finding a tenant for this property is the old "sign in the yard" - which is also the most time consuming method. After talking with other long time landlords in this neighborhood it is the only way they have found to be successful. I have not spoke to one PM yet that will do anything but advertise online, none want to be bothered with a sign in the yard. I can and am advertising online myself already so why would I hire someone else to do what I can do for free myself?

also.....

4 of the last 5 applicants drove themselves to my property. After completing the application they presented their driver's license which had plastered all over it "non-driver" (their driving privileges were suspended).

All kinds of crazy applicants (and callers)!

When the pet policy of no cats, 1 small dog on a case by case basis was explained to a caller:

"....let me ask you this. You allow a small dog but no cats. What's the difference?"

When a caller was asked if he had ever been evicted:

"not for about 2 years"

When an applicant was asked to provide complete residential history beyond her current residence of 12 months:

Applicant: "this is the only place we have ever rented together"

me: "ok, but where did you live before that?"

Applicant: "this is the only place we have ever lived together"

Me: "that will be a problem"

Applicant: "Well I guess if you need that you can just rent to someone else!"

Yep, I think I will. 1 week later she calls back to ask about her application.

Applicant: "I was checking on my application"

Me: "You're application was denied due to insufficient residential history."

Applicant: "That doesn't make sense. This is the only place we have ever rented."

Me: "Again, this is not what was asked for. The application asked where you have LIVED for the last 5 years. You refused to provide that information so your application was denied."

Applicant: "this is the only place we have ever rented."

@Aly W. I believe you're right! You did give me that advice.

It never ceases to amaze me how brazen some people can be.

@Bill Gulley You offer some really good points. I have found that it is very important to be able to read peoples body language when you are speaking to them face to face. I like to ask direct questions about their current living situation and, if renting, if their current landlord knows they are moving. You can pick up many ques in their responses and demeanor that will help you when you are trying to put the pieces together. In the example above, the lady was nervous (to the point of her hands shaking when filling out the app), she whispered to her friend a lot while filling out the app, she loved the place before she even walked in, and when asked directly if this was the owner or PM she said "oh she's the owner, she's going to sell the place" . If you get them talking and they are lying they will eventually trip themselves up or at least give you a better idea of things you should look for.