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All Forum Posts by: Ann D.

Ann D. has started 1 posts and replied 3 times.

Post: Gadgets to attract millenial tenants

Ann D.Posted
  • Superior, CO
  • Posts 3
  • Votes 2

How about keypad door locks?  I'm planning to go keyless by putting Schlage keypads on both exterior doors (and no keyed lock on patio slider).  I have one and have not had to change the battery more than once in a couple of years or so.

Post: Newbie from Boulder County area, Colorado

Ann D.Posted
  • Superior, CO
  • Posts 3
  • Votes 2
Originally posted by @Bill S.:

@Ann D. so lease clauses are nice but selecting the tenant is paramount. Most lease clauses are never used for most tenants. Figure out what kind of tenant you want. I don't mean to be a downer but passing the responsibility to a PM will likely diminish your chance of finding the right tenant unless you spend much more time finding the right PM than it takes to find a good fit tenant. The process to find a tenant is pretty simple and straight forward. Prepare your rental criteria, price your property right, advertise, screen and screen some more. Think of finding the right tenants like a carry-on for airplanes. It has to fit in the overhead bins. There are a number of shapes and sizes but in the end it has to fit in the opening and the door has to close. Figure out the screening process (there are a lot of sources here) and you are set. Actually handling tenants is much easier than doing rehab IMO.

If you have specific questions, post back here and we'll walk you through it.

I can't imagine renting the place without vetting the tenants myself, even with a PM.  I like how you've described the process.  Thanks for your advice.

Post: Newbie from Boulder County area, Colorado

Ann D.Posted
  • Superior, CO
  • Posts 3
  • Votes 2

In my first post I want to thank everyone who contributes to the BiggerPockets forum because I have learned SO MUCH!

We (my husband and I) purchased a SFH in our neighborhood for the purpose of long-term rentals. It was a fixer-upper that had previously been a rental and required cosmetic updates and some long overdue maintenance and upgrades, and we are getting close to completing much of the work. I have been trying to "harden" the property using many suggestions I have learned here.

Also, as I will be starting law school in the fall and I don't want to burden my husband with managing the property, I will likely be looking into hiring a PM company.  I have learned a lot about that here, too.  (And keeping a list of clauses I might want to add to the leasing contract!)

I am a little nervous about the process especially after reading the horror stories.  The last time we owned a rental was about twenty years ago.  It was often a good experience, but we did have one PIA tenant and struggled to cover the mortgage when it was empty.  In hindsight, another problem was the emotional investment in it because it was our first home purchase.  And back then it was not at all convenient to get the kind of help this forum provides.  Now I regularly remind myself to make things nice for the kind of neighborhood it is, but not too nice because it is an investment and tenants are hard on everything.  And I would much rather let the property sit empty than have a bad tenant!