All Forum Posts by: Beth L.

You can ask them to provide copies of their certificates. I'm sure they are used to being asked and will readily provide them.

I have a unit for rent and received a request from an interested person who says that her father will be paying for the rent for the first year since her husband just started a new job and is commission based. They will be paying for their utilities.

Has anyone ever handled a situation like this? Did it turn out well? I assume the father would have to fill out an application, and be on the lease and co-sign with them.

Thoughts? Thanks!

@Neil Timmons Personally, I would never own anything in downtown Hagerstown. I think that dealing with the type of tenants that would rent there would not be worth the trouble, and you may want to check with PM companies to see if they would even take it on. Also, be aware that in the city limits there are rental license fees of $75 per unit per year, plus they have mandatory inspections inside and out and always come up with something that they want you to fix. If they decide it needs a new sidewalk, you have to fork out the thousands needed for a new one. Plus you have to abide by the city rules, like making sure that the sidewalks are cleared within 24 hours of snowfall, etc, etc.

That being said, many people own investment properties in downtown Hagerstown and are OK with it. So I'm not trying to discourage you, just make sure that you know the ins and outs of being a landlord there, before you decide jump in.

Keep in mind too that you cannot rely on the numbers provided by the seller. Ask to get copies of the current leases and find out what tenants are actually paying for. Get copies of expenses and confirm them. Check with the county and city tax office for exact taxes, city of Hagerstown for the expenses of electric in common areas, if there is gas or oil there, get that figure too. Call your insurance company and get an estimate for it. Pad the numbers nicely for maintenance and repairs, as those are bound to happen and are always more than anticipated.

Since this building was built in 1961, MD lead laws are in effect. Plan on paying $30 per year per unit to register your property with the state and paying about $175-200 for testing at every turnover (depending on the size of the unit and if it has original windows or not).

I recently was looking at a 7-unit in Hagerstown's north end and on paper from the seller it looked like a great deal, but once I ran all the expenses myself, (oh yeah, they left out a bunch of stuff!) it would barely break even.

Good for you for asking lots of questions. Due diligence is king! I wish you the best in your search!

@Mark Suliman I don't think you can discriminate on or charge more for the number of people unless there are extenuating circumstances. Like @Jonna Weber said, I thought it was 2 per bedroom plus one, but certainly check on that with your local experts. Maybe even the Section 8 office can help you.

I have one property that even though it is a 3 bedroom, I can only accept 4 people max due to the size of the septic system. And I have proof from the septic company if needed.

If you can't turn them down legally, hopefully you have other applicants to choose from. Wish you the best!

I use www.tenantbackgroundsearch.com. It's been great! You can choose between 3 levels of service and setup is easy.

@Chris Parker I exclusively use VacationRentals.com. It also posts to it's sister sites, HomeAway.com, and internationally if you choose to do so. It has a great dashboard that keeps all reservations, communications, templates, quotes and such all in one place that can easily be accessed from anywhere. It works really well for me.

We use www.tenantbackgroundsearch.com and choose the highest service. It gives everything we need. Plus you can also check for social media sites to sometimes find more info about their personal life.

That's what we paid here in Maryland for a central air and heat pump system installed with permits and electrical work for our 1000-1300 sq ft units. There were cheaper and more expensive quotes. We went middle of the road.

If you use craigslist, set it to not show your personal email address, it will use a craigslist one instead and still send to you.

Personally I've never got results from craigslist. Zillow and Trulia bring in more online traffic. But most come from seeing the sign out front.

I recently set up a Google Voice number and set it to Do Not Disturb, with a recorded message about the unit features and qualifications. I then get an email with any voice messages and can call back at my convenience. This way too I don't have to give out my cell number.

Has anyone used these signs sold from Lowe's?

I just found some brand new signs sold only at Lowe's called TEXT for INFO. For the cost of the sign ($12.98) you set up a listing and get a unique code that renters can text to. It sends them a link to a web listing that is created when you register and then they can contact you by email or phone to set up an appt. You can also publish the listing to rent.com, Zillow, etc. for free! Here is the link to the sign from Lowe's and the website you use to register.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_670401-37672-843231___?Ntt=670401&UserSearch=670401&productId=50380118

https://www.registersigns.com/

I also set up a Google Voice number that goes directly to VM to catch all responses from it. I am getting ready to use one of these signs and was interested on any experiences from others.