All Forum Posts by: Brooke Garcia

I'm not going to be able to make it tonight.  Today has been a Property Management emergency day. :(  I hope to see you all next time!

-Brooke

I especially agree with Nathan on his 3rd point. Complaints I hear about other PM companies that may charge a lower percentage have a lot of add-on fees that show up as surprises on the owners’ monthly statements. 

Some companies will complete unnecessary work and bill you for it as a way to earn income too. I had one person complain to me that their former company changed hosebibs several times in one year at their property which was not necessary. Some shady companies may try to slip items like that in if they think the owner isn’t looking at their monthly statements.

You can set it up where the tenant provides you with their routing and account number via an ACH direct debit authorization form. Then it would be you initiating the transaction each month. Most banks will charge a fee for this service. I use TenantCloud which is a free Property Management software for landlords with under 50 units. It is around $9 per month to utilize their online payment system with Dwolla. This has been working well as it is easy for the tenants to pay online and I receive notifications when they pay. It does take several days for the funds to settle in my account though.

I have found that issuing clear screening guidelines up front with the application that includes requirements such as verified income three times the rent, acceptable credit, 2 years of favorable rental history, no criminal record, etc. Then the first complete application package received that meets all Screening Guidelines is who you rent to. This eliminates discrimination accusations from the people you decline. Many times no one meets all of my Screening Guidelines so then I rent to the strongest application. The Screening Guidelines document is a great tool to have a legitimate, non-discriminating reason to decline applicants.

I suggest increasing the security deposit for an extra roommate as well.

I would love to attend!  Thanks for organizing.