All Forum Posts by: Jeff T.

@Kyle J.  Ah, Mr Landlord. I've seen him speak :)

Thanks for sharing, I have a few issues I need to work through with my PM. They are honest and have a couple good handymen, but there are some things I need to try to change.

@Kyle J. Thanks for the input. I know, I have pulled credit scores for rentals I manage myself and they are not expensive. What service do you use to pull the credit?

@Bob Okenwa.  Yeah, it's interesting that they don't give FICO scores and I've put up with it for a while.  I find it hard to believe the part about increasing application fees and signing new agreements with the credit bureau.

I also think it is feasible, but I'm interested to hear what other landlords are doing and what the fees are?

I asked my PM to provide actual credit scores instead of just the credit history. I have a hard time deciphering various delinquent accounts etc..  and just want a Credit Score to evaluate a tenant.

The PM reply is below. Any thoughts about this?

"We chose not to get FICO credit scores when we employed a credit bureau and use a debt to credit ratio. The cost with FICO scores is much higher. My former Broker did not use FICO scores. We would have to increase our application fees and sign a new agreement with the credit bureau. None of our other owners have required FICO scores. I would estimate application fees increasing from $35 per adult to $55-$60. I don’t wish to be difficult, but I’m not sure FICO scores are feasible for these reasons. Our application fees need to be in line with those other property management companies charge."

@Bill Doherty I've had good luck with Dershimer Insurance in Winter Haven, FL. Ask for Aitza.  All of the insurance agencies in FL are Florida only to protect themselves. You've never heard of them. Florida Family, Tower Hill, Gulfstream, etc..

Florida Family is the highest rated one that I know as far as Financial standing, but rates will be higher.

Good luck!

@Will Zena I have rented 2/1s, 3/1s, 3/2s, 4/1s, and 4/2 SFRs in Florida... Man, I didn't really realize I had that variety until I wrote that out. Wait, I have a 3/1.5 also.

The 4/1 was bad, it's just weird and attracts weird tenants. I added a bathroom and fixed it up and that helped.

The 2/1s have been ok, but the rents are lower. I think part of it depends on how nice the house is and where it is.  I've had good renters, small families,  in the 2/1s the last few years, but the are in decent locations (solid B areas). The rents are lower though, and a little harder to rent (more families are looking for 3/2s, so your tenant pool is probably smaller for the 2/1)

As Mike Cantu says, weird houses don't sell well, but weird rents. But then you get weird renters.

I've having this same question lately about selling. Should I try to sell my 2/1 or convert it to a 3/1 or even a 3/1.5 or 3/2?  I don't have  a good answer yet.

@Bettina F.  That's a good point about the rent increases. I have been doing about 3%, but increased it slightly more recently (still under market) but caused a couple tenants to leave. Well, one left, the other had to be evicted, but that probably would have happened anyway.

I have an apartment I am upgrading and want to make sure I have a good tenant, so I am thinking of going with a higher deposit, since it is upgraded.

Mary L. Caleb Heimsoth Thanks for the input. I think it depends on the area. If Mary's rentals are in Oakland I can see her plan working. I'm in a more ruralish area of Florida. I can see Calebs point about cash flow. I'm not talking about a large rent reduction but just slightly below market. My tenant turnovers tend to wipe out months of rent, so I'm trying to guard against that if I can.

I'm wondering if anyone has used that. Slightly lower than market rents to keep good tenants and using higher than average deposits to get good tenants?  I find that standard one month rent deposits rarely cover my costs during a turnover.

@Ben McMahon  Thanks for the info. I've been trying to determine the same thing. I have a 2/1 with a 2nd living area that can be walled off and turned into a 3rd bedroom. I could also wall off a section and turn it into a master bath. I'm worried about cost and schedule for doing all that and I'm trying to sort out whether it's worth it.

How did the cost vs. return work out for you when you did those conversions to a 3/2?