All Forum Posts by: Baley Whary

I had 2 people apply together. Both incomes qualified, one's credit score was good enough (the other one not), but I accepted them anyway. No problems with getting paid on time so far, but now one wants to move out (the one with the lower credit score). The remaining one will be able to pay rent still and I'm not worried about that, but what is the paperwork that I need to do to take one off of the lease? 

No need to get nasty. I wouldn't judge based on how expensive or not the car is, more on how well-maintained it is (not fixed after a wreck, lots of trash inside, etc.). 

Hello! My husband and I are buying the duplex we live in. There is currently another tenant, so we are just beginning our real estate investment journey and becoming brand-new landlords! I'm going to focus mostly on the landlord side and financials, and my husband is going to be the handyman/maintenance guy and will be completely remodeling the basement on our half of the duplex. This opportunity kind of sprang up on us, but now we're really excited about the opportunity and want to buy more multi-family homes in the future to bring in monthly income and build up money for retirement. Right now I'm doing as much research as possible in my spare time. I currently work full time but have a desire to make landlording my part-time job (and eventually full-time). 

I've read the ultimate guide to tenant screening and I've also been reading on the forums and another book, and I hear people say, "look at the car the prospective tenant drives" or "get a feel for how they present themselves," but at the same time, the only way to actually disqualify a tenant, without the chance of a discrimination suit, is to disqualify them based on your renting standards (3X income, credit score, background check, etc.). So my question is, what if I just really don't want to rent to someone, based on their attitude, or the trashiness of their car, or whatever? Otherwise, why does everyone say "listen to your gut"? I don't have a specific example, but this is just a question that has come up. I'm super new at this and doing as much research as possible before situations arise. Thanks in advance!

*Sorry, it's cozy.co. Not cozy.com.

I'm wondering the same thing. I found cozy.com and it sounds great (too good to be true?); free payments, even, and tenants can run their own background and credit checks (they pay the fee there instead of paying application fee to you and then you pay for the checks and have to handle social security numbers, etc.). Anyone have any pros/cons on websites like this?

Has anyone used Cozy with success or have ideas on using that? I just found out about it today and it sounds great! I hate the thought of checks/cash because that requires a trip to the bank. 

thanks! Good advice so far. To clarify, it started as a duplex but was modified. Yes, previous owner was fairly creative, but we're going back to the original duplex set up and re-doing the basement on our side to make it 3 beds, 2 baths, and extra den. The market value appraisal was based on comparable rental properties and returned the market value of rent based on those comps. And we're not friends with them, just get along fine enough with them to want them to continue renting. 

Hello, we've been living in our duplex for 5 years and our landlord decided to sell and offered it to us first. We're going to be "accidental landlords" so to speak, and have current tenants in the unit next door. We've been up front about attempting to buy the house and they seem positive about it and want to stay. Currently, they're paying month to month at a lower than market rent rate. What's the best way to come in to this purchase regarding their (lack of) lease? Is it ok to sign a lease with them without running a background check (we really don't want to lose them right off the bat) and how much more can we ask them to pay in rent? The market value appraisal indicated that their share of rent should be $925, but the current landlord was only charging $750, and let them live next door for $700/month because the space would otherwise have been empty. We're also trying to get new windows installed immediately, which should significantly decrease their electric bill. How should we approach a lease signing with them? We have lived adjacent to them for a few years (it's a long story, but they were sharing our half of the duplex which was modified to two living spaces and they were downstairs), and we're friendly enough with them and they have history of paying rent, so we definitely want to keep them happy. I also want to at least raise their rent to $750, with the understanding that we will probably raise it another $50 after a year. Any help would be more than welcome! (Current status of sale: 95% likelihood it's going to happen in the next 2 months.)