All Forum Posts by: Russ M.

@Brian H. Since every state is different, I would start by reviewing your state landlord tenant laws.  Then I would use everybodys best friend, Google and search for examples for your state.  As always, I would have everything reviewed by a lawyer for legality purposes.  A few dollars up front can save lots later on.

Some of ours take pictures with their cell phones.  Just as good quality as scanning.

Create an email account solely for your business and have it e-mailed there.  You could use a gmail account.

Here's an incentive.  If they pay the rent on the first they wont get served with eviction papers.  Unfortunately you need to pay off your bills on their due date.  I am pretty sure your bank wont give you a discount just because you honor your commitment.  If you start giving pay or quit notices they will realize that they need to keep you at the top of their priority list instead of you nnow telling them its ok to do other things with their money instead of pay rent.

@Justin Jarboe Look at the Wisconsin Legal Blank Co. website.  I don't know if all states have an equivalent, but if they don't, you don't know what you're missing.

Also forgot, Wisconsin now has a bedbug addendum that is required.

Grills (charcoal or gas) must be used outside at least 15 feet away from any building.

When you show an open apartment, it is a bi-directional process.  Not only are prospective tenants getting a chance to view the apartment, you are getting a chane to view the prospective tenants.  This gives you a chance to learn a little about them as well, observing things like neatness of themselves, what kind of car they drive, do they smell like smoke (especially if no-smoking), and other things.  Kind of like a job interview.  Both sides are checking each other out.

2 points

1.  Whether or not you can do anything to rent depends on a.) your state lanlord tenant laws b.) type of lease for current occupants.  If current tenants are on term leases you may not be able to do anything until that lease is up.  If they are on M2M leases then you may have more options available to you.

2.  You will find some people like @Thomas S. who swear by M2M leases.  There are also many others (myself included) who love term leases.  All of our tenants are on 1 year leases.  This guarantees us a tenant for at least one year.  This also allows us to know when we could have possible vacancies for better planning, etc.  With proper tenant screening I believe you can avoid many problems that people will point out with term leases.  Also regular visits to the property and inspections.  Treating tenants like customers with good service (no not pampering) and fairness goes a long way to making life as a landlord much easier.

Just my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions. :)

I think if you search the forums for Cozy you will find more information than you could imagine.