All Forum Posts by: Bill Couture

Even with the added management stresses (I self-manage the building while working a 9-5), it's really not that bad. I'm hoping to convert an apartment building next door from 1 and 2 bedroom units to single occupancy rooms. The cash flow is incredible and I think I'm at a 25% cap rate. 

Hi Dan. The biggest headaches besides deferred maintenance were a couple of the tenants that I inherited. Had to evict a couple non-payers. The property was moving to foreclosure status as the owner had passed away so the tenants figured they'd take full advantage. Though probably not applicable in all areas, even though I'm renting rooms, I still have to go through a standard 45-60 day eviction process. Utility costs were high as well. I also changed the weekly payment system from physically picking up rent (previous owner), to money orders being sent to my P.O. Box which took some getting used to. 

I own a 13 unit rooming house in Connecticut that was established as a rooming house in the early 1900's. I furnish all of the rooms and I include all of the utilities (heat/ac, hot water, cable and Internet (WiFi)). I rent to the lowest members of the income scale but I honestly haven't had that many issues. I installed coin-op laundry and converted all of the common area lighting to LED with auto shut off sensors. All appliances (10 cu. Ft. fridge in every room) as well as televisions have been upgraded to energy star. I have one Internet and one cable line for directv for the entire building. I have 13 directv boxes which confuses the heck out of them when I have to call with billing questions. I'm happy to answer any questions. I've owned the building since February 2015.

Thanks everyone for your input. JD, my rentals are located in a "blue-collar" area where the tenant base is not particularly savvy in regards to electronic payments. I'd love to have the electronic only option, but as sad as it sounds, a significant percentage of the tenants don't even have a checking account. The problem I have with the thought of having a tenant deposit rent into a local bank account is what they could potentially see on the receipt. I used to make payments on a private note by depositing a check into the note holder's checking account and probably 30% of the time, the teller would print the account owner's balance on the receipt. Plus if the teller isn't doing their job, the tenant could have the ability to pry for personal information associated with my bank account. I worked in bank management for 7 years and I've seen it all.

Thank you everyone for your input. Dave, I do use Buildium but unfortunately a good percentage of my tenant base doesn't use email. I've decided to stop taking cash and if someone needs a receipt, I'll simply mail one. I'd rather play nice in case it comes to eviction and the tenant starts complaining about proof of payment.

Hello. What are your thoughts on mailing a receipt every time rent is received? I have a resident complaining that I don't mail one after explaining that her cancelled check or money order stub is proof of payment. I own 37 units and never had this issue before. Thanks