All Forum Posts by: David Sisson

Tenant hasn't provided me proof of renters insurance yet. Tomorrow is move in. Give them the keys or require proof of insurance before move in? It's in the lease that they must provide renters insurance, and make me an additional insured. I really don't want to have to evict if they don't provide it, etc. 

 Insulation is very cheap. I've discovered - for the pink fluffy batt insulation anyway - that you can hire a company to provide and install the insulation cheaper than you can buy the insulation yourself. This is because these big companies buy the insulation by the container load, and it's very cheap labor to install it. The cost of painting is all over the place depending on the method (spray vs rolling) and the quality. I would never install insulation myself, but I'll do painting, depending on how much time I have. 

 The guy had a VERY unique name to say the least. No doubt it was the same guy. 

Rejected a family's application. The father had done time while in the military. While the military doesn't have "felonies" per-se, this crime would have been a felony in the civilian world. I sent the family a rejection letter. The wife texts me saying "why does it say felony, we have never been arrested or done time". I replied back that a simple google search reveals your husband's sex crimes and we have a no felonies and no sex crimes rule. I still wonder if this was the first she'd heard of it. 

I will DIY things if:

1) I know how to do it

2) I have the time to do it

3) Or, if it's MORE time and effort to hire it out. Lots of little repairs are harder to hire out than just doing it yourself. This is more a time issue for me than a money issue. 

I'd always try to put snow removal and lawn care on the tenants, but I know that I may need to step in when they aren't capable of doing it. Write it into the lease. 

I will also DIY if I feel it's worth it financially. This depends a lot on what else is going on in my life. 

I have a full size pickup with a plow. The plow is because I own a commercial property with a small lot, and the plowing service let me down last year. I don't like the plow - it's hard on the truck. I think I would have been better off buying a beater truck with a plow already on it. I do love the truck, and it's fine for hauling everything I need. 

I do a lot of sherwin williams paint. Pick whatever colors you like, but I'm a fan of 7012 Creamy for walls, and 7005 Pure White for trim and ceilings. I do a semi gloss for walls for the rentals, eggshell for my own properties. Semi gloss or gloss for trim. Flat for ceilings. 

I have decided it's worth the extra money for using SW SuperPaint for the walls, and SW Emerald trim paint. Both of these can be single coat coverage (sometimes). Both are easy to paint with, and you get good results. Ceilings can be ceiling paint - I use SW Eminence. 

I have a commercial account with SW, which helps save $. It still costs more than big box contractor grade paint. 

Ben Moore also makes great paints. The Ben Moore Regal paint is awesome, if you can afford it. 

If you have lower end properties, you might get by with something from Glidden or Bher. 

Easy-peasy. I’ll figure it out and see if I can hit the next one. Thank you!

Had a potential tenant look at my place. Had a house fire (verifiable).

Tenant was sloppy, reeking of smoke, and several little children running around my place, pulling and kicking everything they could. 

We don’t rent to smokers, so not an issue. 

Others came with felonies, no thank you. I don’t need tenants that the neighbors are scared to live next to. 

You can do better. 

I'd like to learn more about the RIREIG group too, where can I find more info? 

This is simple research. You'll use a combination of the tax assessor database and the local GIS system. 

Both the city of Phoenix and Maricopa County have GIS systems. For the best result, you should search for properties that match your zoning requirements and don't have any environmental, wetlands, flooding, etc issues.