All Forum Posts by: Kenneth Davis

I place all my tenants on a month to month lease regardless of how great their credit is and it has worked well for me with zero evictions for 9 years now.

Each new tenant I sign a lease with, always give me a new challenge to face. I recently signed a tenant on a month to month lease whom informed me that he will be changing his cell phone number hours after signing the lease with me. He also informed me that he maintains a seperate mailing address for his mail which he did not provide me a copy of.

   I have had other tenants change their number but provide me a new number, a month or two after moving; so should I be concerned? He had an out of state number which he maintained through his previous lease I believe, with another local landlord; so I just wondered if this would raise a flag to any other landlords here? He did offer a reason to validate the number change: stating he had lots of enemies he wanted to avoid, "Personally talking to this tenant, he did not strike me as a trouble maker but rather very bookish and easy going." My tenant  screening service which I have trusted for 9 years now qualified him through their checks, despite my investigating discovered a previous landlord reference to be inacurrate by phone number which he seemed very apologetic about. What is a good time frame for me to wait for him to give me his new number? I plan going to his employer to confirm his number had been changed if they will cooperate with me or should I give him the 7 day notice to provide this information? Sorry for any mispellings I am notorious for my grammer. One other hair raiser about this guy to me was the fact that he was moving from a $450.00 rental too my $300.00 rental and said he could not afford the $40.00 transfer fee nor to have the financial ability for at least two weeks. He does drive and commute to work and I know he has to pay for gasoline. I took the power out of my name after the walk through inspection, so he is currently in the dark.

Kimberly H.    Thankyou for the feedback. I know I put the word "try" in that paragraph somewheres; so I meant to say I do try to do an inspection once every two months, but sometimes I get lax in conducting inspections for that very reason you mentioned, that I dont want to be viewed as intrusive; but it is also a business decision to inspect for signs or symptoms of needed maintenance or repair. I am former a for LEO and with that being said I am aware of all the laws with landlord tenant rules in Florida and follow all of its statutes. I conduct busniess with everything in writing; so all future tenants know what to expect before signing  the lease which states "a monthly" inspection is to be expected; which is legal in Florida. I  try to establish good repore with my tenants who know that my inspections, which are sometimes more of a greeting "Are there any problems with the rentals I should know about etc. They are aware that I only care  that they have a safe, clean place to live by keeping my properties in repair so there are very, very few calls to me that something broke etc. Most of my tenants stay years Vs. Months; so I am lucky or doing something right. I joined BP to learn from others who are in the business and only do things my way right or wrong to some, from part experience with what works and what doesn't along with my library of every landlord tenant book and news article I ever came across. Brandon Luke, by the way said it best with the appropriate responsewith the unresponsive tenant/ leaking pipe issue.

RE: Leaky Pipe and noncompliant tenant

Your actions should really depend of whether you care for her to continue as a nuisance tenant, because regardless of how your propblem is resolved with her, she may never complain about that leaky pipe or other maintenance issues in the future. She may in the long term cost more than she was worth being your tenant, but any way, I personally would have my lawyer send her a letter that she must get into compliance or terminate her lease. An agent  with law enforcement or an officer may also serve this notice to her if I'm  not mistaken. 

     Law enforcement may  require that you exercise the use of an attorney before you approach them. It may  be necessary for legal reasons, that a law enforcement officer  is present upon your entry into the tenants unit for this repair as a precaution. The cost of one letter with a sit down consult is seemingly pricey at $100.00 in my case, but it will be well worth it in the long term. You should also build a file on your tenant(s) who don't comply with rules etc. with everything in writing for the legal end of things. I use a lawyer only if necessary. I try keeping good business relations with my tenants along with at least a bi-monthly inspection for maintenance issues that many renters are completely oblivious too.

I manage my own properties and use Minimum Requirements when screening applicants, along with my own screening method. I designed my own lease agreement Vs. the generic in the store, which a few realestate attorneys have reviewed to be pretty iron clad, with protective clauses in which applicants have to initial next to each, etc. before signing. One attorney compared my work to a commercial lease, but I am also incorporated as an LLC. My experience with two mangement companies were negative after perusing their lease agreements and contracts with me. They wanted way too much control over my properties and would have driven me into a debt with little to no profit, just maybe short of breaking even. The mangement companies in my experience wanted me out of sight out of sound from the properties I had mortgages on.

      Starting out as a landlord is a lot of work in the beginning, especially if you do everything yourself as I do. The rewards of doing it yourself can be bittersweet financially once you gain some experience. I started off with a duplex I lived in and now have a several other rentals. The screening is the most critical part once all your paperwork is in order and that is why I am here also, because despite Zero evictions in 9 years, I am super strict in my screening of tenants, not knowing how other landlords screen, although, those who qualify staying years on my properties with few to little problem.

Are there  better internet advertising media than Craigslist for rentals?

Thankyou everyone for the warm welcome! I hope there will be brighter days and more pleasant conversation than that of Weirdos in Florida!

I have one of each class of properties i think, as the prices vary. My Duplex in a an older blue collar area of Jacksonville rents out between $565.00 to $610.00 with a current tenant of 4 years, a townhouse of ours rents out at $1100.00  with the same tenants for 6 years now, Modular Home in Lake City Florida in a middle class neighborhood of mostly houses,  which rents at $750.00 with same tenant for 5 years now; she thought it was an actual house.  Last but not least the D class quadraplex which has a potential of good income if I can find applicants who earn 3 times the asking monthly rent of just $425.00 or $15k annually which is poverty salary, who dont have evictions or criminal records. The Starke was foreclosed on by the last 3 owners and vacant several years before  I purchased it  for just 28K  from retirment money, but Starke seems to be  poorest city," in North Florida or at least that is what I gather when the cost of electricity and whether I will pay for it is a major concern. My Starke property  is a mixed neighborhood, with many retirees and the largest number of young SSID collectors I have ever heard of or seen, from age 18 up and none of which look like they cant work either! 

     I feel l that I can rent to anyone whom has a fairly clean record, but it seems like there are fewer and fewer qualified applicants who see my rentals, when a vacany occurs; Starke also seems to have very bold aggressive  individuals whom have a problem with being told there are minimum qualifications in which they may not qualify. The local Sheriffs office  already knows I  have a hot head who confessed he was being evicted from his current residence and has old criminal history but is  determined to  get me to rent to him! Sorry to say I dont like guns despite my past career and might have to confront this individual at some point; hopefully peace will prevail or he will be arrested and get free housing in jail. My wife might be my back up tommorrow unfortunatly oppossed to two large male German Rottweilers that I planned on having tag along while I complete renovations tommorrow down their with its fully fenced in yard. This guy called my number 4 times today and twice just minutes ago after 10pm, no answer left but Im sure I will have a local deputy close by down the street.  

   Back to the rentals, like my duplex, are usually filled by someone who I let slide in for the learning experience, or atleast that is how I view it with family and friends insisting I am a little strict with my standards for the areas in which my rentals are located. I  have the duplex usually filled with only a month of vacany and have  a lawyer to send them a nasty letter to comply or vacate if the new tenant starts off on the wrong foot with late rent and excuses. I view the screening and landlording of tenants as an exceptionally good game of Chess where you always have to be steps ahead of them. I hear sob stories every now and then from a new tenant or two along with  excuses for why the rent is late but, also know all leases are month to month, no exceptions and the lawyer I work with seems to do well with just a letter to bring them into compliance.

    Lastly I do  advertise mainly on Craigslist which in my opinion caters to a less than savory crowd of bargain hunters and trouble like this weirdo which I suppose will add to the experience of landlording.

Hello everyone! Im Kenneth, but everyone calls me, and can call me any of the shorts to my long name! Lol! I am a Florida native originally from Miami, Florida whom has lived  around this state searching for the just right home setting. I do currently live just West of Jacksonville, Fl. out on a few acres  which is kind of a nice place to settle for the time being. I'm married to a beautiful loving wife; am living a childhood dream of sorts on a  little hobby farm. 

    I love real estate and have driven all over North Florida in every city and town along all the back roads checking out properties before my very first realestate investment which was a Duplex in Jacksonville. Living in one side and renting out the other in my first investment property really made good sense and spurred my desire to obtain more properties. Fast forward to 2014, I have been a Landlord for 9 years now with 4 properties: a duplex, townhouse, Modular home; and recently a Quadraplex. I find realeste deals and strongly believe the sacrifice of a little distance between properties cant hurt too much and may be more beneficial for the future recessions we will see in our life times.

All of my experiences of screening tenants and renting have been positive for the most part- "having zero evictions to date, but maybe just lucky! My  experience with individuals, from street smarts I learned in South Florida too past careers which included Law enforcement; Corrections; security, along with the library of realestate books I amassed has greatly helped. 

My tenants do stay for years with the exception of 2 whom stayed less than 14 months. My tenants know I am all business with a half smile (I am naturally serious); do know that I am a man of my word, repairing things promptly and managing my poperties to the best I know how. My dilemma is simple, 

      When is strict, too strict, when it comes to screening applicants of the less than savory crowd? Less than savory meaning that individual has an eviction, has poor credit etc. I use Minimum qualifications and do not rent to individuals with criminal records for the saftey of myself, family, current tenants and neighbors near my properties. 

   What do the more experienced landlords here do when it seems like every single appllicant that responds to your ads will lie, straight faced too you, with the discovery of this fact after you check and investigate their information on the application? I have checked tax records to confirm past rental histories and most applicants have no problem lying and thanks to positive re-enforcement of tenants staying several years, I will physically drive to check reference addresses and interview individuals with signed consent forms in hand for this practice. i wish it could be easier than all the effort but maybe that is why I am here, to find easier solutions. sorry about mispelling I never get it 100%.Lol!