All Forum Posts by: Eric Benz

I am in a similar situation with a 2/1 that I've been trying to rent for 4 weeks now.  It's 720 square feet and has a garage which is nicer than most comps at the price, but it lacks stairs to access the basement laundry so you have to go outside to get to the basement.  It is my first rental.

I am self managing and have showed maybe 8 potential tenants the place and spoken with 30 on the phone.  I have one applicant I almost accepted but at the last minute the previous landlord told me they are currently being evicted.  I have one more applicant who has passed all my screening criteria except for previous landlord reference.  If I can't reach the previous landlord I will approve this tenant but it will be a 2 month deposit and I am not sure if they will be able to afford it.

Thank you for the feedback. I agree I’d rather have it vacant than deal with a problem. I think it’s fair to decline based on history of homelessness and drug use, but I’m worried I’m being too strict. 

I am currently renting my first rental property.  It is a 2/1 duplex in a class C neighborhood with one inherited, paying, tenant, and one vacant unit which I'm currently marketing at market rent.  This is an average condition house for the neighborhood and area.

I have set my screening requirements as:

600-650+ credit score
3 times monthly rent
No evictions, violent, or sex crimes
6+ months of job history
Some form rental references.

I have an applicant who meets all requirements except I am unsure if he will have rental references because he told me he's couch surfing right now.  He also told me that he spent the last 10-15 years off and on homeless and was a drug user who's been clean for the past 4 years.  He says he'll be living in the house alone, but his kid may join him at some point during the lease (he's trying to regain custody).  He also has no driver's license, but he does have an out of state ID.

I get a bad feeling that this could turn out bad for me and feel I can decline him legally based on him not having rental references, but on the other hand I think that maybe I could either offer him a month-to-month lease with a guarantee I don't raise rent for 12 months, or require a double deposit.  I haven't gotten any qualified applicants in the two weeks I've had this house on market.

Curious what some more experienced landlords think.  This is my first time marketing a property so I am learning a lot.

I live 35 mins away from the duplex. 

Appreciate the input on the software. How do you accept rent? I want to accept it electronically in a way that prevents partial payments.

It’s in a class c neighborhood

Appreciate all the additional input as well

I’m a first time real estate investor under contract to purchase a duplex in the Kansas City mo area. It closes on 11/8 and will be a long term rental. I’ve done a lot of research and think I have a basic handle on everything given that I’m new. I also know I’m bound to make a lot of mistakes. 

im looking for someone with long term rental experience in the area who can give me advice and I can bounce ideas off. For example:

Advice for taking over an existing lease?

Is turbotenant good software for what im trying to do?

Advice for finding a tenant and marketing my listing, etc. 

I believe relationships should have a component of mutual benefit so I would like to be able to help the other person. I am skilled in IT work such as general computer and network troubleshooting, and I’d be happy to help with whatever you need in this area.  I’m also pretty handy so there may be some misc work I can do at your rental properties too. I’d also be happy to help with other work that may be needed. 
 

Thanks Bradley!  I live in Johnson County but the prices are over my budget here where I live.  My primary search area was north of the river in KCMO and east Independence.  Be careful with any area you buy in especially Independence because there are some bad neighborhoods there.  I use crime maps and google street view to get an initial understanding of the area, but there is no substitute to being there in person and driving the streets.

After being interested for many years, I finally pulled the trigger and am under contract for a duplex in a class C neighborhood where I live!!!  The duplex will be used as a long term rental.

I have posted my numbers below.  I plan to self-manage but I put management fees of 10% just in case I need to hire a manager because the duplex is 35 minutes away from my house and get tired of driving there.

Hello, I am a new investor looking for a property in the Kansas City area between 100-175k.  I've been interested in long term rental real estate investing for a long time, and finally after reading some books (Atomic Habits) I convinced myself I'm going to pull the trigger on the best deal I can find in the next 3-6 months.  I wanted to post to see if anyone has any property for sale in this price range, as well as any advice.

I'm looking for one or two SFH or duplexes in the Kansas City area in class C/C+ neighborhoods. Ideally they'd rent for approximately or just under 1% of what the value of the house is after repairs. Speaking of repairs, I'm handy but don't want to get into a big rehab job for my first rental. I'd like to stick to things like new floors, drywall repairs, minor electrical, windows, etc.

For financing I'd like to go conventional and I have a lender who should be able to close me in 14 days.  

Thanks in advance for reading my post and any advice you can provide.  Looking forward to accomplishing this goal of rental property which I've had for a long time!

It's not just the 90 day rate which inverted the 10 year recently, other rates have been inverted for a couple months.  For example the 6 month versus the 5 year has been inverted for a month or two.

Whether it means a recession is coming in the next 1-2 years I am not qualified to speak on that.  I just thought I'd point out we've been in a yield inversion situation for a couple months at least.

I'm curious how other biggerpockets users think the yield inversion and a potential recession will impact home prices.