All Forum Posts by: Rosa Regier

@January Johnson a question we ask ourselves when selecting an investment property is whether we would live in it. It's more of our personal preference to stay out of communities where 1 property looks like the one next to it. Plus HOA fees+sharing walls+I don't like my neighbor, etc, etc.

Though I'm beginning to rethink this idea. I see that a good number of Floridian beach STR properties are TH & Condos. This ole gal can be taught new things :)

Congrats @Trent Reeve! My husband and I are about to take the plunge but we tend to shy away from townhouses & condos (we've been strictly SFH investors). We wanted to hear about successes with these types, thanks for sharing!

When you don't have a written lease you at minimum need to abide by the local Landlord-Tenant Laws. Most will have specific language about what you can and cannot deduct as well as when a security deposit is forfeited.

Thanks @Mark S. I suppose we simply need to establish best practices regardless of vrbo or airbnb bookings.

@John Underwood seems to be an advocate for vrbo and I see fewer complaints about that platform.  

All good tips posted in this thread!

@John Underwood you don't experience this on vrbo?

Hello @TaRa Mehta! This may not be a popular response, but in the area that you describe (unappealing perhaps) you might want to consider the make-up of that score rather than the score itself. Strictly speaking with regards to the credit history, I look for zero housing issues (no late mortgage pymts, foreclosures, collections from previous landlords, etc) which are far more important to me than being late on a credit card account that is already closed. I also look at collections. Specifically, the type and age. I've seen people with medical collections that might be understandable. Sometimes we get sick to the point that we have trouble making timely payments, but we definitely pay our mortgage/rent timely. I want to see that the issues are not recent so the age of those is important because that tells me that they are currently on track. My point is that the credit score doesn't paint a complete picture when evaluating potential tenants. Best of luck!

Adding another person is not uncommon. I have them fill out an application and run it as usual so that all adult occupants are treated/processed consistently. Once you confirm their qualifications, simply amend the lease to add another party. 

A Pet Fee and a Pet Deposit are 2 different things. There's no question that the 'non-refundable pet fee' is ever considered because you stated and they agreed that it was non-refundable. You use it for cleaning, carpet cleaning, deodorizing, de-fleaing, etc. You use all of it, period. Depending on the size of the rental property, you might not have enough $.

However, if this is a refundable pet deposit, then in TX it can be used to pay for any and all types of allowed deductions. You simply add it to the security deposit. If you collected a pet deposit of $200 (not a non-refundable pet cleaning fee) and a $500 security deposit, then you have $700 that can be used to pay for allowable and/or agreed upon deductions. Hope this helps

Without a written lease, then I assume they are month-to-month? Consider giving them a 30-day non-renewal notice.

Does the written lease allow pro-rated rents? If not, then termination date would be March 31. If the lease does allow it (or there's no mention) then the count begins 1 day after notice was given to the tenant. Keep in mind that February has 28 days this year. A 30-day notice given on February 15th would end on March 17th. This is how it works in TX please check TN try this

tncourts.gov/sites/default/fil...