All Forum Posts by: Jay P.

@Nathan G.

When I first started telling friends & coworkers that I was going to purchase a rental property, many of them jokingly made the comment, “you’re going to be a slumlord?” The word “slumlord” makes me madder than anything. I am far from that.

When i purchased my first property, the previous owner & “property manager” were basic slum lords. One tenant had been in the unit 16 years & was very good about paying rent on time and never caused any problems. No paint, no new upgrades, if something broke it was fixed or replaced with the cheapest of the cheap. I purchase the property and within 2 years, have painted, put in new tile, new front door, blinds, ac registers, cleaned ac ducts, new tub & shower surround, new light fixtures & new ceiling fans. Long story short- they think i’m God. They love me, we get along great and they have bragged to their family & friends about me so much that I now have a waiting list of people for my next property that I purchase. I treat them like people, I take care of them and they take care of me. The plus side to all of this is that tenant went from a month to month lease to a yearly lease and I have been able to raise the rent to my market rent with no issues.

Landlords will always get a bad rap, just like car salesman, lawyers, insurance people, etc. I’m sure we all know at least 1 decent person out of the above categories. Point is, let people say/think what they want. As for me, I will continue to take care of my tenants, treat them like actual people and maybe change some minds about landlords along the way.

@Fedor Volkov

Yes, I will be raising my rents. The reason- my tenants have not been affected by Covid and I have spent a great deal in renovations/updating last year and this year also. When it comes time for the leases to renew, I will sit down with them and we will chat about it, but most likely the answer is yes.

@Kameron Yellin

Congrats!!!! Looks like a great investment.

@Todd Powell

Wow!!!! Seems like you’ve seen it all..

@Victor J Valera

Awesome. Thanks!!!!

Hi all.

I own a duplex and live in one unit and rent out the other. I have been using Stessa and really liked that it would let me allocate expenses to which ever unit I was currently working on.

I looked at Cozy and was blown away by all the things it offers (tenant screening, rent pay, etc) so I started using Cozy. One thing I am unable to do on Cozy is allocate the expenses to the appropriate unit.

Is this a big deal, does this make a difference & do I need that info for tax time?

@Vic Valera Do you use a special software to keep track of things?

Following.

@Chris Kelly

I lived in an apartment when i was younger and the downstairs tenants smoked like Cheech & Chong. Every time they smoked in their bathroom, they would turn on the vent to get the smoke out which in turn made my whole apartment smell like a ganja lab.

Good luck. Let is know what finally happens and if you are able to solve the issue.

@Phillip Nelms Thanks! So the seller paid 5K in closing cost and the down payment assistance was for 5%. I paid out of pocket- $750  to title company, $100 earnest money to seller, $485 for inspection and $625 for the apprisal. I ended up paying $0 at closing and I am actually picking up a check tomorrow from the title company for $918. So I paid no closing cost.

Talk to your mortgage/lender folks about down payment assistance and even check to see if the town you live or are buying in has any kind of first time home buyers program. Btw, I went the FHA route. If you need the number to the mortgage folks I went thu, send me a message. Just stay positive and keep at it. It took me 5 years to get my debt paid off, credit score raised and all that good stuff.