All Forum Posts by: Jean Soo

We currently have excellent tenants staying in one of our properties. However, the former tenant's mails keep coming to them so the former tenant keeps going through their mailbox to collect it. The new tenants had told me they didn't like this and we even tried telling the former tenant to stop doing this but they haven't listened. We updated the mailing address through UPS but no change has been implemented. Any action steps or suggestions? Thank you!

I agree with @Kyle J.  It is better to have established set tenant standards before you go about choosing the right candidate. I just finished screening and selecting tenants for two different properties. Our standards include that income must be 3X the rent, credit score above 650, clean background check, 1-2 past landlord references (the more the better), 3-6 months pay stubs (because of COVID, we requested more months), valid social security and ID and so on... We had luck finding good tenants after establishing such set criteria. I would say to be even more careful and strict with screening especially with the many eviction moratoriums in states. Also be very careful of Fair Housing Laws and memorize the protected classes in your specific state. Laws vary in each state. If you deny the applicants, send a denial letter without violating Fair Housing Laws and do not deny based on the protected classes EVER.  

Based on the candidates you've presented, I personally don't feel very confident in their qualifications and would wait for more to apply.  It really depends on your market and state. Is it high or low demand for renters? Worst case, if you do decide to stick with the candidate, other alternatives would be to require a cosigner or increase security deposit. 

Hi! Definitely low supply here in MA and high demand of buyers as well as renters. To be more specific, about 40% home owners vs 60% renters here. I researched and looked up the master plan and apparently there is shortage of townhouses and multi family homes here. Also realized that whenever a townhouse and multi family home gets put up on Zillow, it gets sold quite fast. Prices just keep going up too. 

Hi guys. I just wanted to share the proposal for the housing stability act for MA and it is quite frightening to me. I personally see this as beneficial more towards the tenants rather than landlords as expected from a tenant-friendly state.

What are your thoughts??

I do hope to write a letter to the senator expressing great concerns over this. If you would like to do the same, please do so! Taking some action is better than none and we have nothing to lose at this point. Here is a brief description of it:

Protecting Renters and Preventing Evictions

Cancel/ban evictions for rent due from the start of the COVID-19 State of Emergency through 12 months following the end of the State of Emergency, if tenant was unable to pay because of a direct or indirect impact of COVID-19.

Provide “Just Cause” protections to ensure tenants and foreclosed homeowners cannot be evicted for no-fault or non-renewal of leases for 12 months following the end of the emergency declaration.

Freeze rents at pre-COVID-19 levels; rents as of March 10, 2020 remain in effect through 12 months following the end of the State of Emergency.

Provide a local option for municipalities to extend Just Cause protections upon expiration.

Provide strong protections against unfair debt-collection activities for tenants impacted by COVID-19.

Link to bill description:https://www.repmikeconnolly.or...

Link to contact senators: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/HD5166

Hi guys. I just wanted to share the proposal for the housing stability act for MA and it is quite frightening to me. I personally see this as beneficial more towards the tenants rather than landlords as expected from a tenant-friendly state. 

What are your thoughts??

I do hope to write a letter to the senator expressing great concerns over this. If you would like to do the same, please do so! Taking some action is better than none and we have nothing to lose at this point. Here is a brief description of it:


https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/HD5166

Protecting Renters and Preventing Evictions

1. -Cancel/ban evictions for rent due from the start of the COVID-19 State of Emergency through 12 months following the end of the State of Emergency, if tenant was unable to pay because of a direct or indirect impact of COVID-19.
2. -Provide “Just Cause” protections to ensure tenants and foreclosed homeowners cannot be evicted for no-fault or non-renewal of leases for 12 months following the end of the emergency declaration.
3. -Freeze rents at pre-COVID-19 levels; rents as of March 10, 2020 remain in effect through 12 months following the end of the State of Emergency.
4. -Provide a local option for municipalities to extend Just Cause protections upon expiration.
5. -Provide strong protections against unfair debt-collection activities for tenants impacted by COVID-19.

Link to bill description: https://www.repmikeconnolly.or...

Congrats on being a landlord! I recommend reading The Book on Managing Rental Properties by Brandon Turner. That book seriously helped me out with property management. He also provided all the necessary documents. I would still advise you to read your state laws about certain rules before finalizing and having tenants sign the documents. Here is the link:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/landlordbookbonus

 

Facebook and Zillow have so far been  my two favorite websites. Even though Facebook has a lot of inquiries,  a lot of them are low quality tenants. I definitely have to filter through the messages a lot. As for Zillow, it has more high quality tenants. I decided to stop using Craigslist as there are not many inquiries on there anymore and even when there are, it is always a low quality tenant too and the fee is $5 per listing. I do want to try apartments.com. 

I just found a tenant that met our standard qualifications (650+ credit, 3x income, stable job, good references, no evictions, clear background etc). I will admit that it took longer than usual and I am guessing it is because of COVID with the high unemployment rates and credits being hurt. It personally took us almost one month to find the tenant that met our standards and we NEVER lowered our standards. We have learned from past experience that lowering standards ends up coming back to hurt you in the long run. 

I'm looking for someone or a group to do weekly accountability deal analysis and reports with as practice. I always make sure I analyze 3-4 deals per week in my market but I would appreciate sharing the numbers with someone else for a second confirmation. I could also do the same with him or her. Doesn't matter what market you're in as long as we can share how we calculated cash flow, ROI, appreciation, cap rate, NOI etc...

I'm looking for someone or a group to do weekly accountability deal analysis and reports with as practice. I always make sure I analyze 3-4 deals per week in my market but I would appreciate sharing the numbers with someone else for a second confirmation. I could also do the same with him or her. Doesn't matter what market you're in as long as we can share how we calculated cash flow, ROI, appreciation, cap rate, NOI etc...