All Forum Posts by: Jen Harwood

Hi all,

I've thus far been fairly lucky with tenants in my two SFH rentals, but did have one bad experience.

We had checked with our tenant's last landlord, and while she did not lavish her with praise, she didn't say anything negative about her either. In fact, said landlord even told us that rent had always been paid in a timely manner. Fast forward to us beginning to see rent slip, calls from cranky neighbors, and eventually the early termination of the lease. Some deeper digging eventually revealed that our tenant had actually been sued by the very landlord we spoke to for unpaid rent!

I've heard several times that landlord references are the absolute best tool for tenant screening, but part of me hopes this is not actually the case given that we didn't find it to be all that helpful in screening out the one bad tenant we did had. Has anyone else had bad luck with these references? Legally, what is okay or not okay for a landlord to say to another potential landlord? 

Looking into better tenant screening methods as both of my rentals come up for new leases. Appreciate any insight! 

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

@Jonna Weber, I will reach out - I definitely do have some questions about getting licensed in Idaho and would love your thoughts. I appreciate your offer!

@Lane Kawaoka, I want to be an investor and a business owner. I wish I were the beach and mai tai type... but it's just not how I'm wired. I'm looking for a way to turn what I love about real estate investing into what I do to stay busy every day.

Thanks @Mark Nolan and @Veni F. for the tips - I have been working my way through the books and podcasts. Has anyone figured out a way to add more hours to the day so I can get through them faster? 

Wow @Michael Schlager, that is really interesting - and great to read. I didn't really realize that there was such a thing as a "fast-tracked eviction" but it seems like that is already a possibility with non-paying tenants in Idaho. Encouraging stuff - I think everyone in my circle believed it was a very long, expensive process.

Have you heard of any other instances where actual squatting is happening in the Boise/Caldwell/Nampa area?

Hi there,

I've lived in Seattle for 10 years but grew up and went to school in Idaho. My husband Kole and I own our home here in Seattle, a vacant lot in McCall, ID and two single family rental homes in Boise, each of which we've owned for about 5-6 years.

Here in Seattle I own and operate a cloth diaper service, which lets me care for our toddler daughter during the day - a huge consideration for me. I have a business and finance background in addition to my own experience as an entrepreneur.

However, I've only recently realized (silly me!) that I have a real passion for real estate - not just buy and hold, but flipping as well. We've refreshed or remodeled most of our primary residence, almost all of which was done ourselves on a limited budget.

We've enjoyed the monthly cash flow that our SFH rentals have generated but I am looking to put down more roots in Boise or other towns in Idaho as we have strong family ties there already and would consider moving back some day. I'd also like to eventually make real estate my full-time gig. I'm still figuring out exactly what shape that will take, but I believe it will likely be some combination of buy-and-hold and flipping.

I plan to pursue a real estate license here in Washington to enable me to more easily get licensed in Idaho as well (Idaho doesn't have online courses like WA does), and I'd love to learn more about flipping, finding and purchasing multifamily investments, and on real estate investment with little cash. Since discovering the Bigger Pockets community and podcast a week ago I have been studying hard - and thank goodness for the Seattle library, or I would already be broke buying all of the great books being recommended!

I look forward to getting more involved. Thanks for reading!