All Forum Posts by: Jenna Columbus

@Simon Neuman. I am not sure if they receive a receipt I have never asked but I do know the tenants have a document section similar to what I see. I can pull documents for all payments etc. I would hope they can do the same.

@Daniel Kelley for our properties we use a site called Avail. It's been great. They charge us a flat rate and no fees to the tenants for paying online etc. They send tenants notices each month and take care of adding late fees if the tenant falls behind. They also allow for maintenance requests and lease tracking. It's been a great one stop shop for all our properties.

@Edgar Verdin my husband I own multiple older multi family homes. One is from 1880 and the other is from 1900. These properties can be a mistake or a great investment but that's not because of the property itself but due to your knowledge of working with an older home. Some folks on here have made a repeatable process and learned how to navigate older homes. We learned so much with our 1880 two family and the home is beautiful now that it's updated. When we list a unit in that property it's scooped up so quickly! In summary, learn about it older homes, older systems, multiple systems for one utility etc. Then you won't have to worry about making a mistake just an educated risk!

@Andy Nathan We rented the apartment we have been rehabbing for a year to amazing tenants! I was so nervous when we finished the rehab that it was all for nothing because the virus. Due to the economy I was afraid it would make it impossible to rent. I was wrong! We had such activity and we created a virtual walkthrough using YouTube to show folks the apartment! From listing to accepting a deposit for the apartment was under 7 days!

@Blake Valdez It all depends on your investment strategy on how you can get started. My strategy is buy and hold apartments and single family homes. We buy them in poor condition, fix them and refinance. I used my 401k to buy our first 3 family. We refinanced after we rehabbed the property and made the money back from the loan (then paid it off) and additional money help us re-invest. It's a calculated risk but if you can learn from others who have successfully completed the process and research the real estate in your area for an investment this is a opportunity to get your business started.

@Filipe Pereira. Hi Felipe, thanks for taking the time to give me such a well thought out answer. We are thinking along the same lines as you that this money is a wash as the applicant is spending the money on gas and repairs for the car. I was just concerned there was some rule I didn't know about what counts as income. I wanted to feel confident in telling an applicant we won't consider it without worrying about breaking getting into a conflict. All the best during this new and crazy time! Thanks again.

@Stephanie Simmons. They are not a truck driver but work for a company that supports adults with special needs. The applicant brings them to appointments and work etc.

A applicant for one of our rental properties submitted her application and included under gross monthly income the mileage she receives from driving at her work. I'm unsure if I can include that in her monthly income as I'm sure it fluctuates and isn't something I can truly verify because it's not part of her paycheck but a separate deposit every month. When you receive an application that has mileage income included on it do you guys include it as part of the gross monthly income or do you deduct it? I can't seem to find anything online about an official ruling on this. We have rentals in the state of Connecticut if anybody locally has any insights would be greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone! I have a potential new tenant that receives assistance from the state that asked me during the application process if we could include electricity in our rent every month. Typically all utilities are paid for by the tenant. She shared that with her type of assistance it would be easier for her to get approved if some of the utilities were being covered by the landlord. She had stated that in the past her landlords have done this and they have raised the rent around $150-$200 to make up for the expense. The typical electric bill for this type of unit would be under the cost of $150 but I'm worried if there are negatives to agreeing to this, an example would be she somehow has a crazy electric bill. I would appreciate any input or past experiences. 

@Harrison Elenowitz Good Morning, I see two questions in your post so I tried to answer each of them. There are a good amount of bigger apartment buildings in Vernon but it has not affected our search for new tenants. A recent example is our 3 family had 2 tenants move out at the end of July. One tenant bought a home and the other was moving to a different part of CT. Being diligent we had showings before the tenants moved out and we had a new tenant in one apartment in 17 days and the other 30. We had such interest that we were able to an extremely small amount of vacancy. I do want to add that it was a lot of work turning over an apartment in 17 days! I find that because there are larger apartment buildings it's means other larger investors see the value in the area and helps me feel confident in my investment. If someone else is investing millions down the street that means it's good for me to invest. As for your second question, getting started in this game has taught me to be realistic about what I can afford and will have to do with my budget. All of the properties my husband and I have purchased required a lot of work! A lot of town meetings for zoning and permits but it's those extra steps that someone else doesn't want to take that will help you make the long term gains. Our three family when we bought it had no parking and was filled with the previous tenants gross leave behinds. After a few months of hard work the building is the one of the nicest on the street and is generating enough monthly income after our BRRR to pay the mortgage and the mortgage of another 2 family we are BRRRing as well. I hope that information is helpful and it wasn't too long of a post.