All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Griffin

Thanks@Don Griffith&@Kelly N.

You guys really helped support both our stances on this topic! Kelly your comment was very nice and well written. That is exactly how I felt. Don, your comment made us laugh. My husband almost said exactly what you said down to the last sentence. He is not in the military so he wasn't at Ft. Carson. I think we are going to combine both stances and also info that you guys have given us so that we are not jeopardizing our company and making ourselves prey to sue happy renters, but so that we are still being honest to renters that blatanatly the question. 

Hi BIgger Pockets,

Just wanted to get a little insight as to wether to disclose or not to disclose, who owns our properties to the tenants that are calling us to Rent a property from us. We want to hear what the pros and cons are for both. My husband does not want to disclose we own them, and I do. Any thoughts?

My husband and I made an offer on this one bedroom condo, and we offered 20% less than asking price with the listing agent. She said she doesn't think the owner will take it but she'll submit a verbal offer. The owner then came back saying that she will only take a certain dollar amount, which ended up being 5% less. We thanked her for her time, but rejected the deal she had offered. After we left about 2 hours later, the listing agent called us and said that the owner had changed her mind and would take the deal. So, I guess the whole reason I'm sharing this story is just to let you know that it's ok to walk away from a deal and stay true to your numbers. Also, the ROI will be around %28-33%.

Sent from my iPad

Hello @Susan Pompea

Hey Susan, I read one of your earlier posts about trying to get military . A lot of military men and women stay 2-4 years. So here are two websites that will allow you to post directly to military. The website addresses are www.mfsfr.com & www.ahrn.com. These websites may help you get tenants that will stay longer. Don't forget you may have to post 2 months in advance because military is always looking in advance.

There are some tenant screening services that do not cost a whole lot maybe $15-$20. As far as screening for longer staying tenants, you can make sure to look closely at their past performance or longevity of their stays at their prior residences. Their past history will be a good indicator of how long they may want to stay in the future. Another way not to disturb your current tenant(s) with too many showings, is to make sure to schedule all the showings in one day with 15 minute increments between each showing. This will show the perspective tenants there are a lot of people interested in the property and you will pick the best one. Trulia and Zillow are solid ways to advertise that will attract more renters that will hopefully be the type of renters you are looking for. 

Please feel free to contact us if you have any more questions. We love to help.

How do you collect rent? We suggest opening a free checking account, giving renters deposit slips, and having them deposit rent right into the account. The tenant will get a receipt. This will help you save time and money, and also the headache of lost checks in the mail.

Hello @Kevin Dee,

Well I'm no expert but I signed up for Trulia as well and it did the same thing to me. Have you thought of trying the website www.FSBO.com? It does cost, however it does post to a lot of different websites which may save you money in the long run.

Hello @Scott Zeiger

      We use Buildium Property Management Software. It costs around $40 a month for up to 40 properties. It does email the tenant if they are 3 days late, as well as records all the late activity. I'm still learning how to use it but it's fairly simple. I'll attach a photo to show you what it looks like.

Hello Biggerpockets,

Have you ever had a tenant give you an excuse for not paying rent that was so farfetched you just wanted to laugh? Well, we have! Here is our top outrageous excuse:

1. Our tenant said that he was riding his motorcycle to the bank to deposit rent. It was a really windy day. He said he had the $800 dollars in cash for rent in one of his hands while he was riding the bike with the other. There was no pockets in his jeans or coat, so he had to hold it he said. He then hit a speed bump and all of the cash besides $115 went flying into the air. He then stopped in the middle of the road to gather the money but it had already vanished and flown into the sky. Got a good story like mine? Please feel free to share it.

Hey @David T.

As far as making sure you have legal and correct forms for anything real estate or property management including rental application forms, I would suggest using or at least checking your local state department of regulatory agencies to see what constituents a legitimate rental application, or you can print the form off the website. Here in Colorado we use DORA, which allows us to print the actual commission approved form and at minimum allows us to see what the application or form needs to have in it, if we decide to get that form or application from another site. 

Another way you can obtain a legitimate rental application form, is to call 4 or 5 well established property management companies and asking them for a rental application. Some of them may even have it online. You can look examine and see what the difference is between them and then pick and choose what you like on them to create your own. They should be following the regulations required in your state. 

Thanks guys! @Daniel O'BrienThe location is Dublin and Academy by the Sprouts organic shopping center. It's next to some other townhomes. Really good location. @Joe MooreI agree units next to golf courses and parks add a lot of value. It's always exciting to do well in your business thanks for the support.

We just closed on our most recent deal. We had 7 showings in one day. All that came to see it were eager to rent because of its ideal location. The property was in good condition when we took it over, so good, that we only had to make one minimal touch up. It's always good to pay little to nothing for repairs. We got it for a good price and the ROI was 26.32% The applications came flooding in, so we had a renter lined up prir to closing. We also have one more under contract and a couple more in the pipeline. More updates coming soon!