All Forum Posts by: Jessica Stinnette

#1. Agree, Clear, consistent communication that is transparent and proactive, answer the questions before they ask it. And not just email communication, phone, if they call, answer. They want to speak to someone a lot of the time, a phone call is worth a 1000 words.

#2 Repair Management, tracking expenses, following up with outstanding work orders, ensuring work completed with photos by vendors, notifying owners when there is a repair request by the tenant and track the time it takes from work order to completion, track the amount of repairs to a home at end of year so owner can see those expenses and try to get them on service contracts and off home warranties.

Agree, always should be responsibility of landlord to pay HOA. Lease should also state that the tenant be in compliant with HOA rules and be provided that document as well to have on hand of the HOA bylaws, rules and regulations, so that if they do have an HOA violation, they be charged that fee and correct the violation [when it's their fault].

You can also visit allpropertymanagement.com or APM.com

1100+ units and use Appfolio. You can email and text through appfolio and it keeps track of those comms. They have a lot of training available for things like prompts, activities, tracking for renewals, etc.

Quote from @Jeffrey Smith:

Thanks for all of the advice! I am in law enforcement and looking for a way out after I lock in my retirement and hazard pay. As a back story me and my fiancé have four rentals, two long term two short term. I do all maintenance and have never had to outsource anything. I’m a decent plumber, electrician, lawn care, and she does all of the hosting at the short term. I can see a market for people who don’t want everything out sourced. I obviously he r a long way to go, just making a 10 year plan..

 Where are you located? I agree with everyone on this thread, working with a property management company is going to be hands-down the best way for you to learn everything there is in property management. Similarities to self-management but there is so much more to learn especially if you want to grow your portfolio and add investors, or other landlords into the mix. I would say local property management company is ideal so you learn the legal compliancy, too, BUT we also have many virtual non-local employees that are amazing at their job and have learned a lot in property management even if it's not in the state they live and own their own rental property in. 

Appfolio, PowerApps, Dynamics365, Tenant Turner, Property Meld

I believe if you are asking if it's important to meet the tenant prior to them moving in so that you can build repoire, the answer is not necessarily. Tenants are just looking for clear and responsive communication and a nice kept home. If you are asking if you should meet the tenant to show them the home, vs them applying sight-unseen, that is a very different answer and should be yes whenever possible. 9 out of 10 times if we secure a lease with tenants who apply to rent a property 'sight unseen' because they are coming from out of town and can't seen it in person until the day of move in [even if they have a friend/relative/agent do a virtual showing and walk through it themselves] it typically never ends well and the home is NEVER what they expected and are unhappy right from the start. We even created a 'sight unseen' addendum to be included with every lease so tenants know that unless they asked for contingencies [ie: repaint entire home] the home is as-is, so they should not expect a freshly painted property unless they asked for it prior to signing the lease. We manage SFR's not apartments so a lot of renters often think it's going to be re-painted every single new lease start which just doesn't happen.

We use 2 applicants of how many in total, to qualify for the home. So if there are 3 roommates, all must apply and we vet them all fully but use only 2 to confirm if they can apply. We do place this information in our marketing so we're transparent on expectations but that way if 2 of the 3 can financially qualify on their own and have good credit, the third may be a bit of a risk but at least the other 2 are in good standing. Our lease also clearly states that every occupant must be listed on the lease and they are all equally and severally liable so that if 1 of the 3 doesn't pay rent, or just abruptly moves out, the other 2 are still fully responsible for all terms of the lease. 

Saed, congrats on everything, exciting times and new chapters! I also graduated from GMU! My recommendation is to protect that rental investment when you do find one, and hire a professional property management company! Would love to give you some insights on what to look for in a rental property for best ROI and expected rental rate comparable. Property Managers can also save you time, stress and legal compliancy to maximize your investment. Leave the property management of your investment in the hands of experts and don't try to self-manage.