All Forum Posts by: Joshua Sclafani

What do you all think about the 5-day late payment policy? I'm inclined to state my policy: rent is due on the first, period. Any reasons I should consider letting tenants pay up to 5 days after the 1st before considering it late?

@Pam Storm Thank you. I have an attorney helping me with my lease so I'll be sure to get the answer from him.

Random question about the renter's deposit...I have a business account with my local bank. Is it common to ask them to open a specific type of account to hold each tenant's deposit and last month's rent? Any suggestions on how to approach this?

@Alvin Pereira @Jorge Magana @Kevin Hunter @Pam Storm

Thank you!  Great tips. The rental market is booming in this neighborhood right now so picking the right price point has definitely been challenging. I think it was the owner of Holdfolio who said he tries to address any major repairs that would be needed within 5 years, I thought that was a good approach.

@Thomas S. Thank you and duly noted! I've read your comments on other threads and always come away learning something, I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

We are almost done fixing up our first rental property and aim to have it rented ASAP. It's a 1920's bungalow in a very trendy neighborhood in Tampa and we want top rent for it (of course). I've listened to all of the landlord/property management podcasts on BP and have gleaned so many great bits of advice but I'm hoping to glean some tips from you BP gurus, anything you wish you knew BEFORE you rented out your first place. I would be incredibly grateful for any tips you are willing to share!

@Justin Denham You are correct about Bungalows being more desirable and retaining their value better. That being said, I think they are more appealing to buyers and perhaps not as important to tenants. So you should factor for lower appreciation but you will also have lower capital improvement costs with a block home compared to 90yr old wood frame. Comps are tricky, you really need to know the neighborhood to understand the best locations. This may not make much sense but here's a graphic of the best areas. Green is the best, orange is OK, red is bad. Pretty much anything south of Osbourne (East of 275) and anything east of 15th are not on my radar (crime is too prevalent). There are some projects you don't want to buy near, also in red. Hope it helps.

@Adrian Smude Thanks for the offer, I'll be in touch.

@Justin Denham congrats on the decision to take action, it's the most important step. I'm in Seminole Heights and so is my rental. Rents are rising and demand is incredibly high in my neighborhood. That being said, I'm starting to look in other metro areas such as Plant City for lower entry points and strong demand. Wesley Chapel is not commuter friendly and I don't see it being a strong rental community in the near-term anyway, also HOAs are very common as others have noted. Just something to keep in mind. Good luck!

I'm excited to learn more from this fantastic site. I've enjoyed many of the podcasts and have already applied some lessons learned on our first SFH rental property deal here in Tampa. I'm a Program Manager by trade but hope to grow a real estate business I can operate full time.

I'm focused on the Seminole Heights neighborhoods (33603, 33604) where I also live. It's an up and coming area full of beautiful old bungalows, we have some of the best restaurants and breweries in Tampa and a very colorful and artsy culture among the residents. It's also in flood zone X, so we are well poised for the future impact of global warming. 

Although we have started out with a single family, our intent is to diversify with multi-families as well, adding 2-5 units per year to our portfolio. If anyone out there is familiar with our area, I'd love to chat and learn from your experiences and reciprocate where I can.