All Forum Posts by: Kari M.

Our tenant (of 4 years) wants to break her lease. This would leave us with a vacancy on January 1st. I am concerned about getting a quality renter in the winter. This sfr shows much better when there is not snow on the ground.

This situation presents 2 new experiences for my husband and I as landlords.
1) A lease break
2) A vacancy in snowy, freezing January in Minnesota

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Facts:
- We have not agreed to anything yet
- This tenant has been top quality
- The property is a SFR
- She has offered to co-sign a 5 month lease (the remainder of hers) for her dad who is recently divorced and living on social security ... for a reduced rent

Money is the number 1 hurdle for my husband and I.

We currently have 1 rental property that is holding it's own. We know where we want to be, we're definitely not scared of being landlords, there are plenty of deals in our area and we have a few people on our "team".

Life has thrown us some challenges in the last five years, with layoffs being the #1 challenge. It is our belief that we need money to make money...it's tough to ask for (or recieve) another loan when we hardly have equity in what we have. We're in our early 30's with 2 young children and a tiny bit of experience. Money's our problem right now, but we don't expect it to last for long. A new job, another child out of daycare and we will be in a decent position to make our next purchase.

What's the difference between a commercial loan and a conventional loan...besides interest rate?

Tony,

That's my feelings as well. But I have been thinking about setting up an Access database for the aspects that QB wouldn't cover, such as greater detail on tenants and maintenance on properties, etc.

Gita,

Thanks for all that info! Setting up QB is the hard part. I have done some of what you mentioned, but not all of it. Very useful information.

I do not like the Quicken Rental Property...it's much too simple for my taste. I work a lot with QuickBooks (at my day job) and have been using a version of that at home for our rental property...but we only have 1 right now. Something else will be needed when we start adding to our portfolio.

Hope that helps.

It seems that many landlords go to the unit to pick up rent. Is this to check on the property? Does anyone have the tenant just mail the rent?

I'm new to this too, so I don't have much to contribute to this, but here's how I see it:

Every industry has a reputation to uphold. Generally, a person can go to a school to gain the knowledge, skills and abilities to be successful and ethical in their chosen industry. From what I have found, there are not many places I can go to gain the KSAs necessary for REI (besides diving in and making lots of mistakes). The generous people and their advice on this site have been the best tools. They are giving people, like you and me, a free education and a chance to ensure a healthy future for this industry. They're sharing their experience not secrets. (Thanks folks!). With some hard work, we'll be the next experts to share our experiences.

I also hate painting, but my husband likes it, so it's ok.

What bothers me the most is prospective tenants not showing up for a showing when THEY picked the time to be there.

Thanks, guys!