All Forum Posts by: Kenny Rains

I've done a little research but I don't see much on pet fees. I'm strongly considering allowing pets as I have a vacant property and I believe this will allow me to rent it faster. I don't want large pets so I plan to restrict the weight to 20lbs. In addition to charging $50 more per month in rent I am going to assess a pet fee to account for any carpet cleaning/replacement once the tenant moves out. The property is in Chesapeake, VA and I am looking for some feedback on what an acceptable pet fee would be for the area. Thanks in advance.

@Willie Smith I lived in the Fayetteville area when I was in the Army and I have previously looked there. However, I’m not actively looking in NC mainly because I would like something relatively close to where I live, especially if any type of rehab is needed. In regards to your comments on Portsmouth, I would argue that most pre-gentrification areas have the same attributes you listed. As such if you can get in early, and gentrification happens, you’ll be rewarded for the risk you took. What areas of NC are you actively investing in?

@Ernest Grindle interesting to hear you say that Suffolk is your target market. As we all know Suffolk is humongous. Are you focusing on any specific area(s)? I honestly haven’t looked at Suffolk as it is outside of “metro” Hampton Roads.

@David Nacco I agree with your statement and like most places there are locations to be aware of. Portsmouth is attractive because of the MFH options available there. Where in Portsmouth did you live? I noticed that you live in Suffolk now. Are you looking to invest there also?

I'm curious to see if people are actively investing in Portsmouth, VA or if it's on your watch list. Of the 7 cities this seems to be one of the few that still has a relatively low barrier of entry and there are still multi-family properties available. I believe the biggest arguments against Portsmouth are the high local taxes and of course the crime. With that being said are you looking at Portsmouth?

@Daniel Kong great advice on #4. I learned this the hard way and about a week before closing.

@Larry Pendleton and @Richard Crowe I'd be interested in meeting during lunch. I work in Downtown Norfolk but would be willing to travel if needed. 

Kenny Rains

Welcome Breon. If you find any deals feel free to send them my way. 

@Marty Summers there are a lot of great responses to your post. I recently went through this after closing on my first property last year. What I did was email and hand-deliver welcome letter to the tenant. The letter spelled out my expectations for maintenance requests, rent payments, and reiterated some of the penalties for violating the lease. In regards to payment options I offered the Cozy option but my tenants didn't like it as they thought their bank account information would be compromised. However, on the welcome letter I offered three payment options: mail a check to my P.O. box (you don't want your tenants to know where you live), Cozy.co, and I provided them with the bank deposit information for my LLC business account. They chose to deposit the money at the bank and they will normally send me a picture of the deposit slip. I don't require a picture of the slip but I appreciate it when they do it. The benefit of pushing them towards bank deposits is that you will have your money available faster than if they were using the Cozy app or mail and you can set deposit notifications for your account. I also like the bank deposit option as there is no question if they made the payment on time. My tenant paid the rent late once and I enforced the 10% penalty as outlined in the lease. So far this has only happened once but I definitely recommend sticking to what the lease says especially since you are the new landlord and they may test you. Feel free to reach out with any questions.

@Brian Adzadi that is a good question. I plan to claim the property due to the standard deduction increasing with the new tax plan. As such I don't believe there would be much benefit for them. This would be my third property and my goal is to purchase a five-unit before the end of the year.