All Forum Posts by: Kevin Epp

Does anyone have a trusted move-out checklist they provide to tenants of single-family homes?

I'm a PM. I have ~50 doors. I have one currently.

Looking for some advice (or your checklist, that would be cool) from PMs who have been in the game for a while.

My current checklist consists of general move-out requirements (keys, forwarding address etc.), cleaning, utilities, yard and exterior, final walk through prep, and documentation. Each of these categories has it's own sub-steps.


Thank you all.

Sounds like you'll have to ride this out.

Next time I recommend "cash for keys." Just do simple math and see weigh how long the eviction will take vs. giving them money right now. Most folks can't see beyond their nose and will take the money. I've taken on three clients with this issue this past year and all three tenants took the money and left within the month. Avoided this process altogether. Especially when you frame having an eviction on their record, etc, etc. to the tenant.

I live in Tacoma, WA. The laws here are wild. If you have a professional tenant, this can be hard or near impossible. Luckily that was not the case for us.

1. Get professional photos. Download Thumbtack on your phone and get someone from there. It will cost you about $250 for what you need and they will be adequate.

2. Use one of your free 10 reports on Rentfinder.ai, in addition to the standard comparable analysis from Zillow. Don't exactly use the price Rentfinder.ai gives you, but use the comparable tools they have and the other prices listed. Keep in mind some of the comps are from previous months.

3. Timing of the year is terrible right now. Keep the faith.

4. Take a video of the home with your iPhone. Don't talk in the video. Start from the outside, showing a glimpse of the neighborhood then walk throughout the entire house. Create a YouTube account. Create an unlisted YouTube video. Put in your Zillow description that you have a "video tour upon request." Save this YouTube link. Send it to every person who inquires about your property. "Hello! Thanks for contacting me, before your tour, you can watch a video too...." This entire process takes 5 minutes, not including the time it takes to video the home. This has shown to be a huge return on my time.

5. List on Zillow and Avail and Apartments.com. These will distro your listing to over 25+ sites and get good exposure.

6. If you have a military base nearby, join a Facebook Group for it and advertise your there.

7. A lot of people are using "move-in specials" right now. I see you are currently advertising $500 off first month's rent. That sounds about right.

Being a normal person and giving someone a heads up has not bit me, yet.

In addition to what the law requires, I always shoot the tenant a heads up either via text, call, or email.

If they are mostly responding to email, then shoot them an email.

Emojis and gifs work wonders in today's day in age. I'm serious. It's weird, it's corny, but it builds rapport and it works.

Facebook has scams.

Craigslist has more scams.

I have about 50 doors.

I have had two Craigslist scams this year. Zero Facebook scams. Meaning, two different parties have ripped my listings and falsely advertised elsewhere.

So a 1:25 scam-to-door-ratio per calendar year haha

In addition to fraudulent advertising, I have lockboxes that enable remote showings. Meaning guests can "show themselves" on certain homes.

One of the scammers was able to remotely give a guest a code and was attempting to show the property to them. The guest contacted me via our Zillow ad prior to the showing and was apprehensive. It was an ad from Craigslist.

Read: it's more than just fraudulent advertising. People can remotely access the homes using your digital lockboxes, if you have them. The company I use has patched the issue since then, but security is ongoing, of course.

Good question to ask when screening a PM is if they are real estate investors themselves.

If you want a PM to be proactive or knowledgeable on where/when to add value (asset management assistance), find one that is an investor. Then ask them specifically if they help with this sort of thing.

Oftentimes owners of businesses want their employees to "think like an owner." That's a common phrase.

Real estate investors can get more bang for their buck from their PMs when these folks "think like an investor."

You do not need a license (like a brokers license) to manage your own properties.

However, check your town to make sure you don't need a business license.

In Tacoma, WA, as an example, even if you have a property manager, the owners themselves also need to have a Tacoma business license.

If you hire a property manager, they will need a brokers license to manage other people's properties.

Good luck!

I work in WA, not IL.

Sounds like similar facts - you need to be licensed if you are going to manage other folks' property.

Here, you need to hang your license under a managing broker until you can get your managing brokers license, as brokers can't touch money and do a few other things legally.

If it's like WA, you will have to hang your license under a managing broker at a brokerage, and coordinate deposits, contracts, fees with them.

If that is the case, ask some brokerages that will allow you to hang your license under them for minimal fees in order to be compliant. Seems like getting the license is a means to an end for you, and not necessarily because you want to become a full time PM.

Not sure about Georgia, but in Washington we have a revised code that addresses this.

We have an addendum that we serve if this occurs that essentially gives notice that the home has been abandoned, and if we don't hear back from the tenant in the prescribed period we will take the property back per state code.

Check to see if Georgia has this same thing.

Then update your leases to include this for future tenants.

Or find a rental association that provides leases with these baked in. Again, in WA, we have RHAWA and their documents are pretty good.

Early termination: does your lease say anything about this? Similar process. Your state probably already outlines the procedures to follow here. Draft up an addendum if you don't have one already and serve them. My expectation is that they won't pay it, or ignore it altogether.

Lastly, if they are actually able to prove your home was in such bad condition that it was uninhabitable, they may have a leg to stand on for early termination/abandonment. I am not a lawyer, of course.

I have properties out of state, and I use a PM for that reason.

I am also a property manager in my own state. The owners who switch to a PM come to me for the same reasons Drew said above.

It is not rocket science, most folks hit a point where they no longer want to trade their time for money. 

Lastly, the barrier to being a successful landlord is getting slightly more difficult (still not wildly difficult) year over year due to tenant friendly legislation being passed. I live in Tacoma, WA…a lot of folks don’t want to deal with having to learn the local housing laws.