All Forum Posts by: Kelly N.

The costs seem mostly in line, maybe a bit high on the paint, but then we do all our own work.

I understand replacing the electrical outlets, we do this too since our houses are older and some of the outlets are pretty grungy/ have stopped working, and it looks a lot nicer with white outlets instead of the beige or brown that was in style when they were installed.  Thankfully, a lot of these charges should be one time items, or at least not every turnover, and future repairs due to tenant damage will be paid for by the tenant.

@Paul Doty- I have used Cozy.co and Zillow for screening a couple of times, but our preferred method is still collecting an application and payment from the prospective tenant and running them through Rentecdirect.com's screening reports.  This service can include an eviction check, which other services don't seem to (other than the tenant indicating that they haven't been evicted).  In addition to that, I also have their birth date and SSN on the application, which I may need if we ever take them to court for non payment.  When I used Cozy and Zillow, I still had them fill out my app so I had this info just in case, and I checked the local courts for evictions myself.

What I did like about Zillow is that they could use the application for other apartments if they were turned down for my apartment.  We have a couple of apartments that always get multiple qualified applicants, so it's nice that they may be able to use the application elsewhere and aren't wasting their money on an apartment they won't get to rent.

We prefer long term leases (mostly 12 month, sometimes slightly longer or shorter).  This is what most places in our area do, mainly because of the proximity to colleges in my opinion.  We like our leases turning over in the summer since most of our renters either need to move in before the fall school term starts or because they already have a lease ending then.

Typically, we start marketing our summer openings in the spring, and have them all leased well before they are vacant.  We just schedule a bit of time between tenants to make sure the unit is clean and in good repair (some landlords don't bother with that part around here), and if updates are needed we build in time for that too.

We were using Quickbooks payments, but last year they increased their processing fee from $1 to $3 per transaction, so I switched to Cozy.co  and love it! 

Yes, it takes a few days for the payments to clear, but we were seeing the same delay through Quickbooks so it hasn't been an issue.  I do like that tenants can schedule payments, adjust the amount among roommates without my involvement, and easily see their lease end date and security deposit amount, and see how much their roommates have paid and when.  I may be jumping to conclusions, but late payments seem to have decreased since changing to Cozy, I am assuming housemates being able to see that someone hasn't paid is a deterrent.

I have been using Cozy.co for almost a year now, and really like most things about it.  I am not sure what will happen with the Apartments.com buyout, I will wait and see.  I do like that you can accept payments whenever, and add late fees or other bills/ credits fairly easily.  I wish there was a way to collect holding deposits or security deposits before setting the start date of a lease, but there are ways around this outside of Cozy.  I don't mind the 3-5 days to clear the payment, that's the same or better than I had experienced through Quickbooks.  My tenants like that they can schedule automatic payments, or adjust how much is paid by each tenant among roommates without involving me.

I have been using Rentec Direct for tenant screening for years and have been happy with them, though I have used zillow and cozy a couple of times too.  My only issue with using some of these other outfits that are tenant driven is that I do not then get the tenant's SSN for my records.  Having their SSN will make collections/ reporting a delinquent tenant easier if it ever gets to that point.  I am also fairly confidant in the evictions reporting I receive from Rentec Direct reports, where I think the others rely on the tenants to be truthful about their rental history.

Thanks guys,

@Greg M.- These guys are acting like children, so it is tempting to treat them as such.  Thanks for the reminder to treat them like the adults they are supposed to be. 

To be clear, the trash issue has been addressed and handled.  The tenant who attempted to address the issue with the others was trying to work out a deal where she would take out the cans, and someone else could bring them in.  Our lease covers when the trash and recycling must be taken out, when the empties need to be brought back, and what the penalty is for failure to do so. We have always had cases where the tenants simply forget one week, and often the other residents pick up the slack, and we occasionally have cases where a tenant doesn't bother to take it out and discovers it gets handled anyways, then elects to continue to do that.  Whether it's a case of knowing that they didn't do their duty, or a case where they thought one of their roommates had taken care of it, that wasn't really the point of the topic. 

My question was whether there was a way to address tenant relations beyond noise.  My plan was that repeated infractions would result in non renewal of their lease. 

Hi BP,

We have been leasing apartments in our multi family units for a while now, but have never before seen the possible need to include a lease clause with the Golden Rule in it- treat others as you wish to be treated.  We have a clause about "use and quiet enjoyment" and one explaining that the tenant is responsible for damages done by themselves and their guests, but nothing covering how tenants and their guests should treat others in the building. 

I had one tenant put up a note asking if the other residents could either take out their trash weekly (as required by the lease) or if they would like to contact her about working together to get it down- she takes out the trash and the other residents return the cans to the house.  The notice stayed up for a week, then today she sent me a picture of the note with what had been added to it by other residents or their guests the night before- some unintelligible gibberish but also a "F___ U!"  Since this treatment of others isn't covered by my lease, the tenants of all 3 apartments have been informed that I will be adding a clause to the lease concerning treatment of others- our lease does say we can make new rules as long as they are reasonable and in writing. 

Any ideas on what the wording should be?  What other actions should I take at this point? 

Thanks in advance,

Kelly

Hello Bigger Pockets,

I received a 1099 K for my property management company from Cozy.co for all the rent collected through their platform this year for our properties.  I switched to them in March, and had previously used Quickbooks/ Intuit payments for online rent collection, and we never received a 1099 K from them so I am unsure where to report the income to the IRS.  For those not familiar, a 1099 K is used to report transactions that are made via a payment settlement entities when the payments total at least $20k, or there are more than 200 payments within the year.

In the past, I have always had a Schedule E for each property, and reported the rents associated with each property on the schedule E for that property whether it was collected via check or online. 

I would like to just report the rents received (including the payments through Intuit, cash/checks, venmo, and through Cozy) all through the individual properties, can I still do this that way instead of reporting the Cozy payments through the PM company on my schedule C? 

I am getting mixed messages from Turbotax- one accountant said that I must report ALL rental activity under the PM company and a schedule C, another says I can 'ignore' the 1099 K from Cozy and report the rent received under each property as I have in the past (as long as the rents reported are the same or more than what is on the 1099, which they will be).

I know a lot of us use Cozy, so I was hoping to hear how others were handling this situation.

Thanks,

Kelly

I am also invested in an area with a high number of students, here's my 2c.

1.  We look for tenants about 6 months prior to the apartment being empty, and like to have all turnover happening in the summer, before the fall school term starts.  Look at what is typical in your town though- we are following what other investors are doing in our area.

2.  They must have a personal guarantor if they don't have the income themselves.  In general, students have been good tenants for us but they may need a bit more coaching on what is their problem and what to contact the landlord about- like telling them what can't go in the toilet, not to put bacon grease in the drains, that the light bulbs are their responsibility, and to talk to the neighbors about their issues with parking or noise BEFORE contacting the landlord.

3. Access to laundry and parking are big factors for us. 

4.  Most of our student tenants sign 12 month leases, and about half stay for more than one year.