All Forum Posts by: Kelly N.

We are required by the City to have a fire extinguisher in each unit, in plain sight and easily accessible- not under the kitchen sink but hanging on the wall.  We also have to have one in the laundry room, if there is a laundry room.

@Joshau Deleon- when we were first starting out, I found  a few houses to look at and just called the listing agent and asked them to show them to me.  One of those realtors is the one we use now.  He seemed decent, and eager to work with us newbies, so he became our go to guy for any listings in that area.  He probably showed me 20 houses before we made an offer.  That offer was rejected so we made an offer on another house which we got.  He confessed later that he thought the offer was too low, and was shocked we got it, but promised to not question future bids.  We told him if you weren't a little embarrassed by the lowness of the offer, you were offering too much. (True at that time, not true in our market now).  We bought a second house that year and managed to get a great deal on that one too.  

We used our personal bank for those first two loans, then tried a different lender for #3 which was a disaster.  Our realtor warned us they were difficult to deal with, and when the appraisal came back low there was nothing they would do to help us besides tell us to put more down.  Our realtor put us in touch with his favorite lender, who was able to get another appraisal done and all was good from there. 

We manage properties and do renovations ourselves.  If I need a contractor, I check the local neighborhood recommendations.  We have a go-to electrician and have been through several heating and cooling companies- it is hard to find anyone who can work on boilers consistently, and half our properties have boilers.

Our rentals are a 15 minute drive away, and it's an odd week if I am not driving by at least once.  I hired someone to take care of the snow, but I do the lawns myself.  If there is an issue, either my tenants let me know or I see it when I am there.

I don't use Cozy.co, but my tenants pay for their screening.  It's actually part of my screening- if they don't have the funds, they probably won't qualify.  If they can't pass the background check they'll still risk it if you are paying, and might not if they are paying for it.  If they aren't paying in person, it is also a chance to see if they can manage to pay using our preferred method- a Quickbooks e mailed invoice- that way I know they can pay their rent that way too.

There are some markets where landlords pay for background checks, so if you are in one of those then you should pay it.  The only time I have paid for the background check was when we buy a house with tenants already in place- if they want a new lease after theirs runs out they have to pass our background checks.  Since it isn't their fault the previous owner didn't require a background check or didn't pass on the results to us, I pay for it.

If they are already asking for a reduction, what is next?  Nope, the price is the price.  If things are going well and maintenance costs have been reasonable, I might consider not raising the rent on the next 12 month lease, but I am not signing a 2 year lease.  

Hey John,

If we could do it over again, we would might have tried this strategy, but more than likely would have moved into a multifamily home and rented out the other units and built from there.

We bought our first multifamily house  6 years ago, and we are currently under contract with property #6- they are all 2-4 units.  I am able to manage the rentals and stay at home with our kids- it'll get easier in the fall when my youngest will be in school full time.  We handle most issues that pop up, and rehab in between tenants ourselves.  

I am not opposed to single family rentals, it's just tough to get the numbers we are getting with MF houses currently.

We almost always do 12 month leases.  I have done shorter (but fixed term) leases and charged a higher monthly rent, but typically people that want short term rentals in this area just sublet.

How we got started is a very long story, and we have built our little network over time.  I have a realtor I use  for all properties in our little focus area, and another who is also a friend for showing us places around our little town.  We're only 10 miles from where we invest, but very different demographics and even in a different county, so what we are looking for in each area is different.  After several different banks, I found a lender that we are now working with exclusively- he was a referral from our realtor.

For the most part, I tell my realtor what I want to see when they come across as an e mail alert.  He has shown me a few places before they hit the market- he knows a lot of people and has quite a large network himself.  I have also met a few local landlords and they are aware that I may be interested if and when they plan on selling.  So far, that has panned out once, but the house wasn't really worth what they were asking, and it has been almost a year and they still have not listed it for sale.

When we started out 6 years ago, we low balled.  Our realtor really didn't like it very much, but played along.  We made a LOT of offers, and scored 2 very good deals.  Now, the market is different, and I have been making full price offers and crossing my fingers that there isn't a bidding war.  The last 2 offers I made were full price, one for cash and one financed, both were accepted.

If you are able to offer cash, they may accept a little less than asking, but in the market we I am at right now I'd probably do option A, or maybe offer $101k.  I think a tiny bit higher conveys your interest in the property, and will outbid anyone else going in at asking price.

@Gillian C.- glad to help- someone else might as well learn from my mistakes besides me!  

Here's what we do:

Give them notice that the rent will increase with the next lease (usually 6+ months before the new 12 month lease would start- this is typically when people in the area start looking for housing).

Give them a date to let you know what their intentions are (we give them 3-4 weeks) and let them know that if they aren't staying, or you haven't heard from them, you wills start marketing the apartment to others at $XXX rent (which will be more than what their rent would have increased to).  If they wait to let you know til after you have started marketing the apartment, they pay the higher rent...  

If they want to stay, give them a date to sign the lease by (I give them another 4 weeks)

Start marketing the apartment if they haven't given you a firm answer by the date indicated, or if they haven't signed the new lease by the date indicated.  Usually, if people are on the fence (typically a group of roommates deciding what to do) bringing new potential tenants in to see the place (or even just scheduling a showing) will push them into a decision.