All Forum Posts by: Laurie Chimento

@Chris Szepessy  we have been advertising it for a month. There has been a lot of interest, but as soon as I say 600+ credit score, 3X the monthly rent in monthly household income and no pets, I lose them. The no pets has been the biggest issues. 

The area is working class salt box and small craftsman and ranch homes.  It had gotten pretty run down about 20 years ago. But it’s been undergoing revitalization in the last 5 or more years with all the growth in Nashville. So now you will find some run down houses in the neighborhood, but a lot of fixed up cute ones as well. 

I’m thinking if I’m going to compromise on anything it may have to be the pets. We have refinished hardwoods. Hate to see those get scratched up. Just need to make sure the lease ensures if they do that it is covered with the deposit. I’ve seen what dog nails that don’t get cut can do to floors. 

@Chris Szepessy

Trying to rent a unit out and still pretty new at this. I have as my baseline requirements a 600+ credit score, no evictions or criminal history. I have a couple who wants to rent and both of them have 550 as score and they say misdemeanors from 2011. They have a child that was born around then and if what they are telling me is true, maybe they got their acts together then. But the 550 credit score concerns me. They both have decent jobs. This is all what they are telling me up front. I will still check everything with credit and background checks if I decide to move forward. What would you do?

Would love to have some expert advice here.  Many thanks! 

@Carolyn Fuller, one more question, do you only do the credit/background check on the tenants themselves? Not the Co-signing parties?

Thank you, @Andrew Postell! You gave me some great info to utilize in these conversations!

@Carolyn Fuller, thanks for the tip! I will definitely check out leases there!

@Luka Milicevic, we had the unit with a property manager who never completed the process to get the permit even though they said they would get it. They got several steps done and then dropped the ball over the Christmas holiday last year. We discovered this once the city wasn't issuing any new ones. The unit was also only performing to about half of what they had projected. No one at the company can tell us why. It was totally a "manage the manager" situation. Learned some tough lessons in that extra $11k-$12k extra we put into furnishing the unit based on their projections. Hurt the ROI, but hopefully we are wiser on the other side of this.

Thanks, Luka! Anyone I should ask for and give you the credit for the referral?

Hi all,

We are ready to refi a rental home we bought and fixed up. We have owned it for a year now, so I'm hoping it meets all time requirements to do a refi. The broker I used to do the original purchase can do 15% down on the original purchase. But on a refi, he can only fund 75%, leaving 25% equity in the place. We only want to leave 20% equity in the unit. does anyone have a lender that will do a refi like this only leaving 20% equity in? Thanks for your help! 

Multiple options are welcomed (if they exist). I am in Nashville, TN btw. 

Thanks in advance!

Hi all!

We have a former STR that we had to transition to LTR. (That's a story for another day.) But we found students who need a furnished unit for four months and can pay a higher price for such. I had a standard lease agreement given to me by a fellow landlord here in TN. However, with this being students, we are going to have their parents co-sign and I'm thinking I need a different agreement.

Also, we have this unit still fully furnished and equipped right down to the linens. When we were doing Airbnb there was a damage waiver insurance that the tenants paid for via Airbnb. I'm wondering if I need to do that in this scenario as well and how best to go about that. We are getting a months deposit, which could likely cover all damages.

Any suggestions? 

Anyone have a lease agreement that would fit this scenario? (I am in Nashville, TN btw.)

Any other advice you think I should know?

Thanks in advance!

Thank you, @Ethan Cooke!

This is exactly the kind of info I'm needing! I just reached out to J. Martin. If the TN State legislature doesn't reverse this type 2 STR ban Nashville is implementing by mid next year, there may be a lot more people trying to figure out what to do with this asset.

You don't happen to know what kind of permit is needed for a mid-term rental do you? I suppose every city may be different. Thanks for all your help!