All Forum Posts by: Matt Anderson

@Lynn McGeein, you're right. The correct term would be maintenance person, and I would be self managing from a distance. This is a better way to put it.

@Alex S. the thought, for the short term, is to reduce costs by self managing as I learn more about being a landlord after moving out of my house hack. I really am not going to be asking them to do more than landscaping and simple maintenance issues. The rest I plan to take on myself. Not very 4 Hour Work Week of me to start, but I also want to learn the ropes myself before I start taking on the idea of identifying a reputable PM that I trust with my property. I am sure my plan will evolve over time.

Is there anything to be careful of (legally) with paying my neighbors (that I trust) to be my property manager when I move out of my house hack?

To be clear, I have no intention of them being in charge of finding/screening tenants, managing leases or collecting rent. I only want to have them be responsible for things like landscaping, shoveling snow, being a handy man for minor maintenance issues around the house, etc. Everything else I plan to take care of from a distance.

I do not think I see any sort of issue with this, but want to make sure I know where the line is between what I can have them do, and what I would need a licensed professional PM for.

Thank you!

@Alex S. Thank you, I will check it out!

@Nicholas Lohr thanks for your input here, I feel very similarly about prospective tenants’ ability to follow simple directions.

I am experiencing a good number of inquiries with basic questions, the answers to which are laid out clearly in my listing description. Asking questions without even reading the description is a red flag to me, because like you said, how can I expect rent to be paid on time if someone is not willing to read a couple paragraphs about the property they supposedly want to live in?

What is the appropriate way to deal with that from a screening process perspective? I assume this isn’t something I can simply disqualify inquiries for, right?

What's the best software you use to have an all-in-one tenant portal where they can apply, pay rent, submit maintenance requests, etc? 

What is the expectation for how much these services cost for landlords? I am just gearing up to be a long-distance landlord and want to make sure my process is as efficient and all-encompassing as possible. 

Thank you!

Can anyone tell me the reason why I see so many application templates requiring an applicants SSN and banking info? Is the SSN being used to perform the background/criminal/eviction check? I use SmartMove (advertised here on BP), and that requires the applicant to input their own info there, so I am not sure I see an additional reason for me to require it on the written application.

@Ken Musial great idea, Ken, thank you!

@Michael Noto Good thoughts there, thank you! 

Do you know if Zillow is a good tool if I am currently renting by the room in my property (instead of renting the entire property)? I want to get to the point where I am renting the entire property as it seems much more convenient from my perspective, but am not there yet.

@John Underwood thanks John, all great questions that will definitely be on my application!

@Kaylane Davis thanks very much for your thoughts, these are great questions and awesome to hear straight from a professional property manager! Appreciate the help!