All Forum Posts by: Matt R.

I use Cozy for credit and background checks, and rent collection.  I don't use Cozy's applications or tenant communication service.  It has semi-recently been bought by Apartments dot com, so I expect the feature set to change in the next several months.  I wrote a big post about my experience with Cozy a couple of years ago:

I am not affiliated with any sites mentioned.

I opened an account for my business at a small local bank that was recommended by some other investors in my area.  It has since gotten bought out by a larger regional bank, but the service is still pretty good.  My personal account is at a different bank.

I collect rent electronically (through Cozy) and it was no problem setting up the deposits.  My understanding is that they are similar to how direct deposits from a job would work, so most banks should be able to handle them.

The one thing that can be a bummer about having two different banks is transferring money.  A lot of banks still pretend it's 1900, so a transfer to another bank involves someone getting on a horse and riding over to the other bank; the horse food costs $30-$50 and the transfer takes a few days to show up.  (It actually costs the bank about $0.25-$0.40 and happens in a few milliseconds, but then they can't earn interest or high-frequency trade on your money for three days.)  Some banks will allow you to transfer money to and from another bank, but you have to use a ridiculously insecure phone app.  A few banks know it's 2020 and have either free or at-cost (<$1) transfers.

Personally, I get paid by writing a paper check on my business account, and depositing that in my personal account; that's the cheapest way for me to do it.

If you do end up with your business and personal accounts at the same bank, and you have debit cards for both of them, make sure the cards LOOK different.  If it's free or cheap to do so, put a picture of a house or a door key or something on your "business" debit card.  This greatly reduces the problem of using the wrong card at the store.  :)  (If you do forget, it's not really a problem, but you have to make some more bookkeeping entries and transfer money back the other way.)

I don't use electronic deadbolts.  I do have locks with interchangeable cylinders, so at turnover time, I just swap the cylinders, rather than the whole lock.

If the property is far from where you live, this next idea may not work for you.  Also, I haven't personally done this, but I've heard of it, especially at multi-family properties: if a contractor is supposed to work on a unit that day, the manager/handyman temporarily installs a "contractor" cylinder on the door of that unit.  They can either give the key to the contractor when the contractor gets to the property, or the contractor can already have the key ahead of time.  When the work is done, the manager swaps the cylinder for the tenant key back into the lock, so the tenant can get back in when they get home.  That way, the tenant can feel better that every contractor doesn't have copies of "their" key, and could potentially access their unit later.

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

COVID or not, you have to follow the law.  You already found the Virginia state law.  Sometimes there will be city or county landlord-tenant law as well - usually in larger metro areas.  I don't know if the Chesapeake/Norfolk/Virginia Beach area is big enough to have those laws, but check the city and county web sites as well.

Because of COVID-19, there is currently a nationwide ban on evictions for non-payment of rent, from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  The tenants have to file a declaration with the landlord that says they can't pay the rent because of COVID-19, and then the landlord can't evict them, at least until December 31, 2020.  A couple of lawyers that have spoken at recent real-estate investor meetings in my area (Kansas City) have said that they expect this ban to be extended into the first months of 2021 as well.  It is still possible to evict tenants for reasons other than not paying rent.

Have you asked the seller if any of the current tenants have given them the CDC declaration?  If they have, it's probably a good idea to talk to a local real-estate lawyer about what to do.

Some states have laws or executive orders in place that restrict evictions, more than what the CDC ban does.  Big cities or counties might also have orders from the mayor or health department that go further than the CDC ban.  Check your state, city, and county web sites to see what they say.

There were some other nationwide eviction bans earlier this year, but my understanding is that most of those have expired now.  One consequence of that, though, is that sometimes a bunch of eviction cases got filed when the ban expired, which caused the courts to get behind.  Also, eviction cases filed early in 2020 were "on hold" because the courts were shut down, and now those cases are moving through the courts.  So, if you do end up having to file an eviction, it may take longer than usual for your case to go to court.

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

Rentometer will give you this information.  You punch in the address, beds, and baths, and it shows you what similar nearby properties have been advertised for recently.

It will give you a few lookups for free, and then it wants you to pay.  I don't have any experience with the paid tier.

Zillow will give you a "rent Zestimate", but I'm not sure exactly what that's based on.

There is a site called archive dot org that goes around and makes copies of Web sites; you can see what sites looked like in the past. I tried to use it to look up the above site, and found something interesting: SDIRA has Javascript on their site that always redirects you to the "live" version of the site - this makes it difficult to view archived versions.  I figured out that by turning off Javascript in my browser, I could get the archived versions to load correctly.

archive org got two copies of the SDIRA "about" page, from July and September 2018; nothing older or newer than that.  Both copies have photos and blurbs for eight people.  The "about" page on the live site is different - as you said, it doesn't list any of the principal people.

If you click the "schedule a consultation" button on the live site, the first name of the person that wants to set up a call with you is the same as one of those eight people.  Their email address is at Morris Invest.  :)

I am not associated in any way with any companies or sites mentioned.

Are the woods there for a reason? Like, they're on a really steep slope that would be hard to build on, or they back up to a creek and it's a flood zone?

Are the woods part of the appeal for the existing home - like, it has a big picture window so the residents can gaze out over the trees in the morning?  Can you "hide" the new house in the woods, or would it be close to the existing house?

You might talk to the county about what it would take to have two homes on one lot.  I think sometimes they want you to split it into two lots if you do that, which is possible, but requires some more paperwork and fees with the county.  You might also have to get a land survey to create the plan for splitting up the lot.

Also ask the utility providers about what it would take for new water, electric, gas (if available), and sewer (if not septic) hookups.  Sometimes a new water tap is cheap and sometimes it funds half of the water department for a year.  :D  If septic, is there enough room on the lot to handle the systems for both houses?

This may not fit well with the existing house or neighborhood, but how about making a spot for a mobile home back there?  You'd still need the utility feeds, but the footprint will probably be smaller - fewer trees to clear for the house - and if you can make any kind of reasonable driveway without too many twists and turns, that's probably enough room to bring the mobile home in with.

@Loren Clive @Bjorn Ahlblad @Kenneth Garrett @Jim S. @Andrew B. Thanks!  The lease I was using before just specifies a one-year term, with start and end dates; it didn't have the wording in it for month-to-month.  I'm most likely going to get a different lease for the upcoming rental, so I will make sure it has that wording available if I want to use it.

@Stephen J Davis If I rent the property on a one-year lease tomorrow, and the tenants hit me with a COVID letter the day after that, then I'm for sure out the November and December 2020 rent.  Assuming the current restrictions aren't extended, then I or my lawyer get to file in January 2021, along with all the other cases that have been building up for the past few months.  I will most likely be out the January 2021 rent, and probably the February 2021 rent as well, while I wait for the legal process to work.  So - at least 2 months, and probably 4 months, of zero income on that property.  I am advised that using a month-to-month lease will remove some of the risk of zero income.

@Leslie Crosten Thanks for posting back with the results!  This helps everybody calibrate their advice to the next person.

Hello all!

I have a single-family house that I'm about to put on the market again.  Because of the current uncertainties, I think I want to rent it on a month-to-month basis.

How do I do that from the start of the occupancy?  Do I have the tenant sign a 1 or 2 month lease that says "after this lease ends, it's month-to-month"?  Or do I need a lease that says it's month-to-month from the beginning?

I feel like I want them to sign something that has the rent amount, due dates, late fees, and all the other terms and conditions in it, so they understand what they're agreeing to.  I'm just not exactly sure what that should look like.

The house is in Missouri, if that makes a difference.

(I understand the process where you have (say) a one-year lease, it ends, the tenants don't sign a new lease, and they stay there on a month-to-month basis.  I just am not sure how to do it from the beginning of the occupancy.)

Thanks!

Matt R.