All Forum Posts by: Radhika M.

@Rohan J.

 1) I am using smart move also for screening. We also have a application form we have the tenant fill out. We use the application from 

http://www.nolo.com/products/the-california-landlo...  

The book comes with various forms and has an application also.

2) We are using smart move and choosing the option for tenant to pay smart move. So I don't charge anything from tenant. We process one application at a time to avoid asking multiple applicants to pay.  

@Kimberly T.

 I manage our finances for our rental and my husband does for our personal. For the rental I have auto pay for everything except contractor and repairs. For the personal my husband does not use checks but he pays through bill pay from online bank but he has to initiate the payment. He does this as he feels he has better control this way.

You could try the second option if you are not comfortable doing auto pay for everything.

@Jeremy Baker

 Thanks for the info. I will PM you some time to get more details

@Jesse T.

 Depends on what is the norm in your market.  In our market 2.5% is very common.

@Jon Huber

 I think this mostly depends on the market the property is in and who your clients are. If closer to a University for example I think 1 bedrooms are not a problem. If you are in a family neighborhood with good schools then a 2 bedroom or more would do well as the tenants would most likely have kids. In California the rents are so high I know so many well paid engineers renting 1 bedroom when they start working or newly married. 

@Brie Schmidt

 Thanks for the info. The model you have should work for us as the area also has low vacancy. In fact most of the tenants have been there for 3 years+. 

@Brie Schmidt

 Thanks for openly sharing the info requested by so many of us. I had a question in regards to the 25% expenses for your properties in Chicago. Are you saving a capex amount for these for future even though they are rehabbed now? Also how are you keeping reservers for vacancies and turnover expenses? Are these included in the 25% expense or not.  

Our goal is work mostly in A and B areas so would like to understand how you are able to keep the expenses low.

@Jeremy Baker

 Thank you for the details. If I may ask do you manage this yourself or use some one else to manage. Can you share the expenses ratio you have observed. I am assuming the expenses will be more than the standard 50% for vacation rentals but wanted to know what you are observing.

@Jeremy Baker

 I love Maui and one of the best vacations I have had. If you do not mind me asking how much would your property cost if some one wante dto buy today.

@Karen Margrave

 We don't have any vacation rentals but will follow the thread as this is something I would like to do sometime in the future.

@Jose Tamayo Jr

Like the poster above said if you are thinking of lowering your price by 4% in FSBO I see no reason I would not use a agent in the case.

Also you made a point that caught my attention was that the market was slowing down and that FSBO takes longer. So in a slowing market why would you not want to use a agent and sell faster.

If I am the buyer the longer the property stays on the market the higher the discount I would look for. So how many days on the market will play a role on how much you can get.  Good luck.