All Forum Posts by: M Ness

Does anyone have their tenants paying rent with automatic billpay every month?

I've just closed on my first property and will hopefully be renting it out very soon. I'd prefer not to have to rely on the tenant remembering to get the check in the mail on time every month. Automatic billpay right into my checking account would be much more convenient for both of us!

How do I go about setting this up?

Has anyone sold (or bought, for that matter) a property with a tenant in place? If so, what is the proper way to assign the lease to the new owner/landlord, assuming the lease is freely assignable? Is there a good sample assignment agreement floating out there that someone wouldn't mind sharing?

Thanks.

Once again the Bigger Pockets community helps me out with my dumb questions! Thanks so much.

I am in the process of purchasing my first investment property, a condo unit which will be used as a rental. Future tenants will be paying the utilities.

Do you keep utilities turned on (and in your name) when the unit is vacant (before I get a tenant)? When I do get a tenant, do I have to do anything to facilitate getting their utilities turned on -- or does the tenant take care of all that themselves?

Dumb questions, I know!

I've got around $20,000 to work with. I really had my heart set on buying a condo to turn into a rental property, but unfortunately in my neck of the woods I can't buy anything for cash. I can't qualify for any sort of investor mortgage, either.

I'm looking for an alternative real estate investment strategy now. I work very long hours so I can't dedicate the amount of time it takes to be a wholesaler. Does anyone else have any suggestions for what I can do to get started with $20k and not much free time? It's a frustrating situation!

I've been trying to buy an investment property to use as a rental property for cashflow income, but unfortunately it doesn't look like I can work any deals out right now. I've got around $20,000 in cash which isn't enough to buy anything here, and I won't qualify for any sort of investment mortgage.

That said, I'm looking into tax liens as a new direction. I've been trying to learn more, but most websites professing to teach it are scam websites trying to sell a program. Can anyone suggest a good resource (or book) for learning the basics?

Would you suggest this as an option for someone in my situation? I am in Florida.

Thanks for the help.

What is the standard fee a broker charges to place a tenant in your property? Would you recommend using this service? The brokerage I'm considering works exclusively with this neighborhood and places tenants regularly. Any pitfalls to watch out for?

Thanks.

I'm purchasing my first property and will (hopefully) be renting it very soon. Is the most common method of collecting rent just having your tenant mail the check, requiring that it be received by the first of the month? Do you send them e-mail reminders, or mail them an invoice for that matter, or just hope they remember?

Are there other methods you've used, like setting up electronic payments?

Thanks for the reply. Just to clarify, I am not looking for a lender -- I will be buying the property in cash. I'm just looking for a good small business banking solution for my LLC that can keep subaccounts for security deposits and, hopefully, does not charge fees.

I'm hopefully acquiring my first property very soon. Although the property will initially be in my name, I will be forming an LLC to manage the property, and opening a separate bank account for it. I will eventually transfer the property to the LLC as well.

My state requires that tenant security deposits are kept in separate accounts and not commingled. I know CitiBank offers Landlord banking services for precisely this. Does anyone use them for this? Any other suggestions for banks? I'm looking for a banking solution with no fees, if possible.

Thanks.