All Forum Posts by: Pam R.

Sean - Post back when you get the situation resolved. I expect to hear it turns out well.

And as an aside - I have 2 cell phones, a work phone and a personal phone. I carry my work phone with me 24x7. My personal phone is in my purse, and I check it like twice a week. So messages to that phone usually get a delayed response from me. I realize I'm probably an exception to most people, but it is a possibility.

Well, if it was me - I wouldn't contact him again until the end of the week. And at that point I would call, not text.

If he still has plenty of time to get signed up, it looks like he's been to the property even though he's not moving in yet, he passed your screening, and he's paid up - then give him the rest of the week to comply.

Yes, a response would have been nice. Not everyone has those kinds of manners.

Hi Sean.

Why are you worried? He has almost 3 weeks before he needs to sign up, right? What is the sense of urgency to have him sign up so far in advance?

When you say you told him to sign up on the 5th - does that mean at lease signing you told him he had to sign up by 2/5, or do you mean you contacted him on 2/5 to remind him he needed to do it?

Hi Jeffrey. I don't own vacation rentals, but I sure do use them. I am a heavy user of VRBO.com. I do pay more attention to the postings that include a link to the owners own web site, where they can provide more information. I also dig through the multiple listings for rentals in the same complex. If there are 15 two-bedroom condos listed in the same complex, I will generally just compare the 4 lowest-priced condos. I may check out the highest-priced to uncover why exactly the owner thinks it's worth $300 more a week, but it had better be good if it's going to sell me.

I also pay very close attention to user reviews. You should definitely encourage your renters to leave reviews, as that is what will sell the place to future renters. I once also received a personal thank you e-mail from an owner for taking such good care of the place. That was a nice touch.

I'm completely unfamiliar with the "showing the unit" notion - if it's for a vacation, I'm not going to see it until I get there. But you may be talking about snowbirds, who are looking to rent for the entire winter. I couldn't speak to that - although I'm looking forward to being a snowbird one day.

Sam - we only process one at a time also. Potential tenants don't even get to see the place or receive an application if they don't pass our pre-screening conversations (where we talk about income, reasons for moving, job history, credit and criminal history, pets, etc.).

The first person who passes the screening call, sees the place, and hands us the filled out application with the $25 gets the background check. I will accept applications from other people, but not money, until I've settled on the check with person at hand. I actually haven't had a problem with that so far - none of our applicants have failed the check. Only one has backed out of the apartment - a VA loan came through, literally within hours of the SmartMove check being run. He was also our only applicant at the time. Next day, did another showing, received an application and money, and found our new tenant.

With SmartMove, either the applicant or the landlord can pay the fee. I always pay the fee (after collecting it from the applicant), as I feel more comfortable then that they are committed. However, if my first applicant failed, I could call the next applicant, let them know I am ready to run the screening, and have them pay for it directly with SmartMove. So then money never changes hands with me.

Pam

I don't think either of those locations is as horrible as I pictured. For the utility company, I would be most interested in 1) the hours people are in and out, and 2) how well is that place lit up at night? If it's a daytime business, that's ok. But if it's lit up like a runway at night, ugh.

And the freeway exit, yeah, I wouldn't live there, but some people wouldn't mind at all.

All that being said - they would still need to be highly discounted, as you are going to limit your tenant pool.

Hi Jameson. In your situation, if you can buy two more houses this year to generate revenue, then do that. Usually I'm a fan of getting rid of debt, but it sounds like you are not underwater in that respect.

My suggestion would be to take your profits from your real estate investments, including the next two purchases, and throw them at the highest interest student loan (in addition to the required payment you are making, presumably from your regular salary). You appear to be generating money for down payments already, so you won't miss that cash. I suspect that it is possible that you could get caught in a Debt-to-Income problem in the next house or two, so that's why paying down that debt will help you invest more long-term.

Plus, you can never get out from under the student loans - it's nearly impossible to discharge them in a bankruptcy. The credit cards, you can always keep moving that balance to low rate cards until you get in a position to get rid of them, and if disaster strikes, go bankrupt. Not so with a student loan.

I wouldn't consider Student Loans "neutral debt." Yes, you received value from your education in the form of a good job, but it's still debt, without a sellable asset behind it. Balance assertively paying those off while making good investments in your future. You seem to be in a position to be able to do both.

Good luck!

@Jerry W. - same as my story, except we're charging $75/month. Garage doesn't even have electric. I never thought he'd still be renting it to him 4 years later, but it works for me. We have to call once or twice a year to remind him, but he's good.

Funny thing - apparently the garage is filled with antique pool tables. He collects them, pulls one out every once in a while, refinished it, and sells it for 5 figures to some high end buyer. Pool tables. That garage may as well be filled with lead safes - no one is going to come help him move an entire garage full of pool tables.

Hi Lynn. I don't understand your post. Are you saying the owner is willing to sell to you for $40k, or rent to you for $1100/month? And if you bought it, you would then rent it?

We have a duplex with a garage. The former owner has been renting it from us since we bought the place 4 years ago. Nice little extra income. I've never even set foot in the garage.

Of course, he told us that when they had bought the place 10 years earlier, they had rented the garage - but quickly ran into problems with people keeping up with the rent, and then he was stuck with a garage full of stuff. So he took it over.

I have no idea what I'll do if he ever stopped paying us, since I don't even have a written agreement with him.