All Forum Posts by: Nathan Schiess

@Travis Hill we would be happy to see you there! We aren’t meeting in May but June 17th we will be meeting in person! If you search us on Facebook you can find more details 👍 Look forward to connecting!

@Bryan Scibilia I think it really depends on the market and the property. Do other properties that are renting at the price point and in the area that you are trying to rent your property at have similar HVAC systems to the one you are looking to install? It's all relative to your market. So far as ROI, you don't want to over improve the property. Again, it goes back to the market but there is definitely a ceiling for what renters will pay in an area regardless of home many updates you add. Look at comps and base your decision off of that. If the market doesn't justify the expense, don't add it. If all your comps have it, it may be worth it. Good luck!

@Tanner Flint The Idaho REIA meets the third Wednesday of the month on ISU campus in Idaho Falls. We would love to have you come out! We invite different REI experts to come speak each month and have networking before and after the presentation. If you have any other questions feel free to reach out to me personally!

The Idaho REIA invites you to come learn about flipping houses from someone with decades of experience! We will have the privilege of chatting with Kevin Taggart about "Flipping Houses to Suit the Market Instead of to Suit Yourself". Learn the ins and outs of house flipping and meet other investors from the area. The meeting will begin at 6pm and the presentation will start at 6:30pm. Be sure to come with questions and a desire to learn and network! The Idaho REIA is all about developing a community within the REI world here in southeast Idaho. We want to help investors learn and grow their portfolios and meet people who can help them do that. This meeting is free so bring as many friends, family members, or clients as you'd like!

@Scott Bowles I think it this really just depends on how good your marketing is and the overall demand. I would accept someone with a 630 credit score. However, it's always better to have several prospects to choose from than to have to justify taking someone on as a tenant that you don't feel great about. @Stephanie Trevizo makes some good points about exceptions to the rule and they are defiantly worth considering, but I would say that if your marketing is working like it should be, you should be getting multiple tenants in the door looking to rent from you which gives your more leverage to hold out for someone with good credit that would feel more comfortable renting to.

@Kristi Harmon We deal with this situation literally everyday. There are a few things to consider. First of all, you are not required to rent to this person if you have another more qualified prospect. So, if you haven't already I would continue looking for prospects and find another more suitable candidate. Just let the prospect with the emotional support animal know that the other applicant was chosen for some other reason besides not having an emotional support animal (higher credit score, better rental history, etc.)

If you do decide to rent to this tenant make sure that you not only require them to fill out your emotional support animal paper work, but also call the doctor who prescribed the emotional support animal to confirm everything that was put down on the form. 

If you have already signed a lease agreement with this person you will not be able to charge pet rent, pet deposit, pet fee, etc. I would however have them sign a cleaning addenda that outlines what they can expect during their move-out inspection and what the associated fees will be. 

Upon move-out inspect the apartment and bill the tenant for all damages. Make sure to pull up carpet to look for urine stains, check all baseboards for scratch marks, etc. You will be returning the apartment to the condition it was in before they lived there so make sure to charge them accordingly.

Depending on the strength of your lease, those fees can come out of their security deposit and anything above and beyond that should be billed to them. Make sure you help them understand that if they do not pay their bill you will be handing it off to collections and their credit will be severely effected. 

The best answer though is to simply find a more qualified tenant and avoid this whole mess.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions :)

I am interested to know the things that your PM does that you most appreciate as an owner and the things they do that cause you the biggest headaches. I have worked for a couple different management companies and have been a tenant for a number of years, and to be completely honest I have been appalled by the lack of professionalism and overall effort I've seen on the part of several very prominent PMs here in the Salt Lake Valley. 

At the end of the day you are going to get what you pay for and you can hardly pay a management company bare minimum and expect a spectacular job to be done. That being said what have your experiences been with the companies that you have worked with?

I am a firm believer that an organized, thorough, professional PM is a catalysis to a successful investing career. However, I feel like if investors knew what I know about some of these companies they would think twice about trusting them with their investments!

@Daniel Howard From a property managers point of view I would just say be prepared for what you are getting into. It's not that having a single tenant versus 3 total tenants is that big of a difference, but it is 3x the problems, maintenance issues, etc. 

I know that many people who purchase a duplex, triplex, or 4-plex try to manage by themselves. I have no idea what your situation is, but I would just say regardless of what option you go for (duplex, triplex, or 4-plex) make sure that you are prepared to put in the time and effort necessary to manage the units as a business. 

I don't say that to sound ominous, it's just a friendly reminder that even some very qualified tenants might let you know 2 months into the lease that they now have 2 pit bill "emotional support animals" that you can't do anything about. Perhaps you have a tenant who is a single mother that can't pay rent this month because her child got sick, but you know that you have to evict her or you might end up losing the property. 

These are real examples that I've dealt with. My point is, if you want to ease into it, I'd say start small and learn as you go. It's always easier to deal with 1 big problem than 3 big problems, especially if you are in uncharted waters experience-wise. However, If you are prepared and ready to commit to being a landlord that runs a profitable business and can make the tough decisions then go big and get the 4-plex!

Good luck my friend! Feel free to reach out to me about any property management issues you come across, I'd be happy to help!

@Matt Holt I think what @James Wise said is critical. Don't accept partial rent payments! This will delay the eviction process if things escalate to that. It's critical to make it clear to all tenants that rent has to be paid on time no matter what. 

In roommate situations, it is especially important to sit down with all prospects and explain this very clearly before they sign the lease and move-in. Help them understand the implications of what will happen if a roommate stops paying rent or wants to leave the lease early. Most of all make it clear that you are no nonsense about the lease agreement and its terms.

I have dealt with this situation many times. In some cases we will do a Release of Tenant, which needs to be signed by all parties before it can take effect. Essentially if someone wants to leave the lease we will let them as long as the remaining tenants can meet all rental criteria on their own. Many times they will want to bring someone else on to replace the person leaving. We will screen this new person, collect an application fee, and if that person qualifies they can essentially take the place of tenant that is wanting to leave. Again, all parties have to be willing to sign the release of tenant, and the new prospect has to also meet all the rental criteria.

All of that being said. I try to avoid roommate situations because of the very high potential that someone is going to want to leave early or someone can't pay their portion of the rent which creates loads of hassle, paperwork, and unneeded worry that the rent might not get paid and you'll have to evict. 

Hey @Daniel Howard The method that I use when I'm trying to find owners is by going to the county assessors parcel map.

(https://slco.org/assessor/new/javaapi2/parcelviewe...) 

You can also narrow your search results by selecting the type of properties you are looking for.

Hope that helps!