All Forum Posts by: Carol Venolia

Lately, several potential tenants whose income didn't meet the 1/3 guideline (monthly income should be 3 times the rent) have offered to have a co-signer. The idea gives me the willies, and so far I've declined to go for it.

But I'm curious if any of you have ever allowed a co-signer under such circumstances. If so, how did it go?

Thank you!

Not to rain on your parades, but my Easter Sunday started with an email from a good tenant who fell on hard times, and who I've allowed to owe me a bit of her rent. She wrote to say she got a check and the balance is in the mail. Yay!

I've been in love with using self-adhesive vinyl tiles in my rentals. I spent a fair amount of time looking for designs I like, and I totally agree with @Jeremy Pace about the importance of avoiding the cheapest ones. I've settled on a slate-look vinyl tile that's not very shiny (from Lowe's, I think). It has a warm look that tenants like, and I love the low maintenance, low cost, and easy installation--which I do myself.

I recently found some 18" square vinyl tiles, which I like even more than the 12", but they seem to be rare.

My partner recently experimented with vinyl tile in a bathroom, laying down a clear sealer beneath the joints, then cleaning off the excess on top before it hardens. So far, so good--but we haven't seen how it holds up yet.  :-)

Thank you, @Joe Mclain! 

I had thought that one could obtain title insurance without much cost after a year from purchase, but I haven't found any title company that will do that anymore. I seem to have to go through TTS, which costs. But I'll do it!

Hi Cody,

My first day after taking possession of a 3-unit property was actually heady. After making the offer on the property, I'd spent every day reading Lee Robinson's Landlording book, so I felt theoretically prepared anyway. Then I just rode in like a cowgirl, well armed with Robinson's advice about always being friendly (while not making friends) with tenants. I had the advantage that the previous landlord had been pretty awful. So these inherited tenants were overjoyed that I wanted to fix the problems in their place and wasn't raising the rent immediately. 

My new tenants included a spry 93-year-old woman, an ex-con with a huge pit bull, a hacker slacker, and a man with some kind of mental disability. I just knew I had to stay on my horse, find out what the challenges were, establish that I was kind but firm, and handle whatever came along.

What would I say to my then self now? "If you think this looks challenging, the 'best' is yet to come. Make sure you get plenty of rest and keep a paper trail of everything!"

Happy trails!

Carol

Thanks, @Sarah Ziehr! I'm glad to hear you've had success, though I think tax liens and tax deeds are different animals. I've been calling a couple of my local title companies, and that's where I'm getting this discouraging information. I guess I'll call a few more!

Howdy,

I bought a couple of lots at a county tax-deed auction a little over 1.25 years ago. At that time, the word on the street was that one could get title insurance either by waiting a year after purchase, or by paying big bucks to Tax Title Services.

I'm considering selling one of these lots, and now I'm hearing from title companies that I have to wait 2-5 years to get title insurance.

Does anyone have experience with this, and have you found any other way to get title insurance sooner?

Thank you!

I've used rentometer.com (not highly accurate), craigslist, and just googling (for example) 2-bedroom rental, Town, State. I've also asked people like my handyman and other workers who visit the property how much they think I should charge for a place. In one case, my handyman said, "Oh, you can get a lot more than that average you got online!" I kicked the price up about $40 a month, and still had multiple qualified applicants.

Hi @Jabri Carter,

Mobile homes CAN be very good investments, if you know what you're doing. Whether they're easy to rent out depends on where they are. Mobile home parks often don't allow subleasing, but some do. Mobiles on land outside parks can be rented out. Then it's just a matter of spinning your ad to help potential renters appreciate the home.

Average price is probably meaningless, because the range of prices is huge. In the area where I'm buying and renting out mobile homes, I've seen them for everywhere from $0 to $90K.

There are some great teachers in this arena. I recommend looking up: 

John Fedro: http://www.mobilehomeinvesting.net/

Rachel Hernandez: http://adventuresinmobilehomes.com/

And there are many more...

@Jenny Cunningham, I'd say you hit a nerve! Congratulations and thank you.