All Forum Posts by: Luke Hagenbach

 It would be much more helpful to others if you posted the brand (and ideally, model number) of the inferior 1/4 turn ball valves that you purchased. That would allow others to avoid them when selecting 1/4 turn valves.

 Interesting. I do see Offrs listed as one of the many "partners" listed on Cole's website, but it's unclear in what capacity they have a partnership, and if it's only one cog in the wheel. Are you going off of their logo appearing in that section, or do you have additional information that would support that what you get from Offrs can be purchased from Cole Information and a rate 10% of the cost of Cole Information?

I looked at Cole Information's website, and they clearly are re-selling information from a different data provider. It would be nice to figure out who that is. 

1. Pre-screening questions before showing the property (this helps save us both time)
2. Show the property, and then if potential tenant is interested enough in applying:
3. Cozy Application and supplemental application (either paper or digital, if you can create one using, Google Form, TypeForm, JotForm, etc.). Cozy is super minimal in the application information collection category. They would do well to allow landlords the option of adding questions.
4. Cozy credit check/background (it's tough on tenants at $80/couple + more if other adults in the home).
5. Execute Lease through Docusign and collect initial funds. 
6. Upload Lease to Cozy and setup ACH payments through Cozy.co

It would be great if Cozy could handle the entire process, but they only seem to really work for the credit report/background check, and setting up automatic payments. Even the listing syndication only works for the Move, Inc family of sites, not the Zillow group sites.

 Would you mind sharing that information for other biggerpockets users who are searching the same topic? Thanks, Kimberly.

I have not used Smart Move, but do use Cozy. It's convenient, but not a substitute for experienced decision making or good contracts. 

As far as having the information on a tenant, you should certainly collect all contact information on a tenant as part of your lease contract after you have screened the person through one of these sites.

As far as scoring goes to make a decision, I would not use an algorithm to determine if you should rent to someone. That is something you will need to develop a feel for, or hire someone who has this skill. Whether you should rent to someone or not should be a combination of looking at the credit report (not just the score, but why they have that score, how long ago were derrogatory items, etc.), what sort of job security do they seem to have (security is great; if they seem like they'll be in a much better position next year, they'll have a higher probability of buying a home or moving to a better situation), what their cash reserves look like, whether they have been forthcoming or hidden things from you, or if they have been evicted - legally (which shows up on reports), or effectively (which is harder to determine), etc. 

In short, these are great supplement tools to make screening or receiving payment more convenient, but they are not substitutes for developed intuition and property management.

 Given that the website does not include it's address and business information in the footer, as required by law, is using the California State Seal without permission (it's obviously not a state run entity or affiliated in any way), and does not provide any details or information on who is behind the site and how they supposedly are affiliated with the attorneys who wrote the state exam....I would be highly suspect of anything this site has to offer. 

If the person writing the information used online study courses and failed 3 times, I would question the 139 IQ. That's an extremely high IQ (less than 1% of the population).

@Mike McGee Yes, I do, but I would expect that not all Cozy users are licensed Realtors in the state of the property they are a landlord of. For example, the property I was testing out is a property that I own out of state. I have a template of a lease that I have used for that house in the past and have a Docusign account to send the contract to the tenant for signing, but it would seem advantageous for a property management software solution to have your contracts inside the software so that the prospective tenant can stick with one platform to sign up with, and the landlord can all a full audit trail all in one location. 

If the actual contract, notices, changes of terms, etc. are all managed outside of the software, then I would see Cozy as more of a rental/lease listing application and payment service than a property management software solution. Not a big deal if that is what a prospective landlord wants out of it, but I thought it might be helpful to point that out. 

Great comparisons shared of these two platforms so far, everyone. I appreciate the details shared in your review, @Mike McGee. 

I signed up for Cozy.co to check it out, add a property listing, and set it up for a trial run with a rental that I am putting together, but right away I noticed something that is important to note when evaluating property management software solutions. Cozy does not actually handle lease contracts. Maybe that is a given with everyone else, but thought I would mention it. 

As mentioned on the website in the FAQ:

Have you considered emailing them and asking them what they use on the site? 

I'm trying to figure out why some of the posters here would say vacation rental properties are "speculative" purchases. Most vacation rental properties are some of the most desirable properties in a given area, which is why vacationers are wanting to rent them (i.e. they are in close proximity to the amenities of the area and are comfortable to live in). Therefore their value is not speculative at all. They are highly desired properties, regardless of whether they are owned by individuals that can afford to live in them as their primary residence, or renters that want to vacation in them and live well for a week or two.

In my area (Newport Beach, CA), during the high season (Memorial Day through Labor Day), vacation properties gross weekly ($2,500-$5,000) what most other properties gross monthly ($2,500-$5,000). Then, during the down seasons, these beach close properties are in high demand for an 8 month lease for college students who leave for the Summer anyway, and do not wish to rent during this time. That means that a starter vacation rental property in Newport Beach that rents for $2,500 will gross $55,000 annually while a non-vacation rental will gross $30,000.

Please note that I said gross, and that does not imply cash flow. That all depends on the financing structure, management fees, maintenance fees, etc. Typically vacation rentals will have a high management fee during the high-season (15-20%). There are costs for maid services between rentals, but often times that fee is charged to the renter as a "cleaning fee".

Don't be discouraged if you're interested in purchasing a vacation rental. Do your homework and learn. It could very well be a profitable situation for you, as well as a great place to rest your head in one of your favorite vacation spots.

Luke Hagenbach
HÔM real estate group