All Forum Posts by: Peter S.

I have clients ask me this same question all the time. But if you do a proper screening, then taking rent up front is perfectly fine. 95% of evictions are for non payment. So you've now eliminated this for the next year. Any of the horror stories for tenants could have easily happened if someone paid monthly. If you have a strong lease, you can evict for any of those other reasons. So what is the difference? 

The real question is, "should I rent to a less than qualified tenant if they pay 12 months in advance?" That is a different story. 
   

I applied today with the 10k advance. I'll see what happens. I already have tenants saying they cant pay all of April. 

go to domyown.com and get the pro stuff. I bought a six unit building that had a roach problem. Bought some Talstar and did the perimeter spray around the building. Then sprayed inside each unit. Worked awesome. I also bought the Bayer Maxforce bait stations  and gave 5-6 to each unit. Also worked great. Roach problem gone in less than a week. Now if any tenants call about a bug problem, I mail them some more stations. Problem solved. Advion is also great. One of the keys to it working is that the tenants cannot spray their own stuff they buy at the hardware or food store. (Raid, Ortho, Combat) 

Monthly utilities are tough to estimate, although you could probably estimate based on the number of bedrooms and the number of people you expect to be living in the unit. The reason it may not be on a realtor.com listing is because the tenant probably opens their own account.

For taxes, you can go on the county property appraisers website for the county the unit is located in. You can then get the exact amount of taxes for the year. Although be careful because taxes are based on appraised value and you would have a new appraised value if you bought the property. I bought one building and the taxes doubled in one year, because the prior owner owned the property for about 25 years and the appraised value was way lower than the market value.   

I invest in Brevard County, Florida. (Melbourne, Palm Bay areas). You can still get some value there, unlike South Florida. 

Welcome to Florida investing, @Jean Santiago. Im in Miami, but I invest in central Florida. I'll be watching this thread to see what you come up with in the Jacksonville area.  

FIx them and get them up to code. If someone else falls on the property, your tenant will be the first one to say, "I told the landlord when I first moved in that someone would fall."

My rentals are about 900 per month. I ask for first, last and 500 security deposit. So 2,300 total. If they are short, I'll let them make installments for the security deposit only. Usually over four months or so.

You need to have a security deposit that would motivate someone to leave the unit in decent condition and leave timely. I tell my tenants that I'll have thier security deposit ready for them on the day they leave. They tend to clean up and get out quicker. Every day they stay longer, the deposit gets smaller.

As far as last month rent, that is just protection against a tenant that decides not to pay thier last month. Or if someone needs to be evicted in the middle of the lease, I've got one month in the bank.

I may be biased here, but i say hire an attorney. Then fire your PM.

I'm an attorney and I get clients that need to sell fast. I refer them only to licensed real estate agents only and for third party sales only. Not to wholesalers or private investors. Too much potential trouble.