All Forum Posts by: Jeremiah Stephen

Keep making offers and look for owner financing options.  Once you get your place consider using AirBNB to possibly list your place and create revenue.  One point of advice stay away from the friends...or at least treat them like you would any other applicant applying for one of your rooms.  Use a company to review their history to ensure they can pay the rent and be prepared to evict them if they are unable.  now you see the problem, they are your friends and if they cannot appreciate your business minded'ness with regards to reviewing their credt history and past history then they wont appreciate you evicting them should they fail to pay.  You have to enter this with a business mindset because it is a business so treat it like one versus a college frat house.  Find a partner which can provide you with the ability to learn the ropes and support your from the cradle to grave.  This is our philosophy in which we work and our clients appreciate the tools we provide. Keep making offers!

Joey,

I would like to understand how you got into the business and wanted to buy a multi-family property which is in essence becoming a real estate investor without knowing what your next steps were going to be.  There are a few major items which you need to get educated about which the people on this sting have made you aware of and introduced you to but you ultimately need to understand the landlord tenant act in your area so you can abide by those guidelines and act accordingly; as the courts will ultimately use that info to support any type of case with which they get presented (should you find yourself in court with a "professional tenant").  These forums are great as you can post your questions of what to do and people respond with their experiences and advice.  I would suggest you find a one stop shop partner who can work with you to assist you in all aspects of your new venture. 

Our clients prefer the philosophy where we come along side of them providing them services they need which give them the tools and "teaches them to fish" if you will.  Then as they gain more understanding and experience they take more of the lead.  This approach allows our clients to become successful right away, stay successful as they continue with their venture learning the ropes at their pace and ensures they make decisions which will keep them compliant.  Hope this helps you find a path forward. Passive income is great but the tenants can drive you crazy if you don't mitigate them as a risk.

Chelle, I commented on another of your posts I think.  Like I mentioned in my previous post to your questions.  Being in the background check industry I need to help you understand something, some of the information you are getting from service provider(s) could be out of date; as it relates to data like criminal information etc. Some providers of this info only report this info on a quarterly basis to the large repositories, so if your new potential applicants have started the eviction process e.g. notice to quite as been served (the start of an eviction) then some repositories will miss this info....something to consider regarding services you sign up to use.

My mission is to create a network of landlords/property managers who all work together around a common mission which is to keep tenants accountable. Find an all in one or one stop shop service whose mission aligns with your goals and who can provide you with services to assist you versus just products to sell you and who ultimately empowers you by coming along side of you as you begin this great journey of real estate investing. You will need varying levels of help early on in this venture and as you gain experience you need your partner to be able to grow with you. Arm your self with knowledgeable partners.

Background checks are vital to creating a great community for you and your tenants as well as for the neighborhoods, so consider the bigger picture of how you will impact those in your neighborhood.

Jeremiah Stephen, Tenant Watch

@Logan Being in the background check industry I need to help you understand something, some of the information you are getting from service provider(s) could be out of date; as it relates to data like criminal information etc. Some providers of this info only report this info on a quarterly basis to the large repositories, so if your new potential applicants have started the eviction process e.g. notice to quite as been served (the start of an eviction) then some repositories will miss this info....something to consider regarding services you sign up to use.

My mission is to create a network of landlords/property managers who all work together around a common mission which is to keep tenants accountable. Find an all in one or one stop shop service whose mission aligns with your goals and who can provide you with services to assist you versus just products to sell you and who ultimately empowers you by coming along side of you as you begin this great journey of real estate investing. You will need varying levels of help early on in this venture and as you gain experience you need your partner to be able to grow with you. Arm your self with knowledgeable partners.

Background checks are vital to creating a great community for you and your tenants as well as for the neighborhoods, so consider the bigger picture of how you will impact those in your neighborhood.

Chelle,

Interesting how many people are ready to respond to your call for help and give their two cents.  Do you want to manage this property and go through this process to be an investor?  I am assuming yes, because you subscribe to BiggerPockets.  So, we will go with "yes" for now.  

You said you subscribed to a service?  Being in the background check industry I need to help you understand something, some of the information you are getting from your service provider(s) could be out of date; as it relates to data like criminal information etc.  Some providers of this info only report this info on a quarterly basis to the large repositories, like the one you mentioned, so if your new potential applicants have started the eviction process e.g. notice to quite as been served (the start of an eviction) then some repositories will miss this info....something to consider regarding services you sign up to use.

My mission is to create a network of landlords/property managers who all work together around a common mission which is to keep tenants accountable.  Find an all in one or one stop shop service whose mission aligns with your goals and who can provide you with services to assist you versus just products to sell you and who ultimately empowers you by coming along side of you as you begin this great journey of real estate investing.  You will need varying levels of help early on in this venture and as you gain experience you need your partner to be able to grow with you.  Arm your self with knowledgeable partners.

Jeremiah Stephen, Tenant Watch

Website: www.tenantwatch.net

@Ethan Edwards, Bigger Pockets promotes a service which is provided by Trans Union, one of the three major credit bureaus who supplies information to as well as competes with companies like mine (TenantWatch.net). Tenant Watch.net, is a re-seller of TU's credit information and as I continue to pursing a conversation with BiggerPockets to discuss a possible partnership, I would ask you to consider requesting BiggerPockerts to consider adding our company to the BiggerPockets list of resource partners to provide its members with an additional alternative. The members of BiggerPockets deserve more than just one providerwho's main concern is pushing data.

Now, you should beasking yourself; why not go to the source to get my information? Normally this would be the right choice as I am one for eliminating the middle-man except in a few cases and here's why...

I have my auto dealer's licensebecause after working in the car business I know the games they play with consumers! My goal has been to help people get a good deal by saving them thousands of $'swhile keeping the entire process transparent to the clients. After all, "Why buy from a dealer when you can buy like a dealer!" If you could reduce the stress of buying a car, save money and knew you were buying the same way the dealers were; this would change your perspective about your next car purchase!

Same goes for TenantWatch.net and the services we provide. Our team consists of landlords, realtors, legal service providers and property managers who understand what landlords need because we are just like you. Now we are also in the information business and we also understand what the big guys (MySmartMoves, e.g. TU) areproviding their users and we are here to help.

The goal is the same; to leverage our experience in the industry, knowledge and understanding of how the big corporations conduct their business and use this information to benefit your business. The services TenantWatch.net provides landlords, property managers and investors like yourselves result in the same user experience as my auto broker service.

The experienced landlords looking to screen their tenants really need an ace in the back of those "BiggerPockets" and more importantly the newbie investors just getting started. It’s crucial to understand and make decisions which will benefit you as a landlord and using the large repositories like TU who cannibalize small companies like mine are only there to maximize their benefit.

They play by their own rules and create advantages which benefit themselves; decisions like this which seem to have led to our country's financial issues. I would submit to you to better understand how these service providers, or better yet lack of service providers affect your business. Are they working to your advantage or theirs; consider an alternative where you are leveraging our experience to your advantage and reaping the benefit!

 I need to clarify a fact about most background check companies providing automated reports. Please educate yourselves with regard to the age of the data you are receiving.  It has been my experience some providers like the court houses provide civil data, e.g. evictions, quarterly which helps you understand an applicants historical rent pattern but when you need to know there most recent track record this missing data could potentially lead to problems making educated decisions which would be based on incomplete data.  

We are working to bridge this gap by prevising landlords a place to report their tenants renal history to be included in our background checks. This information  (both positive & advers) is meant to create accountability with the tenant as well as allow landlords the ability to work together legally sharing their information through a consumer reporting agency like Tenant Watch. 

Regarding the entire background check which would include the items referenced in most all the comments. We at TenantWatch.net provide you the landlord with the tools to conduct all the various  pieces of a background check. 

I am working on creating a relationship with BP to provide an alternative option for a more robust one stop shop solution for BP members.  The question to keep in mind is what is the quality of the data you are getting and how current is it?  If a tenant evicted yesterday will this show up in the data you are requesting even though the data is "current" per the reporting requirements (quarterly reporting).  Knowing these types of questions to ask makes a big difference between who you choose as a service provider.  Consider developing a relationship with the people who make up the company, this decision will pay dividends.

Excel makes the most sense unless you can find a free tool; with that said my wife and I own Tenant Watch which offers background checking solutions / tools for landlords to enable them to pull the most comprehensive background checks on your potential applicants.  

Ensuring you know the most about the person(s) you are planning to rent and having the appropriate info in file for them is very important; should you have to pursue an eviction.   

I would make sure you find the best possible solution which would partner with you to help reduce your risk in this area.  Avoid the large repositories offering just the automated data results.  Tenant Watch partner's with you coming along side of you with the knowledge you need to become a better landlord for your investment and the communities you rent within.