All Forum Posts by: Tami R.

@Thomas Staub. Do your research and figure out what app is best for you and your business. I did a little research and jumped into one app early on and then got out of it. I learned for my business that quickbooks and using cozy for payments is good enough for now. I am not saying it's the best but I have every property under class and it works. Best of luck

Great question. I have been burned by a really good friend and actually had to take her to court. Would I rent to another friend... the answer is yes if the friend qualifies and I believe it wouldn't mess up our relationship and we can keep it business, etc. The one person that screwed me over, would have never qualified... I tried being nice as she was going to get evicted and I put friendship in front of business. I do rent to my parents because I like to take care of their home repairs and make sure they are in a nice home etc... same thing for my great uncle. So my answer is yes if you make it a yes as business decision

@Matt Michaelson agree 100%. We own a roofing company and we get asked all the time same question how much does 20 sq shingles cost to tear off and install. Without looking out the house there is no way to give am accurate number I also believe you 90 percent of time get what you pay for. A good quality roofer or painter, hvac, etc should get a fair amount they are running a business and we are making money and so should they. And I want to pay a little extra for the quality painter or the warranty etc

I just purchased multiple properties and Unfortunately I have been dealing with cockroaches. You cant charge the tenant if it doesnt state that in the lease I would definitely get a professional to handle the situation Lastly I agree give them a 24 hour and do an inspection I had a house I bought and apparently the tenant skipped town. I took a couple steps in the house and knew it was infested with cockroaches. The 400 sq ft house had an estimated 25,000 cockroaches and they spread quickly and took months to get rid of. I had to pay for the neigbors cockroach bills because when the chemical was applied the cockroaches started invading the neighbors homes. I'm not popular in that area.

I actually try not to say if animals are allowed until I meet the potential tenant. Usually it's not the animal but the tenant. I always meet the person and then decide and always say put down your animal on the application and the person that will go through the application I will just let them know (which is me) I had a tenants dog bite the city inspector one year. I sometimes will blame my insurance regarding certain breeds for example pit bulls. Which I know can be great dogs but around the area I live we have a huge percentage that are abused for fighting. When we do accept animals, we do a $100 refundable deposit.... most people want their money back when they move out. And then $25 pet rent

I have a key pad to get into my laundry area but we have coin operated washer and dryer.

Dont worry about it! I remember the first time a low life tenant got evicted and was going to sue me and I felt totally ill. I was going to give in and give them money just because I was scared now I stand by my business and what I do and none of those low lifes that threaten me has actually followed through.

We charge a pet deposit.... who doesnt want to make sure they get their pet deposit back. Then we charge $25 per pet. I never write no pets etc on ads, when it gets brought up I tell people its depends on the house and management but please feel free to put their animal breed etc on the application. We actually like to meet the person 1st.... usually it's not the animal that is the problem it's the human.

Look the old cushion comment about roofing. We own large roofing company and the roofers are always stopping on the streets getting cushions from old couches. I always have to remember this is a business. Run it like the executives would run Wal-Mart or Apple. Sometimes I feel sorry for someone like an old lady and think I wont charge her the pro rate of the 3 days or deposit, etc... but we (i) need to. Also for the keys, we have over 200 doors I was tired of hundreds of keys so we have been slowly going to the keypad entries. My staff have a code, subs (plumbers, electricians) have a code and the tenant have their code for the property. I can easily change the code if needed takes 2 min and then we have 1 master key.

We love Disney and go 10 days a year. We considered buying but decided against it 1. Not quite ready for long term rental 2. Fierce competition Also when we go out there I want to be able to go to different areas and not be committed to one property. Maybe 15 years we will think different when the kids are older.