All Forum Posts by: Richard Queen

I tried Zillow Rental Manager and was not a fan.  They're not very flexible in being able to add one-off bills or other types of charges.  The functionality is very limited.  I've been using Cozy for a few months now and love it.  It's free, extremely functional, and my tenants love it too because they build a history that they can show a bank or future creditor to allow them to build credit history.  It also hosts the lease agreement so they can reference it at any time, tracks expenses if you want, and allows tenants to put in maintenance requests through the portal.  I highly recommend it.

I have a strict no cats policy.  I allow small dogs at $50 extra monthly but I don't do cats.  No matter how clean people keep their homes, I can always immediately identify a home I walk into that has cats.  You just can't over up the smell.  And cat urine is almost impossible to get out without extensively replacing floors.

I don't charge a deposit but I charge an extra $50 monthly rent.  I'd be careful about having a "pet deposit".  Typically, your initial rental deposit is going to be a higher dollar amount than any pet deposit.  If you label a pet deposit, then that is all you can keep for pet damage.  By not labeling it, you can keep the entire deposit regardless of whether the damage is caused by a pet or something different.  I've had properties I've charged $100 per month for a pet and they've paid as well.  An extra $1,200 a year is pretty nice and typically takes care of any additional wear and tear on the property.

Cozy.com is also a great method for collecting rent, tenant screenings, hosting lease agreement, tracking expenses and maintenance requests, etc. I use it for multiple properties and really like it. My tenants like it as well. I'd also recommend Ally Bank online. Their savings account is FDIC insured and offers 1.8% interest rate currently. This is a heck of a lot better rate than you're going to find at a local brick and mortar bank. Offers you a way to make a little more on your money while you're holding tenant deposits and reserves.

Hey, I'm in the middle of this right now. Huntington Bank is giving me a HELOC on an investment property I own outright. They're doing 80% LTV at prime minus 0.25%. This is a fantastic deal and I'm using it to purchase 2 to 3 more properties where they are also giving me 80% 30 year fixed mortgages on them. They've been a great partner in my financing needs. Huntington has an internal private bank so it gives them a little more flexibility with portfolio deals. You may see if any of your regional banks have private banks inside. If you can qualify, they're great.

Thank you @Patricia Steiner.  Those are my concerns exactly.  I think we got it figured out.  The seller has just put in an offer on their new house and is working through financing so they're concerned about being stuck between houses with no place to stay.  They agreed to add a couple clauses to the contract to protect me and also agreed to a defined move out date with a daily rental rate after that if they're not out.  Unfortunately, it slows me down a month from getting a renter in there but it's a great house that I'm happy to have so I guess it's worth it.  Thanks for the replies!

That is helpful and those were my thoughts as well as far as a reasonable rental rate to cover my costs for the 30 days. We will be finalizing the deal later this morning so I'll propose a very modest rental only to cover costs and hopefully he won't be able to argue with it. This is why I like FSBO. haha My personality doesn't like going through a middle-man to buy something - just let me sit down with the owner and we'll come to a deal in 10 minutes. Then we can formalize it through agents if needed.

I'm purchasing a single-family house for a rental unit using a real-estate agent through the MLS. The seller refuses to give possession at close citing he has too much risk if financing falls through and he's all packed to leave. He wants 30 days after close to move out and my real estate agent is saying it is "normal" in this market. Seems like I'm carrying a lot of risk with zero recourse for any property damage. Agent says asking him to pay rent is "not typically done".

I currently have 7 other rental units but they've all been purchased FSBO or other types of deals - this is the first through an agent on the MLS. Chances are it would turn out fine but I am concerned about the risk and it also delays me putting a renter in for another month.

What have people seen in other markets?  Is this typical?  Are there things I should ask for?  I'm in eastern KY.  Thanks!

I'm in Ashland, KY, 15 minutes from Huntington and it's a great rental market.  You can get many houses in the $50K - %100K range that meet the 1% rule and create $200+ in per unit per month cash flow.  Quite a few renting instead of buying in the market.  Screen people adequately and I've had great success.  Can't speak for Huntington specifically but I know there's a lot of rental properties and some people doing very well.