All Forum Posts by: Rob B.

Hi Stephen, awesome work with the business model, and I love to hear that you're shopping around for the right one. There are definitely some tools that can help with managing things moving forward. Aside from providing the basics (ie. listing tool to get the property published to 10+ major sites, scheduling tool to schedule viewings, tenant screening with comprehensive applications -- pulled reports from TransUnion, which include nationwide criminal background checks + credit checks + eviction history, digital lease creation tool, rent collection tool, and maintenance tracking tool), some services also offer your tenants additional capabilities which makes it an easier sell on your end when getting them to transition over (ie. their ability to report on-time rent payments to the credit bureaus; this can create an added incentive for making sure they pay that rent on time). I hope this helps! @Stephen Lay

I'd make sure to get it in writing somehow but definitely have a direct conversation with her. I think this is one of those things where you have to do your due diligence by at least putting it out there (let her know that the machine is not meant for that). Now, chances are — as others have mentioned — she will continue to use it for that purpose (in all likeliness she will because her business is dependent upon it and having to go somewhere else to complete wash/dry loads will run her an additional expense). It is a brand new washer dryer, you've given her warning, and if it breaks due to damages caused from over-use then that's on her. Could be worth exploring a lease addendum moving forward (since it is a fairly new washer) and go with what was mentioned above — potentially charge a monthly service fee for commercial use.

Hi Matthew! Love to hear that you're shopping around for the right one. There are definitely some tools that can help with managing things moving forward. Aside from providing the basics (ie. listing tool to get the property published to 10+ major sites, scheduling tool to schedule viewings, tenant screening with comprehensive applications -- pulled reports from TransUnion, which include nationwide criminal background checks + credit checks + eviction history, digital lease creation tool, rent collection tool, and maintenance tracking tool), some services also offer your tenants additional capabilities which makes it an easier sell on your end when getting them to transition over (ie. their ability to report on-time rent payments to the credit bureaus; this can create an added incentive for making sure they pay that rent on time). I hope this helps! @Matt Bailey

Hi Robert - I'm sorry to hear that you're dealing with this and I know how frustrating that can be. A personal friend of mine actually just went through the process of evicting a tenant and believe me when I say he had some major headaches to deal with... it wasn't pretty.

Having said that there are still some other great self-management options out there to help so this type of thing can be avoided next time. There is nothing wrong with taking the independent approach to self-managing, and while there are plenty of great PMs out there, you'll still be paying a large PM fee. Nevertheless, there are definitely some tools that can help with managing things moving forward. Aside from providing the basics (ie. listing tool to get the property published to 10+ major sites, scheduling tool to schedule viewings, tenant screening with comprehensive applications -- pulled reports from TransUnion, which include nationwide criminal background checks + credit checks + eviction history, digital lease creation tool, rent collection tool, and maintenance tracking tool), some services also offer your tenants additional capabilities which makes it an easier sell on your end when getting them to transition over (ie. their ability to report on-time rent payments to the credit bureaus; this can create an added incentive for making sure they pay that rent on time).

Joe and Mike pretty much have this one covered! Excellent advice already provided. I actually really like the second option that Joe has proposed but more so than anything, check with your local state laws - follow your end of lease process (walkthrough, assess damages, etc) and figure out whether the full deposit will be returned, a portion will be retained or all of it will be retained based on damages. As Joe mentioned "Once tenants say they are breaking lease, it will happen. It is better to cooperate with the inevitable and make sure the terms are in your favor."  Agreed, 1000000%. 

Hi Stephen, this does seem like quite a bit. There are a lot of great people in the industry (both on the self-management side with various platforms that can help you through managing it on your own, AND on the PM side if you decide to go that route). The thing is a negative experience can really leave a bad taste with you, especially given that your business is dependent upon them working with a sense of integrity. I would definitely consult with legal counsel to get a better idea of the path forward.

If you take the self-management approach, there are definitely some tools that can help with managing things moving forward but my natural assumption is that no matter how easy the on-boarding is, tenants will probably still want some sort of hand-holding through that change management process. So you may want to take that into consideration when you're deciding on a platform (one that offers different forms of support; email, phone, chat, 7-days a week). Aside from providing the basics, some services also offer your tenants additional capabilities which makes it an easier sell on your end when getting them to transition over (ie. their ability to report on-time rent payments to the credit bureaus; this can create an added incentive for making sure they pay that rent on time). I hope this information was helpful. Best of luck to you!

It is awesome that you are motivated and ready to jump into it. I actually love the sound of this deal from a numbers standpoint but I think that there are some realistic things to consider though. For one, this is an aged property so you're going to have a lot of moving parts as far as maintenance and upkeep (things that even seasoned REI professionals might have a hard time with). Doesn't sound like it'll be one of those rentals that you'll be able to manage passively but from a numbers standpoint, it sounds like a great opportunity.

Honestly for this it would best to consult with your CPA. I think there are a lot of valid points which have been mentioned about potentially summarizing and then retaining receipts in the event that you are audited, but, I'd cut out the guess work of it all and start that conversation with your CPA sooner rather than later. 

Hi Ryan! I am so sorry to hear you are dealing with this -- these situations are never easy even though it sounds like the tenant is clearly taking some liberties in breaking that lease and not really treating the property in a way that is conducive to your business as the property owner. There are still some other great self-management options out there to help so this type of thing can be avoided next time. There is nothing wrong with taking the independent approach to self-managing, and while there are plenty of great PMs out there, you'll still be paying a large PM fee.

Nevertheless, there are definitely some tools that can help with managing things moving forward. Aside from providing the basics (ie. listing tool to get the property published to 10+ major sites, scheduling tool to schedule viewings, tenant screening with comprehensive applications -- pulled reports from TransUnion, which include nationwide criminal background checks + credit checks + eviction history, digital lease creation tool, rent collection tool, and maintenance tracking tool), some services also offer your tenants additional capabilities which makes it an easier sell on your end when getting them to transition over (ie. their ability to report on-time rent payments to the credit bureaus; this can create an added incentive for making sure they pay that rent on time). @Ryan L.

Hi Muhammad! I love to hear that you're taking the independent approach to self-managing. There are definitely some tools that can help with managing things moving forward. Aside from providing the basics (ie. listing tool to get the property published to 10+ major sites, scheduling tool to schedule viewings, tenant screening with comprehensive applications -- pulled reports from TransUnion, which include nationwide criminal background checks + credit checks + eviction history, digital lease creation tool, rent collection tool, and maintenance tracking tool), some services also offer your tenants additional capabilities which makes it an easier sell on your end when getting them to transition over (ie. their ability to report on-time rent payments to the credit bureaus; this can create an added incentive for making sure they pay that rent on time). Happy to answer any questions you might have!