All Forum Posts by: Samira Davis

I try to listen to the story of the person and see what their reasons are. The worst part of renting to my Parakeet tenant is that her cars are spotless, her house is spotless, every time I go over my car needs to be washed and all I can think is they must look at it and think "geez, there goes the neighborhood" lol

One of my best tips, I learned from a friend who owns 50 plus rentals- always collect the rent in person. This way, every month, you have a reason to visit the house; if anything is amiss, you are more likely to catch on. This also creates a relationship with your tenant.

If I have concerns, and I rarely do credit checks, then I ask the tenant to pay a $50 application fee and use avail.co to apply. It's an app that allows you to customize questions for your tenant, for example 'have you ever been sued by a landlord or have you ever filed suit against a landlord."

Meeting people face to face, visiting with them where they currently live (if possible) -you're going to get a better idea of who they are. More time consuming, but then no problems down the road.

Hi John

Yes, that's what I'm thinking- was hoping there might be a way to tap the equity in the church with a renovation loan, but not having much luck there. 12 percent is pretty well exactly what I'm looking at- debating whether less risky to just cash flow it slowly over time?

Last year, I bought a church and a parsonage. I subdivided, sold the parsonage, and the proceeds paid for the church. I want to convert the church into a house, which will cost about 100k. I am not looking to take equity out against my house, and my other 2 rental properties are already going through a cash out refinance to pay for renovations of a fixer upper that I am buying. Land that I already own is listed for sale, no dice, not looking to reduce price. Third rental has some equity and I'm planning to sell this fall, but not enough. Great credit. Any ideas?

I have three rentals, three respective sets of tenants- all have been great (for over a year now) and not one had a reference. Here is why I didn't require a reference for each one:

The first set were a 17 year old and a 19 year old, trying to escape a brutally abusive situation. Siblings had been taken by the state, parents collecting their welfare checks. We made a deal that they would stay in school and graduate and that the 19 year old could sign the lease. They would work enough to pay rent but attend school enough to graduate. I later attended their high school graduation, yelled louder than anyone there :) They are now married with a baby.

The second lady had a friend call instead of her to recommend her friend. I couldn't figure out why; in fairness, I am from the north. I showed them the property, and the tenant asked at the end if I would 'still' rent to her, which left me confused, as she had a job and it seemed to me that she would decide herself if she liked the house or not. She then explained that being african american, she had not been able to obtain a rental; she had lived at her last house for 3 years never late on a payment. The excuse the last landlord gave her was that, after meeting her, they had a 'no parakeet policy'. I mean, come on. So she asked her white friend to call for her. Great tenant, really sad we still live in this era.

The third tenant was an older lady whose only income was limited social security, but she had some savings. She had no job. She had been successful previously, but now since covid had lost her business. We discussed that her SS income wouldn't even cover the rent, but she had 3 years of living expenses in her savings account. She also had excellent grammar.

Every one of these tenants have been great, not one had a landlord or work reference. I did interview each one extensively, however.

Without sounding harsh, what about this sounds like a good idea? Personally, I rent out properties that I personally would live in- and I carefully screen my tenants. Many tenants limit their searches to round numbers; I would drop the rent to $1495 and see what new activity the market generates. Are you advertising on Zillow? Craigslist? Word of mouth?