All Forum Posts by: Sarnen Steinbarth

 Just sent you a message, thanks!

@Denita Ozenne

Awesome.  Just sent you a message.  Let me know if you have any questions!

And congrats on getting into RE investment!

@Denita Ozenne

Do you have a certain price range you are willing to spend?  Are you looking for a free solution or are you willing to pay $50-200+/month?

@Darlena Jones

As an instructor of property management courses I see students always having a soft spot for tenants.  Typically they are tenants doing something wrong and wanting to make an exception for XYZ reason.  These are the soft spots you want to avoid.

In your situation the tenant has clearly done nothing wrong.

So if you are comfortable with the construction and financial burden I see no down-side.  You are not perpetuating a bad habit by a tenant.  You are just being a nice person.

Great, and timely, holiday spirit!

 @Richard - Thanks for the mention.  We don't call references, but all that information is compiled and easily view-able for the landlord with our online applications.  Landlords have the final say - we just help out!

Feel free to message me with any other questions!

Thanks,

It may depend on your ad - did you post all the relevant details?  Pictures?  Good pictures?  Map the listing?  Good titles?

You may want to look into posting on more than just Craigslist.  

While I suppose this is not a direct answer. . . if you have to ask (unsure enough in your feeling) then you are probably better off waiting.

(It goes without saying that you don't do this based on a fair housing protected class.)

In the long-run I think being strict will probably pay off.  

I've had over 1000 tenants.  2 owe me money.  This is because of strict screening.

Just chiming in with the rest of the crowd. . . move on to the next.

"A vacancy is better than a bad tenant" - Never forget this.

Vacancies don't cause damage.  Have parties, incur legal fees, etc.

Wait and get a good one and your life will be easier.

I have had some luck with tenants going to public libraries to apply online.  Often times there are librarians that can assist with computer technology if they are unfamiliar with computers. 

Back when I owned a property management company I even set up a kiosk in our office for tenants to apply online where an employee could help them through.

Same with online rent payments.

Follow Up:

The dollar amount is whatever is negotiated or offered by the landlord.  I have seen anywhere from $100-1000 (typically a few hundred).

Same with the time - whatever works, perhaps a couple days.

Typically you might have them sign something acknowledging that they have moved out and have not further rights to the property - a mutual agreement to terminate.