All Forum Posts by: Joe Schwartzbauer

Looking at your numbers I would implement changes right away. If you have to find new tenants, so be it. Much better than dealing with having to explain the changes for the first 3 years. My opinion. Good luck

As a property management company our policy is the tenants can paint with the owners permission. If the colors are neutral and go with the feel of the rest of the property. Any damage done(paint spills or spray) will be deducted from the deposit. If the tenants want to paint a wild color it must be returned to the original color at move out. Any touch up will be deducted from the deposit. It's easiest to just paint your properties in a neutral color to begin with and not allow to paint. Make sure you save your paint codes for future paint! Good luck

With our management company we will do an inspection of the property as often as you wish for a fee. We currently manage just shy of 500 properties and would have to staff one person solely for this job. All of our maintenance workers are trained to do a visual inspection anytime they enter a property and report back to us. So if there is an issue its like a free inspection. If you do hire a PM make sure this is part of the agreement. It really comes down to doing the proper screening of the tenants. Good luck

Do the proper background and credit check. Get their parents as cosigners. I've found students with parents as cosigners are great! The parents pay the rent and are typically there at the end of the lease cleaning the fridge because they want their deposit back! Do your proper checks get your systems in place. Plan for the worst and hope for the best. It's a learning process. Good luck!!

Full background check for anyone living 18+ living in the property. Leases and security deposits for everyone. This could be an excellent long term relationship with the community college that could branch off into housing for teachers and students alike. I would milk this for everything you can!

Rent paying adults should earn at least 3x monthly rent. Credit scores over 600. No felonies, evictions or unlawful detainers. No drug or violent crimes. Stick to these guidelines and you'll be fine. 

Craigslist, postlets, trulia, zillow are tops. Pre screen tenants before showings to not waste time. I use this 

Thank you for your interest in our property. I hope to show it to you soon. To better understand if you qualify with VSM Real Estate rental requirements, I need to ask you a few questions...

1) What is your desired move in date?

2) What is the combined monthly income of any person(s) that will be living in the home (net?). We require that the household income exceeds 3x the monthly rent.

3) Do you know your credit score? We are looking for tenants with good credit but are open to many situations.

4) How many total occupants will there be living in the house? How many people 18 or older?

5) Any pets, how many and what type/breed, and size?

6) Do you or any future occupants have a felony, unlawful detainer or eviction on their record?

7) What are the best days/times for you to view the property?

Name:

Email Address:

Phone:

We will be in contact soon

Thank you!

This copy/paste template saves me countless hrs. If they are not willing to provide answers, you don't want them. 

Make sure you run credit checks, criminal background and contact previous landlords. We offer a tenant placement only contract to many of our owners. Good luck!

You should without a doubt bill the PMC for any fines that come due to license issues. That is very unprofessional. I would seek out new management or if like you say this is your only property self managing is an option. Is it your local area? Unfortunately a PMC cannot drive by on a weekly basis to see if the grass has been cut. This should be in the lease though and the tenants would be in violation of the lease if they are not cutting the grass.  Check out your lease details. 

If you are managing a lot of units Buildium is excellent. We manage about 450 units and love buildium. Highly recommended 

Mgmt contracts do not carry over after sale of the property. Any fees should be paid by the seller. 

Hey Sean!

I'd love to connect with you to help you achieve your goals! Reach me here or at [email protected] talk soon!