All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Sam Ferguson I'd really like to see what properties you have available. I'll send you a PM.

@Kat Rathell I stand corrected. I assumed, and we all know what they say about assuming ;)

No doubt the BP community runs the gamut and critical thinking should be applied when considering most of the comments/suggestions found in the forums. My comments are no exception. Best of luck resolving your applicant woes. I hope all goes well.

@Hadar Orkibi This is a great example of why you should get to know a market. In my own area there are multiple small towns where rentals work because of the proximity to the larger town where I reside. This is why the BP community is so incredibly valuable.

@Casey Reep Navigating the crime map of LR has definitely been interesting. I certainly subscribe to the idea that if I wouldn't live there then it's not a great place to have a rental property. I'm still sifting through potential properties but will definitely reach out when I find some enticing ones. Thanks again for being so willing to share your insight as it's invaluable to an out-of-stater like myself!

@Brent Shields Great advice! I'm doubtful that the lenders that I'd like to work with in my hometown are doing to many deals outside of the area but you never know until you ask.

@James Wise Thanks for the insight. I've read suggestions from some of the books offered here on this website that these big firms aren't great for terms. This has kept me from even considering them but if you have clients that are having success I may want to give them a look. My biggest concern is that I have healthy cash reserves but as someone who is self-employed my income isn't going to WOW any loan officer. I've heard that people in my situation may have more luck working with the "smaller outfits".

@Jerry Padilla I'm making the assumption that you are an investor friendly lender? I'll PM you and maybe we can see if there's opportunity to work together.

@Kat Rathell I'm not familiar with the book "Landlording on Autopilot" that was mentioned. No doubt it's something I should add to the arsenal as I'm always looking for great property management advice. I'll just offer you the advice from "Every Landlord's Legal Guide" written by lawyers at NOLO. They suggest providing applicants with a Notice of Denial Based on Credit Report or Other Information. This advice ensures that you are in the strongest position legally to defend your actions if you ever find yourself facing a complaint from a fair housing agency. As a landlord this is ultimately what you really care about and why crafting strong leases and rental agreements are a BIG deal. You have the option to simply ignore the applicant in an effort to hope that they give up and go away. I think this decision really comes down to your management style and where on the spectrum you want to be as a manager, ranging from slumlord up to polished professional. I'm guessing that by seeking out advice on BP that you're interested more in the professional side.

@Kat Rathell

To further clarify the issue of application priority I'll give you two scenarios.

Situation 1 - You only have a few units. If you have multiple equally qualified applicants for a unit you do not need to give priority based on application order. Accept the one you feel best about (obviously avoiding discrimination against protected classes).

Situation 2 - You have many units (15+ for example). If you have multiple equally qualified applicants you may want to give priority based on application order. This will protect you from any potential appearance of discrimination since your decision was ultimately based on the order you received the applications. Otherwise, if you receive a complaint for discrimination and someone sees that your historically selected tenants seem to suggests that you do reject equally qualified applicants because they're from protected classes you'll probaly find yourself in trouble.

I at least hope that makes some sense and might help you in your application screening.

@Mahauijue Mack I'm with @Robert Biggerstaff on this one. $250 non-refundable pet fee and $25/mo. Make sure to avoid calling it a deposit as some states require those to be refundable. Remember that even in the the best case scenario, the dog doesn't physically damage the unit, there is still more cleaning effort on your part before renting the unit to a new tenant. Also, you can withhold money from the original security deposit to repair damage by the dog so don't think that any damage over $250 will come from your pocket. The tenant remains responsible to cover all damages to the unit.

@Mo Farraj As others suggested, run your numbers to determine if it's a deal or not. Use the days on market as an indicator of the seller's potential motivation to take a lower offer. Again, in the end it's only a deal if you find numbers that work for you and the seller takes your offer.

@Account Closed Thanks for the insider info. The fact that you had to look it up gives me a pretty good indication of just how far it's off the radar for people in LR. Congrats on the SFH. I hope your closing goes smoothly.

@Kat Rathell Application order generally would only come into play if you are selecting from equally qualified applicants. Even then ther's still a lot that is up to your discretion. @James Wise nailed it on the head that your real concern is only if you are violating a protected class. If you have a legitimate reason outside of these protected classes (as I believe you do in your case) you can reject their application. You need to remember that they would need to file a complaint before this becomes any sort of issue anyway. In my experience I don't know that the likelihood of that is very high in the first place.

Vacancy is one of the cardinal sins in property management. However, given your situation I'd highly recommend waiting for an applicant that doesn't have so many red flags. Think about your advertising and make sure that you're using all the resources available to find new tenants. Even a few weeks of vacancy is going to be better than fielding complaints from the upstairs tenants, police coming to the property to serve arrest warrants, and the almost inevitable eviction that you are going to deal with. Don't even risk it.