All Forum Posts by: Shannon Strickland

I use Rent Redi and have created a system, so to speak, of what I want to see each step of the process. In my Prequalification form, I ask if the person has 3x the income—at this point, it is the honor system (it’s too early to get a lot of private info). If the Prequalification is good, I invite the person to Apply. Rent Redi generates the emails for these steps, but they permit modifications, and they ask for the W-2 and banking information in the Application. If I accept the Application, I say through Rent Redi:

Hi {tenant},

Status Update:

Congratulations! Your application to {property} has been accepted!

Next Steps:

• Please reply with a photo/copy of the first page of your contract—per-hour rates may be redacted
• Purchase renter’s insurance
• Pay a refundable Security Deposit

Thank you,

The first page of the offer letter did state the hourly income (but it is redacted) and did not state the living stipend. I don’t personally need to know those exact numbers. Combined with the background checks, I felt confident that rent would be paid, and having the weekly collection adds peace of mind if things were to go south (especially while house hacking), but I can tell they will not.

Personally, I won’t house hack with anyone who is uncooperative though.

I’d be glad to chat with you privately to answer questions and give you confidence.

Shannon

We have had our first travel nurse for 6 weeks so far. The way we approached it is, if the background check, credit check and eviction history all came out fine (which says a lot about the person), I asked for the redacted first page of the contract as proof of employment offer. Also, we hired a RE lawyer to draft our mid-term lease because we’re house hacking, and through that, we were persuaded to collect rent on a weekly basis to make eviction quicker if it is ever needed. What was provided by your candidate seems enough, but maybe others here think differently. I hope this is helpful.

Shannon

I thoroughly explained that I have Boarders because they understand that term. When I would call them Tenants, the type of insurance would change to Landlord and signal to my VA loan lender inaccurate information.

 That's exactly the detail I was hoping for and will begin doing. Thank you.

Congratulations, Bailey! The first thing that stands out is that it is possible to buy anything in the US for $65k in 2023—I wonder if there’s the same opportunity in northern Virginia (my own backyard). Second, are you willing to share how the insurance contract came into existence? How did they know about you?

Thank you for sharing and taking questions.

Wow, this is so encouraging, inspiring, and motivating, Jake. May you find creative ways to finance this model a few more times while you are young!

Shannon in VA