All Forum Posts by: Steve Salvatore

@Roy N. you offer some nice perks for your tenants.  The self storage service would be key for them when they are moving in or moving out of the house.  There seems to be a timing issue for a lot of students.  

Thanks @Chris Pasternak .

I've been renting to students for 10 years now. @Roy N. that is a great idea with the Take Me Home Card.  I'll have to think about that one.  I'm not sure I'd want to get into the budget bundled utilities.  That sounds like a lot of accounting and billing.  I do like the idea of the cleaning service added to the lease.  I've seen some really disgusting bathrooms.

Here are some of the things that I've been doing:

• Parents must co-sign with the student/tenant.
• An application must be submitted and the credit check is done using SmartMove (under the BiggerPockets Resources tab.  I've used this for one year now and trying to get used to it.
• Rent should be high enough to compensate for the frequent turnover of students.  Most of them live there 2 or more years.
• I require a security deposit and last months rent in advance. 
• Subletting is allowed.
• If the tenants are re-signing for the next year, I do a brand new lease.  If anyone has a better way, let me know.  Sometimes one student will only stay one year and they will find someone else to take their place, so a new lease swaps their names and co-signers.
• The majority of students are respectful and do not destroy houses, but you must try to get a feeling when they are looking at the house.  Some questions that they ask can reveal if they are party or want to hold parties in the house.  
• I have not had international students, but you will have a co-signer issue.  That came to light when a girl from China was looking at the house.  She said that she had scholarship money that would cover the rent.  She didn't end up renting the house, but that's something to keep in mind.  I would have rented to her without a co-signer with proof of the scholarship.
• My lease requires a professional carpet steam cleaning.  I should probably build that into the lease, but I haven't yet.  I do my inspection after the steam cleaning to check for carpet damage.
• I supply free washer and dryers, dishwasher (no garbage disposal).
• I periodically inspect the house for any plumbing or sanitation issues

Good luck @Kimberly Gillock .  Do your student screening well.

Those of you in the Pittsburgh area, can you recommend a tax accountant who has experience working with real estate investors?  I live in the North Hills, so it would be more convenient if they lived north of Pittsburgh or that they do work over the phone and internet.

@Jerry Kisasonak most likely it needs to be something dreamed up by the mayor or city council that will cause them to spend more money than they bring in with the $65.  Something like an online form with with existing technology would be too easy.

Welcome @Brady Lucas Young .  I am a local investor in the Pittsburgh area.  You came to the right website for information.  Start listening to the Podcasts.

Congratulations @Andy Ballester  .  You've taken a big step buying your first property.  Good luck with managing your property.  I do the same with mine and have a full time job.   Thank you for your military service.

Thanks for the response @Ian M.   I have more of a problem with having to hire a management company.  That would cost far more than the $65 registration fee. 

I am posting an email that was sent out by ACRE of Pittsburgh on a proposed bill on rental property registration in the city of Pittsburgh.  Representation of rental property owners is needed at the hearing to voice opposition to this bill.

http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2014/11/20/Charging-landlords-Is-the-purpose-better-rentals-or-just-more-revenue/stories/201411300011

.

URGENT! WE NEED A LARGE AND VOCAL OPPOSITION - New Taxes and a lot more: Pittsburgh Rental Registration

Pittsburgh City Council intends to pass an ordinance whereby every rental property owner must "register" their rental properties every year. The proposed Registration Fee is $65 per UNIT (not address) per year. The purported reason for this ordinance and fee is so the City will have a quick/easy way to contact a property owner should his property become a "Nuisance Property." The actual reason is more likely the couple-of-million-dollar hole in the City's 2015 Operating Budget. Rather than raise property taxes a scant amount for everyone so that everyone can participate in "closing the hole", the City is choosing to burden a select group of people ..... Rental property owners.

There are a few questions/problems regarding the ordinance that immediately come to mind:

- If the objective is to have accurate owner contact information for every piece of property in the city, rather than charging fees just for the sake of collecting them .......Why would it be necessary for the property owner to provide his same contact information three times and pay a $65 registration fee three times for the same triplex? Or ten times for the same 10-unit apartment building? Or 100 times for the same 100-unit building? Obviously its the duplicated fees that the City finds so desirable.

- In Pennsylvania, a "fee" cannot be more than what it costs the taxing body to administer the service for which the fee covers. In this case, the City would have us believe it costs them $65 per year to contact the owner of a single family rental property. And for some reason it costs them 10 times as much, $650 per year, to contact the owner of a 10-unit rental property.

There are additional provisions of the ordinance which are also problematic:

- The City has exempted certain property owners from filing and paying the yearly fees: Universities, housing authority, non-profits, commercial properties.

- Owners of Pittsburgh rental properties who do not live in Allegheny County will not be allowed to manage their own properties. They will be REQUIRED to HIRE a property manager who must be a licensed real estate agent and whose business must be located in Allegheny County.

A Public Hearing on the ordinance has been (hastily) scheduled for Monday, December 1st. Mayor Peduto has said he plans to move forward with the ordinance if there is not a "large and vocal opposition" to it. Its therefore imperative for all who do oppose to show up at the hearing: Either to speak and therefore demonstrate "vocal opposition". Or, if you are uncomfortable making public statements, your mere presence in the audience will be needed to demonstrate that opposition is indeed "very large".

You do not need to reside in the City to either attend or to speak. You may want to pass this along to your investor clients. And if any of you have tenants of your own, you may want to encourage them to come as well. As we all know, sooner or later these fees will wind up being passed along to the tenants in the form of rent increases.

PLEASE ATTEND!

WHEN: Monday, Dec 1st, 6PM

WHERE: City Council Chambers, 5th Floor of City-County Building, 414 Grant Street, Downtown Pgh

TO SPEAK: Anyone who wishes to speak will be allowed 1 minute. No registration needed.

TO SPEAK FOR 3 MINUTES: You must register in advance in order to be allowed 3 minutes to speak.

Register by calling the City Clerk Office at 412-225-2138 before Noon on Monday, Dec 1st.

Or register on line athttp://app.getresponse.com/click.html?x=a62b&lc=V2AtO&mc=hZ&s=SKSKhl&u=SjrP&y=k&

Welcome @Anthony Brown Jr.  I am also an investor in the Pittsburgh area.  I haven't done any flips yet, so I can't offer any advice on that type of investing.  Make sure that you start listening to the Podcasts.  They are a valuable resource and can give you motivation.

Steve