All Forum Posts by: Steve R.

I send people that want to view a property a link to a google form that is my Pre-showing questionnaire. It does not ask for any sensitive information. Just enough info for me to decide if they may qualify as one of our tenants. I usually have a pretty good response to it and if someone doesn't bother filling it out then they are probably not the tenant for me. 

I would go with number two. I've never had much luck with them actually only smoking outside and even if they do it still stinks up the house from their clothes. It's worth losing a half months rent to not have smoke damage in the unit which can be pretty spendy to remediate. 

I built up most of my portfolio while I had a full time job so I never took any money out of the business. It grew until I found the next deal to buy and rehab. I personally wouldn't put money in the stock market unless you can leave it there for 5 plus years especially if I was actively looking for more investment properties. If you have other money available for the repairs/capex then it's probably not an issue. Of course you could just invest your personal money in the stock market. It may be easier to keep clean books that way...

Hi Shah, Congrats on starting your landlording journey! Great job on educating yourself thus far! I will try to answer your questions...

1. It is good to list your screening criteria on the listing but a lot of people seem to miss it. When people reach out via text or email I always respond with something like this " Thank you for your interest in this home. You can call me at (***) ***-**** to find out more about the property and to set up a showing. I would also like to ask you a few questions to make sure the home is a good fit for you". When they call I ask them some screening questions to weed out some of the unqualified tenants. Here a few things I may ask. Why are you moving? Did you have trouble with you previous landlord? Have you fulfilled your currant lease? (You don't want to acquire some other landlords problem) Who will be living with you? (If multiple adults, explain that each adult will have to pass the same credit check, background check, and screening) Do you smoke? Do you have pets? (Dangerous breed, house trained, pet fee) Do you meet the minimum income requirement? (2.5X the rent) If so, Where does your income come from? (Work, disability, etc.) Do you have the money available for the first months rent, damage deposit, and utility deposit. If you like the home, when would you like to move it? (These last two will save you a lot of wasted time. People that don't have the money but think they can scrape it together in the next 30 days or people that aren't planning on moving for a month or two. My properties don't last that long!.

I no longer post that you have to have above a certain credit score. I just post that I will be running a credit report. When I speak to them I ask how their credit looks. They will usually either tell me its great or give me a run down of what I might find. I explain that I will be able to see their history of debt and whether or not they are responsible in paying it back.

2. Yes, that sounds like it should work well. I use cozy.co for my applications, credit/background check, and rent collection. I have used them for about 5 years now and have nothing bad to say about them. 

3. Yes, sounds good. Explain to them that you need to collect the Security Deposit when the lease is signed and that it will finalize the transaction. Explain that it is non-refundable so if they decide later to not move forward that they forfeit the deposit. (I have wording in my lease about this)

Make sure they pay first months rent, change the utilities into their name, and whatever else you require is completed before you allow them to move in. 

Best of luck to you!

I echo what @Tim Criswell said. I have refinished wood floors in my rentals and have had tenants destroy them. They just don't take the care needed to maintain a wood floor in good condition. Unless your in a class A neighborhood, I would and do cover them with LVP and then refinish the floors before selling in the future.

I have mostly B class SFR rentals in MN. Here it is expected to have a stove and fridge. I have also started putting in washers and dryers in all my houses. It is a bit more trouble because they do break and you have to either get them repaired or replaced but I have noticed that having them attracts a higher class tenant and I can justify a bit more in rent. Most people don't want to go to the laundry mat. Also, we have a used appliance store in town that will install the new and remove the old for a decent price.

This happened a while ago but I wanted to let people know how this turned out...

My title company ended up handling most of it for me for a small fee. I had to get my property resurveyed with lines in the correct spot to include all buildings along with surveys for the neighbors on each side of me. The neighbor agreed to give me the land for free if I paid all fees. I ended up paying down his mortgage about 5K so the bank would release it. The process took about 6 months but it all ended well.

@Dalton O'Rourke

I echo what @Soh Tanaka said. I have 12 SFRs and place tenants and manage them myself. It is important to educate yourself or you will pay a higher price for the education in the long run. The key to self management is to have a team of key people to call that you can rely on, especially a plumber/heating guy, and to automate rent collection and anything else you can.

I'll try to answer your questions. Please keep in mind that I'm not from your area.

1. Usually I get at least a year out of my tenants. I have had a couple that have stayed 3 plus years.

2. No, I can usually rent them out right away but sometimes it may take a couple months depending on what work needs to be done.

3. Maybe not. It looks like there are a lot of much cheaper properties in Canton and you could probably get a much better return on your money if you sold your current home and bought something else that makes more sense to rent out.

4. No. I save out 8.33% for vacancy costs, 20% for repairs and CapEx, and then about $50 each for property insurance and property taxes. That puts you at about $545 profit per month.

Best of luck!

I went up and talked to both neighbors this week. They are both willing to work with me on this. I need to figure out if I need to get their whole properties surveyed or just the portion that will be changing hands. Anybody know? Also, they both have mortgages so hopefully the banks will be cooperative.