All Forum Posts by: Thomas O'Donnell

You learn each time you have to do something new, so in the future you already have the knowledge to deal with the same situation. Everyone can know anything if you just read about it, but having to go through it teaches you way more. I have 0 issue learning as I go with managing my properties. I know many people who have 10+ doors and still self manage and have done well for themselves. I'm also about to be a certified home inspector and it isn't hard for me to get maintenance referrals or figure it all out on my own. PMs don't care about your properties in the same way you do. And like I said, why would I get a PM when I am living in the property. That is money wasted. I have spent much time learning about property management as a landlord and the ins and outs but of course I want to go through it myself because you can learn so much more by actually doing it.

 I'm not going to hire a PM when I literally live in the other unit of the duplex. It's 1 property. I'm just asking questions to be sure on things as I start managing and screening myself. Maybe when I have 10 doors and I'm too busy to manage them then I'd go for a PM.

Do I need to have an LLC for a business account?

If I am going to require a 600+ credit score for my rental, does it need to be put somewhere in the lease? Or would I just list it in the description when marketing the property for rent? 

Is an LLC needed in order to get tax write offs? I only have one duplex at the moment and was not planning on setting up an LLC yet.

If I have already paid for maintenance/repairs before renting it out with my personal account, would I still be able to write these off? And do you think I would need to create an LLC to have a business account? I currently purchased this duplex under my personal name and have not created an LLC.

I have been thinking about setting up a new account specific for my duplex. A checking account for rental income/paying the mortgage, and then a savings account to cover any maintenance or repairs. Does anyone have any tips on if I should do this or how I should go about it? I currently bank with Wells Fargo but where I'm at in Ohio there isn't many of them. I was thinking of opening something up at a new bank specific to my real estate and keeping my wells Fargo personal. Would love to get some experienced investor thoughts! Thank you.

My duplex has washer/dryer hookups in both of the basements. I currently do not have these in either unit (I am living in one side). Should I be looking to purchase a washer/dryer for the other unit and have it installed? Or should I have tenants use a laundromat instead? I am worried that tenants will often break these appliances, but I know that they are good selling points with your rental due to their convenience. Thoughts?  

I am beginning to set up/edit a lease to list one side of my duplex for rent. Should I require renter's insurance or would that give me less applicants? I am also planning on requiring a credit score at or above 625, no pets, no smoking, no evictions and 3x the rent for income. I have also thought about creating a Google Docs form with pre-screening questions and putting the link on the listing so that applicants can kind of disqualify themselves and I will not have to waste time screening so many unqualified people. Does anyone have any thoughts or tips about this? Or maybe some things I should make sure are also in my lease? I'd love to try and add in quarterly maintenance walkthroughs if possible so that nothing goes ignored until they move out. Would love to get some input from my fellow investors on how to best set up my lease and begin screening tenants (I'm currently using Avail to start managing my property).