All Forum Posts by: Tomas Calvino

I am actually in the process of buying a duplex in order to do some house hacking. One side is currently rented at $900/month. I am moving into the vacant one with my girlfriend of almost 2 years. She also will not be on the mortgage, deed, or putting any money towards the down payment. We have agreed that once I figure out what all my expenses are after the rent comes in, we will split 50/50. However, since she doesn't own it, I would be the one paying to fix the major systems if they break. Same as if I was the landlord. Any normal repairs that would get charged to the tenant, we would just split 50/50 also. In the end, she pays less than if I actually charged her rent and it also splits my bills in half. So it is a win win for both of us. We can talk about these kinds of things with no problems or arguments so I am completely comfortable doing this with her. If you're not 100% sure that this girl is sane, I would not have her move in. And after 6 months, I don{t see how you could be 100% sure. If we end up getting married, I'll just add her to the deed. At that point I won't care that she didn't contribute to the down payment.

Hello BiggerPockets, I'm looking at purchasing a duplex in the area and I noticed that each side of the duplex has its own deed and tax account. So it's basically considered two different properties. Is there a way to finance the whole thing in one loan? If not, what would be the following steps to take in order to be able to finance both sides using a conventional or FHA loan?

Hey Jordan Vance welcome to Brevard. I also attend the Monday night meetings in Palm Bay. They definitely got a good group there. Contact Priscilla Z. If you're interested. I invest in buy and hold properties in Palm Bay and the Southern Brevard County area. I also sell real estate on the side but I mainly have my license to help me invest. If you have any questions feel free to reach out.

@Dan Perrott Thanks for the suggestions. I think I will definitely do a pre-screening interview at the open house. Do you have the list of questions that you ask potential tenants to see if they qualify?

@Thomas S. Hey Greg, thanks for the input, I agree I most likely will not get an application unless they get there early and come back before it is over. Just to make sure I understand clearly, you run their background and then after they pass, you meet with them to interview and collect the application fee? 

What if they just change their mind? Do you lose out on the application fee? 

Hello BiggerPockets,

I'm having an open house this weekend and I've had over 50 people contact me about seeing the property. I'm wondering what the best way to accept applications is when you have a lot of applicants. 

Here is what I was thinking of doing...Doing the 4 hour open house and collecting all applications during that time. Then pre-screen all applications and discard the ones that do not meet minimum requirements. Then processing the the "passing" applications in the order they came in. After finding the first qualified applicant, letting the others know that an application has been accepted.

Here are my questions:

• Should I collect applications with the application fee or wait until I "pre-qualify" the applications first and then request the application fee from the applicants I will actually process?
• When I process the applications, should I do them all and then choose or run them first come first serve and accept the first qualified tenant?
• If I run them first come first serve, and I accept the first one (hypothetically speaking), I would need to return the application fee to the applicants I did not process. That is why I'm wondering about collecting application fees until I pre-screen all application. I don't want to go through the hassle of having to return money to a bunch of people. 

What do you guys do when you have a lot of people putting applications in? I want to be ready if that happens. 

Thanks,

Hello BiggerPockets,

I'm having an open house this weekend and I've had over 50 people contact me about seeing the property. I'm wondering what the best way to accept applications is when you have a lot of applicants. 

Here is what I was thinking of doing...Doing the 4 hour open house and collecting all applications during that time. Then pre-screen all applications and discard the ones that do not meet minimum requirements. Then processing the the "passing" applications in the order they came in. After finding the first qualified applicant, letting the others know that an application has been accepted.

Here are my questions:

• Should I collect applications with the application fee or wait until I "pre-qualify" the applications first and then request the application fee from the applicants I will actually process?
• When I process the applications, should I do them all and then choose or run them first come first serve and accept the first qualified tenant?
• If I run them first come first serve, and I accept the first one (hypothetically speaking), I would need to return the application fee to the applicants I did not process. That is why I'm wondering about collecting application fees until I pre-screen all application. I don't want to go through the hassle of having to return money to a bunch of people. 

What do you guys do when you have a lot of people putting applications in? I want to be ready if that happens. 

Thanks,

You definitely are not. I was thinking the same thing. Im young myself but I hope people my age don't get the idea that it's okay to blow all your money at the club and not be able to pay rent. Lol

The good thing about you doing this is that you will learn SOOO much this first time around that the next time you have to do it, it really won't seem as daunting. There will ALWAYS be more things to learn in this field so do not think that anyone gets to the point where they know every single aspect and how to react to every scenario.  A good land lording book that I read recently is The Unofficial Guide to Managing Rental Property. It covers basically from beginning to end what you should do. It is a must read if you're going to be a landlord. Good luck on this!

I just started trying them out. I set up my property and the tenants. But that's about it. I had some issues, contacted their support team and they were lightning fast and helpful at getting back to me. But I have not been able to try out most of the features they offer yet. Seems pretty good so far though.