All Forum Posts by: Vinod S.

Thanks Deepak!

I found an electrician through yelp who seems to have reasonable prices ($85 to install the fan - it is already wired and blocked for the fan). If anyone is interested, I'll post an update when the work is completed.

Vinod

(Apologies if this is the wrong forum for this question - please let me know where I should post such questions.)

Hello BPers,

I am looking for recommendations on a trustworthy and reliable handyman to handle (hopefully) minor jobs in the DFW area (specifically FortWorth/Keller). The SFR I am renting out is new construction (built in 2013) so I don't expect to have any major problems that are not covered by warranty.

On a related note, are handymen generally licensed to do electrical and plumbing work? I need to get a ceiling fan installed at this SFR. Should I look for a handyman or an electrician?

Thanks!

Does such an entity exist? I'm primarily looking for a management company to handle just maintenance requests. I can handle rent collection and finding a tenant, screening, etc. (at least for now, since I only have one SFR to deal with).

Most companies I have come across offer the full package for around 8% of the gross rent which is higher than I'm willing to part with. Are there companies that will handle only maintenance either for a monthly flat fee or on an as-required basis?

Thanks!

Thanks for the tips everyone! I'll browse through the FilePlace - didn't even know something like that existed.

I'm going to try the Texas package from MrLandlord and see how it goes. Seems reasonably priced.

@Ned Carey I got NOLOs e-book on tax deductions for landlords that was very helpful with preparing my tax returns for last year. I'll check out their other books also.

@Gerald K. Will definitely check out Mike Butler's book. I couldn't find a landlord association in my area, but I'll keep looking. There are a few other orgs that might be helpful.

Thanks for the welcome everyone!

Kiran, great idea on breaking down the goals - let me see what I can come up with!

Scott, thanks for the heads up about the local meets.

Brandon, I'll check out the book and also thanks for the tip on the alerts.

Hello All,

I need some advice on how to proceed with a lease that is coming up for renewal. The tenant has indicated she wants to renew and I'm happy to renew. I got the tenant through a Realtor last year, so we used official Realtor lease forms for the initial lease. Since I'm not using a Realtor for the renewal I don't believe I can use those forms (even if I could find them). I also wanted to take this chance to make some tweaks to the lease (e.g. payment options, maintenance procedures, etc.).

I have been looking at various options and came across a site (MrLandlord) that sells forms specific for Texas. I would appreciate feedback from anyone who has used that site and/or those forms before.

Or if someone has other suggestions that would also be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Vinod

Hello All,

I am a "newish" member who has been lurking for a while and enjoying the newsletters and blog posts so far. I became an "accidental" landlord when we couldn't sell our primary home after a move. In spite of a less than positive experience (bad tenant, long-distance relationship with the house :-), we decided to continue along that path and bought a single-family home last year that has worked out well so far (although I did have some questions related to that - I'll save that for another forum)

I am actually not sure what our next steps should be in REI, since our primary jobs keep both of us quite busy. Hopefully interacting with other members will help us decide. My long term goal is to generate enough passive income so I could retire if I wanted to (although I probably won't!).

Vinod

P.S.: Still working on my profile pic :-)