All Forum Posts by: Jared K.

Welcome to BP! 

That my friend is awesome!!

Hmm, well I would be willing to bet some of these tenants friends/family figure out its free and other people would find their way into your pocket. I'm sure your tenant would LIKE to have that convenience but sounds like too much of a hassle, cost + maintenance on top of that for it to be as viable as it appears.

You could always tell the tenant that if she renews the lease at $550mo (which was what you were going to re-rent at anyway), and pays on time, she will receive a $25 discount that month to apply toward laundry expenses. Even if you played with the #'s or terms a little and done this for all your tenants I could see it being of benefit to you and them. 

You don't loose the tenant, no extra $ out of your pocket, and the tenant feels special....sounds like a win-win? Every tenant and landlord want the best of both worlds but it's not always possible.

Sometimes it's just that added incentive/reward to pay on time and the word discount that makes them feel special.

 Glad you liked my post & ideas :) Thanks!

What if you paid a police officer to collect the rents when he got off duty, i'm sure he could use the $? Also you could consider a Constable. 

I can see where your coming from out there in CA with fake cash, cashiers checks, etc 

Why don't you just have the tenants set up automatic withdraw/transfer with their bank on the "X" day of the month each month to your account??? If they get hit with NSF it's on them. If the transfer isn't done you will know. Piece of cake.

I think this is your solution!

I would rather leverage all of the banks money and less of mine, just pay fees/interest, which is tax deductible anyway. It allows you to acquire more property = more profits, shorter time to get there if done right.

I understand your plan but your looking to buy the same # of doors at the end of 7yrs that you could possibly acquire in 2-3yrs so why not leverage the banks money?

I can understand too if your buying cheap properties b/c the banks don't like to lend on them.

Cash is king when you buy and always will be, yes you can possibly get better deals, but I wouldn't like having all my cash tied up. I would rather have 80% cash and 20% leveraged or 50/50 at best. 

Your cash reserves, in an emergency, will be king if you have it on hand but will be reserved cash you will have to try and get to fast if it's tied up. Not always fast to get to or possible if your laid up in a hospital, just saying.

@Albert Bui Thank you so much! Awesome explanation, great detail! I should be able to get the information and go from there if I can get the incomes from previous sales in my area, may be tough. 

Your exactly right, brokers use any simple # system they can to sell but sadly it's just because that's all they have been taught. A sharp agent/broker is tough to come by are would be worth their weight in gold. I am sure there are many out there, just not so many here, and I am willing to bet they do really well with repeat investor buyers.

I will definitely put this to use!

Thanks again!  

I have never allowed my tenants to make deposits period, especially wouldn't a check  or anything besides cash but it may work for some people. I do however charge $20 for being late and $10/day until I am paid in full plus a check bounce fee. If they work my lawyer will get a judgement and garnish their wages until I am paid if they dont agree to move and a payment plan to pay the debt.

I see where you finally got the back check answer, figured that was coming. 

My problem with letting the tenant deposits, especially the checks would be this:

1) They can deposit less than the rent and the judge will see they are trying in good faith to pay something which makes it difficult to evict. If they give me less than owed I give it back, don't accept partial payments b/c it prolongs the eviction process usually another month. I do take exceptions to this rule depending on how long they have rented and if they are habitually late. If they are not usually late then I may take it once and see how it goes for the remainder balance next payday.

2) If I receive a check I can call their bank myself and verify funds for the check before I deposit it. If the funds are not there I call the tenant out on it and see if their excuse is logical, such as my pay gets deposited tomorrow at midnight so I just went ahead and wrote the check.

3) They can stall you that many more days with a check when they deposit it, say they did the deposit when they didnt, etc etc etc. and the list could go on here!

4) I am relying on them to be responsible and take it into my bank. If something goes wrong I have to be the one cover it plus my tenant is a reflection of who I am as a landlord which now became someone else's business, people talk at the bank...It would be embarrassing for me.

I do take checks from some of my tenants but they know I prefer cash to avoid issues. They also know that if one check is bad I will not take another check from them and they have to pay all of their fees and mine, cash only from that point on. I have had many tenants that paid me with a check and never had a problem but there is always someone out there that is the exception to the rule and know how to work the system.....professional bad tenants!!

I have dealt with good and bad tenants but I have been down this road your on before with a check, not fun, but would never allow them to deposit them by any means. I would make a big change in how you take payment even if I had to send someone professional to collect it for me each month. I collect my own but I can and thats me.

Best of luck :)

@Account Closed Awesome, rock on! A flip and a multi, your pounding the trenches and living it so keep up the momentum! 

Happy investing!

Planning to use the property as an investment a couple years down the road is good but just like any other investment property you make your money mostly on the buy, not always,  so hopefully you bought it at a good price. If you buy with built in equity you can tap into that equity later and use it for leverage to buy more properties or whatever you need to do with it.

I agree with @Josh C. as to how to build equity faster with your loan. I myself always get a 30yr loan so there is more profit for me per month and I can play it safe, plus it shows less going out each month on your financials. If I want to pay extra toward the principal each month I do but if I need to replace carpets between a tenant vacancy then I don't, works well for me. If I had chosen the higher payment then I wouldn't have the choice and I like being in control of my finances.

@Account Closed Please elaborate on your response. Doesn't clearly answer any of my questions above b/c I am looking for detailed information.

Thanks