All Forum Posts by: Yunzhi Huang

@Yvonne H. thanks for such a criteria list.  I am currently using the zillow’s Application process and background check etc.  Some of the items are not included.  Do you have any suggestion on back ground check provider?

@Jingru Sui thank you for the advise!

@David Stumpf lease renew for fence upgrade is a good suggestion!  Then should that be just an oral agreement or should I put that into the lease to sign?  I am putting up the vinyl fence to match the neighbors, it’s only 100 ft long but the highest bid I got was like 9K+ ....@.@

@Jonathan W. thanks for the input.

@Derrick E. Thanks for the facebook market tip.  I will try posting there.  If the insurance could agree to a 8-month lease, that would be quite ideal too.  I found being a landlord needs me to sharpen up my negotiation skills :D

Thank you all.  I think I will keep accepting applications then!  Glad I asked here and really appreciate all the great advises.

I totally agree with you.  I heard some stories from a landlord friend about letting renters re-tile the bathroom.  It didn’t end well.  Contractors are expected to be bonded and insured for a reason. 

They’ve been over-remodeled over the last 10 years.  They tried to sell the houses in the last few years, although got buyers but couldn’t pass bank appraisal... twice... until this year they got enough expensive houses around and overall market was up...  luckily they sold the house at a price that enough to payoff all the debt and rent for 20 years.  Maybe flippers or brrrr could use this as an bad example. 

My 3rd and 4th choice are:

- a couple with good credit score >720, the husband has good job, 3 kids no pet, however they cannot move in until Sep.  On top of that , they ask for a fence immediately which will cost me 5-6K...a little bit hard to absorb this cost right now.

- a couple who’s at edge of foreclosure, high debt ratio (95%) on credit card, but are selling their house too to recover from their financial situation.  They offered me to install the fence for me (I buy the material) for $1000 rental credit for the first two months, while they are potentially paying both mortgage and rents.  Their house is in a good location and the current market value could pay all the debt they have and left a decent amount to pay years of rentals (this part is similar to the 

Lucky me.  Should I just keep showing until I get an ideal tenant? Good credit, good income, want to stay long and can move in immediately?

I am new landlord and just bought my very first investment property and feel so excited to put the house on Zillow to rent asap.  My local market for a similar house goes from $1700-1850, so I set mine at $1700 hoping to get renters faster and attract more people to apply.  (Seasoned landlords, please comment on whether this strategy is the good or not?)

I did end up with a lot of showing and among those have a couple good potential renters.  My husband and I came down to the last 2 options:

- a couple who's own house is under repair and insurance pays for temporary housing.  Their insurance is willing to pay $2100/mo but only willing to sign 6-mon lease with month-to-month options.  The couple has 2 young lovely kids (super adorable) and a big dog.  They said they could put their cat away.  Our winter is bad, and I am worried if they move out in Jan, I would have trouble to rent out again...

- an elder couple who just sold their house and needs to move out asap.  On the showing, they brought me the IDs, their house selling contract, the husband's senior management job contract and their marriage license, saying that's because they have different last names.  They even brought a ruler and measured rooms to see if their furniture could fit on the showing day.  But they also told me if I pull their credit score, don't be surprised that they have bad scores, which were credit debt for fixing up their old house.  But as soon as their house closes, they will pay off those debts immediately.  I did check the credit score (<430+ with about 70K credit card debts), and their job (it is a highly paid long-term job) and they told me they want to at least rent the house for 3 years.

Both couples love the house a lot, and both want to move in asap.  As a new landlord, I don't have much experience about how to choose between these two tenants.  Can seasoned landlords give me some advice?  Thanks in advance!