We pay Lightning Docs a $500 annual fee and $500 per loan, which we charge to our borrowers at closing.

Canton is not quite as bad, although they have increased annual fees and initial inspection requirements in the past few years that Akron never put in place. 

Here's a list of things to track:- Formal lease application- Formal signed and executed lease specific to your state- Payment history (I recommend using online rent collection like Apartments.com, RentRedi, etc)- Maintenance requests and receipts- Accounting for all rental-related expenses (repairs, utilities, etc) The more you treat it like a business, the more helpful you are to your CPA come tax time. 

Cash on cash describes how much cash a rental property is putting in your pocket on an annual basis divided by the cash you took out of your pocket to buy it. 

Think of all the things that could go wrong and see if the lease addresses them: unauthorized pets or tenants, early termination, security deposit, lease violations, late rent, eviction, lawn maintenance, parking, etc.5.

Louis, Missouri-based property manager seeking investors and opportunities to property Tenant screening, lease negotiation, property maintenance, rent collection. 

Begin a maintenance schedule ASAP.

I have some clients who prefer to have a PM for maintenance/contact/rent collection/general management and will place tenants and write leases for themselves in exchange for a reduced rate.  

In our area, the housing authority does annual inspections to (mostly making sure the landlord is keeping up the units) review the tenant and the landlord. 

Gifting her cash simplifies ownership but forfeits these tax advantages and requires filing a gift tax return for amounts over $19,000 (2025 annual gift exclusion).