We refined it into a plan, gave her a deposit only bank card and, for the two years she was our tenant, her rent was never late.As I often say, we are an accommodation service provider, working to become a lifestyle service provider, and not merely a landlord.Another thing we are doing with our student rentals is offering them {partially} furnished - living room, dining area and bed, dresser, desk & chair in each bedroom - at an extra $25/month per furnished bedroom.  

When considering the costs associated with multiple sources of finance, ie, leveraging a property, using credit cards, private lending, car loans, HELOCs, signature loans, hard money, it gets very complicated very fast to see the total picture on how much the total financial package is going to add to the cost of acquiring and renovation of the property.

All that said, if you passed-up watching House of Cards, then it's a slam dunk, you win!

If you get approved for a Lowe's credit card you can buy almost all your reno stuff there and they have no interest for a certain period of time.

Luckily, I am not looking to buy at the moment, and selling without a better place for a 1031 is also not in the cards now.It is interesting to be coming across these little nuances like Rita and the utilities that can only stay in the owner's name.

The rate we have is a) the lowest they have, and b) discounted a result of relationships we set up (checking, savings, debit card, online banking etc).

Ditto above, we use a credit card whenever possible.

They were talking about sending gift cards around Christmas, etc.

When you’re starting out, especially when you’re starting out, you should have a clear idea of what the financing will look like.Oh, and if I call someone like a lender and ask a dozen questions, I immediately follow up by sending a $10 gift card (usually Starbucks) and thank them for their time.

My mom added me on her credit card a while ago to make my credit score increase.