Ants and roaches in a rental often point to two things: water and an easy way in. A few habits that help keep a rental pest-free: 1. Fix the drips first. Leaky faucets, slow drains and damp under-sink cabinets draw pests. Fix them as soon as a tenant reports them, not at the next turnover. 2. Sea...
The days between tenants are the easiest time to set up the next lease well, and these steps are easy to skip during a busy turnover. A quick checklist: Start the deposit math on move-out day. Begin the itemized deposit accounting right away. California sets a deadline to return the deposit or se...
The fall clock change is when we check every smoke and carbon monoxide alarm on the Orange County rentals we manage. Four steps: - Press test. Every smoke and CO alarm in the home, with proper notice to the tenant before entry. - Check the dates. Weak batteries get swapped, and any alarm past the...
Hey all, I am looking to find and vet property management companies in the greater Indianapolis area to add to the trusted network that I refer out to my clients. If you have an active recommendation for a local PM you trust for residential or small multi-family assets, please drop their name bel...
For those managing rentals themselves: How do you keep track of tenant requests when they come through different channels? Text messages, phone calls, emails, maintenance apps, etc. can make it easy for something to get buried. Do you use: A property management platform A dedicated email/phone nu...
What are the payment methods your tenants are using and you recommend? My previous tenant used Zelle and it worked great. My understanding is not all banks allow similar limits per transaction or per month. I want to offer options to future tenants. Do you give your account number and routing num...
Times are getting tough again for a lot of tenants, and I keep thinking about how many good people are one missed paycheck away from an eviction notice. During the pandemic my team reached out to over a dozen organizations and filed every bit of the paperwork for our owners, and together we broug...
As the weather starts to turn, I have been thinking about the small checks that are easy to put off at a rental until something actually goes wrong. I usually start with the simple stuff: checking that windows and doors close properly, looking for drafts, and making sure outdoor taps and exposed ...
Hey guys, I’ve been using Allstate for my rental property insurance, but they have a limit of five rental properties. I’m adding two more properties to my portfolio, and I’m also not particularly happy with their pricing. For those of you who own multiple rental properties, what insurance compani...
Monthly rent can look great on paper, but the real picture also includes insurance, property taxes, repairs, vacancy periods, capital expenditures, and financing payments. I'm curious how other landlords evaluate whether a property can comfortably support its expenses before buying or refinancing...
Hey everyone! We recently purchased a fourplex in Bowling Green, KY, about 1.5 hours from where we live. We self-manage our rental properties. We're anticipating our first vacancy at this property and are trying to establish an efficient process for finding and placing tenants without having to m...
We run 236 doors in Memphis, mostly single-family and heavy Section 8, and no unit gets called rent-ready until it passes the same turnover walk. Systems and safety first, cosmetics last. We test smoke and CO detectors, run plumbing at every fixture and check for leaks, confirm HVAC function and ...
We run 236 doors in Memphis, mostly single-family and heavy Section 8, and every house sits on the same lease terms. Not similar — the same. One rent payment method, written into the lease, for every house. The same screening standard: verified, repeatable income and consistency between the story...
At 236 doors in Memphis, maintenance cannot run on whoever calls loudest. We run mostly single-family, heavy Section 8, so the volume is steady. The system is simple, and it is the same every time. First, same intake every time. Every request comes in the same way and gets sorted before anyone is...
Renting out a condo or townhome in an HOA means two sets of rules apply: your lease and the association's. A few steps that help before you lease: 1. Read the CC&Rs. Look for minimum lease terms, rental rules and any limits on how the unit can be rented. California limits how far an HOA can restr...
Vacancy costs more than almost anything else in this business, so we do not start showings until a unit is truly rent-ready. Across 236 doors in Memphis — mostly single-family, heavy Section 8 — this is the order we use: First, the unit is finished. No showing a house that still needs work. Turno...
Louisville agent here, mostly investors, and a lot of them out of state. The question I'm getting most from people shopping rentals here: do Louisville rentals still cash flow with rates over 7%? Short answer: yes, but only if you buy right. An average rental at an average price will usually qual...
Hi, first post and relatively new REI. I just closed on a SFH in Springfield OR that I'm still contemplating on if I want to make it LTR or a MTR (it works both ways). I need to change the locks on the door and am considering one of those locks that has a key pad where a combo can be inputted to ...
Hi All, I’m a first time owner in NE Los Angeles trying to understand the real-world risks, costs, and process of turning part of an existing home into a separate rental unit. I’m especially interested in hearing from owners (or your friends) who have done something similar, whether they initiall...
For anyone renting out a single-family home or condo, a quick insurance checklist that's easy to skip when a policy auto-renews: Policy type. Tell your agent the home is a rental and confirm the policy is written for a rental, not owner-occupied. If you moved out and kept the old policy, this is ...
Between tenants is the easiest time to check the physical security of a rental, and it's easy to skip during a busy turnover. A quick checklist: Deadbolts. Lock and unlock every entry door. The bolt should throw fully and smoothly; if you have to lift or push the door, fix the alignment. Strike p...
I’ve managed my own rentals and done my own repairs here in Ohio for years. I’ve seen plenty of water damage that nobody bothered to mention until there is a water stain. With how crazy insurance is right now, I was looking into risk mitigation credits (like how some insurers give discounts for l...
The record you make on move-in day is the one you lean on at move-out. Four things we do on every new tenancy in Orange County: - Walk it together. Room by room with the tenant, filling out a written move-in condition checklist. - Photograph everything. Dated photos and a short video of every roo...
I have several properties, been doing this a while- also work a full time job. i've never gotten a home warranty. i don't like to pull insurance claims except for catastrophic. I will eat out of pocket costs- water heaters etc. it turns out that one of my buildings has two furnaces that are older...
All - what is your typical policy and requirements for tenants who want to switch and move into an upcoming vacant unit that is 1) the same size/ bedroom count or 2) a different size/ bedroom count? Does your policy differ if their current lease is still in flight (e.g., has 6+ months remaining) ...