Comments on: Three Innovative, but Risky Ideas

By: Dennis

Dennis — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:43:38 +0000

Brendan,

There is only one sure fire way to keep them in the apartment using a bonus. Give the tenant a bonus each and every week or month.

One of my early mentors gave his tenants free pizza, one pie every week during the entire year. The free pizza deal would be canceled if they were late with the rent. The following year he would raise their rent, keeping the pizza deal intact.

He made a deal with a local pizza join, getting a discount for sending them all of this business. These folks usually added toppings, soda, and extra pizza’s. The pizza guy allowed him to post apartment for rent listings on the wall near the waiting area.

This guy never had a vacancy that lasted more than a month.

By: Steven Boorstein

Steven Boorstein — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:10:21 +0000

Brendan, I too, am partial to the idea of minimizing the emphasis on credit checks. I would still do them, but they rank low on my scale of importance. I'm more concerned with criminal background check, as far as background is concerned. In my experience, focusing on tenants that have enough income to pay the rent, a stable job, no criminal activity and exceptional attitudes are most important. Also, if you currently don't rent to tenants that have pets, you might want to consider that. I just posted an article on my site which discusses this issue. Best of luck, you are facing the same issue as many other landlords across the US! Steven Boorstein’s last blog post: Do You Rent To Tenants With Pets?

By: Tony Arko

Tony Arko — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:47:36 +0000

Brendan, I am partial to the credit check elimination idea. But I would do it a little differently than just not running a credit check. I would market directly to individuals or couples that have had a short sale or foreclosure in the recent past or currently going through it. I have rented several properties to these types and they have all turned out excellent. The caveat being they can't be complete deadbeats. A lot of these individuals have had unfortunate circumstances but they still have good jobs and can provide a larger security deposit. I put a line in a rental listing that says "Recent victims of the real estate downturn are welcome to apply". Tony Arko’s last blog post: 1st Annual Dulles Home Fair on June 13th

By: Kyle Edginton

Kyle Edginton — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:56:47 +0000

Thanks for the great ideas on running a rental property. Incentives, background checks and cutting your losses. Good stuff.