Own two properties built the same year, early 90s. One I gutted and renovated three years ago, everything's basically new. The other I bought as-is, and as far as I can tell most of the original systems are still in there. been using roughly the same reserve number for both because they're the sa...
For those of you who rent to sec 8 with a large number of bedrooms. What is your turnover like? How much are your make readies? Do the families trash the place?
A "no pets” policy does not automatically mean a tenant cannot have an assistance animal. Under Fair Housing requirements, a qualifying service or emotional support animal may be considered a reasonable accommodation for a person with a disability. That means the animal generally cannot be treate...
PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE / PROPERTY OPERATIONS September 2026 A Preventative Maintenance Calendar That Protects Cash Flow Preventative maintenance turns surprise repairs into planned work. A simple seasonal calendar can help Cleveland, Akron, and Lorain landlords stay ahead of weather, equipment ...
I made a post earlier and someone said to gift tenants things for new/renewal leases. What gifts work best? Are there any other guerrilla marketing techniques to attract new tenants?
Any landlords here Baselane for banking or any of the other services they provide? I signed up for a free account to collect rent and use them as my dedicated bank account for my LLC. They also mention they run backgrounds checks, have accounting services, loans, etc. Almost seems to good to be t...
Tenants move in this month on the 15th, and this is our first time being landlords. We are doing some research on rent collection methods but are new to all of this, so if anyone has recommendations that would be great! We are looking for something that will help us out with automated pay, as wel...
I'm thinking about trying Baselane. It seems like the only software that also allows landlords to keep security deposits separate which is a feature I'm looking for! Plus bookkeeping for taxes. Is anyone using this software? Do you have to collect W9 from all tenants? In Colorado, landlords need ...
I'm nearing completion on my first rental property And have done research on both RentRedi and Baselane. They both seem To have great features, I was just wanting an opinion from some seasoned investors on which one they prefer? What are some strengths and weaknesses of each? Thanks in advance!
On our utility bills, I'm seeing "Estimated reading." I've seen investors say to watch out for estimated readings. What do I do if I see an estimated reading? Can we get money back for that? Why are people saying watch out for it?
Hey everyone, I've been managing a few units myself while working, and maintenance dispatch has easily become the most annoying part of my day. Every time a tenant has a repair issue (like a leaking sink or HVAC problem), I find myself caught in an endless loop of phone tag. I text the tenant for...
For rental investors, when do you start considering DSCR financing instead of traditional financing? Is it the property's income potential, the investor's portfolio strategy, the simplicity of qualifying based on the property, or something else? What factors make DSCR attractive for your rental s...
Most new landlords think the security deposit is theirs to sort out on their own timeline. It isn't. Florida Statute 83.49 puts you on a strict clock and if you miss it, you don't lose the right to deduct for damage, you lose the right to keep anything, full stop, even if the tenant trashed the p...
Curious how everyone's managing multiple properties & what system you're using, & actually enjoy using. I self-manage a few right now and it all lives in an Excel sheet I built myself. It works fine, but I'm manually entering everything, which is getting old. What I'd love is something that holds...
Landlords & real estate investors — what is ONE thing you wish your property manager did better? Not necessarily something that would make you fire them—just that one thing that consistently frustrates you or makes you think, “Why can't they just get this right?” Communication? Repairs? Tenant sc...
Not selling anything, just trying to understand a workflow. Read a thread on here a while back where someone mentioned going line by line through their AppFolio owner statement PDF every month, manually re-entering it into QuickBooks because they wanted their own books, not just what the PM sends...
Hey BP Community, I’ve been following the discussions here for a while and wanted to officially introduce myself. My path into property management started with a legal background. While practicing law, I saw firsthand how quickly a small oversight in a lease, a delayed maintenance request, or an ...
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT / CASH FLOW September 2026 5 Signs Your Rental Property Is Costing You Money A property can look profitable on paper while quietly draining cash through vacancy, deferred maintenance, weak tenant screening, and poor expense control. Here are five warning signs worth catching b...
Hi all, I'm thinking about whether and how to sell my rental in Brightwood. My goal is to cash out, pay off the liabilities and invest in another asset. Just earlier this year, I jumped through all the hoops, made a bunch of repairs and got a 2 year BBL. The house currently has tenants, most of w...
As I'm looking to purchase a first property up here in New England (Vermont), the use of oil/propane for heating homes really drags down these cash flowing properties. I'm curious to know how much success you have had installing heat pumps as a primary heating source for tenants who would then co...
how can you change from management company when your previous management person doesn't answer your texts and phone calls to at least let them know you don't want to work with them anymore . can you do it by just sending them a notification that you're no longer working with them? . this is one o...
For experienced landlords: What expense surprised you most when you first started? Maintenance? Vacancy? CapEx? Property management? Insurance? Something else? Would love to hear the expenses newer investors should be building into their numbers from day one.
Memphis operator since 2003, few hundred doors, majority Section 8, own crews and own management. This one is time-sensitive and it's the kind of money that gets left on the table quietly, so I'd rather post it now than write something cleverer next month. WHAT HAPPENED HUD published the FY2027 f...
I screen listings against a hard money purchase test, and tenant-occupied rentals for sale keep producing the same answer. Houston, Harris County: 325 of them. San Antonio, Bexar County: 181. A twenty-zip corridor south and east of Houston: 25. That is 531 listings across three markets, and not o...
Set up my maintenance reserve budget when I bought my first property and honestly never touched the number again. Just kept saving the same amount every month.then I actually looked at it properly last month and realized the number I picked three years ago made no sense anymore. The roof was newe...