Houston, TX · Member since 2017 · 7 posts · 2 votes
Hi Folks,
I am new on here and seeking valuable ideas and tips on how to rent my 4bedroom house in Houston to great tenant. I got this house in 2015 brand new. Please a step to step guild on all I need to know about the rental laws in Texas or links to resourceful reads will be much appreciated.
You can go to your public library and check out Nolo's books on Landlords and Tenants or go to the Texas gov website and look for Texas Property Code Chapter 92 pertaining to rental property.
There are lots of sites you can use to screen potential tenant background and credits. You'll need to setup and document your criteria to approve tenant to protect yourself against discrimination. Make your criteria doesn't violate The Fair Housing Act.
Good luck.
You can go to your public library and check out Nolo's books on Landlords and Tenants or go to the Texas gov website and look for Texas Property Code Chapter 92 pertaining to rental property.
There are lots of sites you can use to screen potential tenant background and credits. You'll need to setup and document your criteria to approve tenant to protect yourself against discrimination. Make your criteria doesn't violate The Fair Housing Act.
Good luck.
A few ideas: 1. have WRITTEN qualifications for prospective tenants. This can weed out those not qualified 2. schedule all showings in one short period of time. Don't make ten trips. 3. Post on CL with good pictures 4. make sure you are familiar with fair housing laws-FRSHCRN is the acronym 5. have a blank lease with you for prospects to look over 6. get a strong security deposit 7. KNOW you state landlord laws
@Kingsley Osondu You can do all the things (great advice) that have been suggested, or you can simply hire a Professional Property Management co. For between 8% and 10% of collected rent they will manage your property with a professional and fully trained staff. We joke about it, but over the last 25 years I've seen it happen many times, managing your own buy and hold property is often the fastest way to get out of Real Estate Investing. Professional PM company will find you a qualified tenant, manage the day to day with your property, handle problems when they come up, and deal with all the silly things that tenants like to do. And you will have time to enjoy your investment and look for your next one... Let the PM company deal with the renters (thoroughly and professionally) and you can focus on growing your portfolio, your family, your life....
@Brian,great insight... this decision is what I'm battling with at the moment.
If a PM takes 8-10% and grantees a safe heaven, I will be left with little or no profit. But the idea is a long term plan, mortgage is paid for which I get. Hmmmm let me sleep on this,no harm in trying.
I am new on here and seeking valuable ideas and tips on how to rent my 4bedroom house in Houston to great tenant. I got this house in 2015 brand new. Please a step to step guild on all I need to know about the rental laws in Texas or links to resourceful reads will be much appreciated.
Thanks
We manage our own properties, but use our realtors to find tenants. One advantage of using our realtors is that they help us find and evaluate properties.
Remember they aren't always just an extra cost, if you get one who is investor focused, they can find and bring you great deals, they often know vendors, help provide a sounding board to say when to invest and when to pass on a deal, they help bring comps etc.
Could we perhaps find our tenants cheaper if we did it ourselves, sure probably. But the resources and deals our realtors have brought to us vastly outweighs the cost imo.
@Bart H., thanks for the insight, can you throw more lights to how this works?
We have a good working relationship with a realtor who has helped us find properties and evaluate properties.
We outsource the leasing process. IE she markets , shows the property and screens tenants, and in exchange we typically pay her one month's rent (usually the security deposit). From then on we do the property management, in other words we process the rent checks, handle any calls for repairs etc.
Could we lease a property ourselves? yeah, I am sure we could, and it would save us a few dollars in the short run, but all it takes is one property to come our way because of our real estate agent has worked with us to more than pay for anything we pay her.
Look everyone has a different philosophy. Ours has been to be relational with our contractors, realtors etc. I don't mind paying our realtors a little bit to help us find great tenants. Plus I like having a licensed agent who knows all of the rules and regulations about leasing.
Hello!
Renting out to tenants can be a challenge, I actually created a blog post on how to market to tenants.
We are currently averaging about 1 month turnovers.
https://windsorrent.ca/best-way-to-find-your-next-tenant-fast/
Thanks,
Most property managers in Houston (including us) charge 8% not 10%. In my opinion to screen your tenant I would get a background and credit check run at a minimum. You can do this cheaply on a site like screenthetenant.com. I would then call the tenant's employer and collect pay stubs, call the references, and speak with the applicant. Going through this little amount of work will you save you a lot of money and time over the long run. If you do go with a property manager you can find one for 8% in the Houston area.
For renting, I've found Landlordology.com to be an invaluable resource. They also list important information about the rental laws for your state. And Cozy.co is good to use for collecting rent and listing the property for rent and it's completely free. When I have a vacancy, I list it for rent on there and on Zillow. Good for small landlords like myself.
Oh and Cozy.co also lets you collect actual credit and background checks for tenants and they charge the tenants the cost. You can even require them to pay for it during the application process. That way you can know who your renting to. You should also check any references that the Tenants provide you. Another tip would be to find information on the company they work for and contact that company directly for employment verification.
@ Joshua thanks for the tips. I will do that right away. Been getting some calls for viewing but nothing serious yet. Hope this tip improves my traffic.