Purchased Property, Now looking for Tenants

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Purchased Property, Now looking for Tenants

Marlia Stone
Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 61 posts · 33 votes

Hello BPs,

I thought I should update everyone on my journey. I finally purchased my first investment property in Philadelphia. The costs wasn’t too bad during the process and it went pretty good for my second go around.The property needed minor changes such as, a paint job, new bathroom tiles, deep cleaning, etc. overall it was turnkey ready.

I am currently at the point to being almost finished the minor adjustments, and I am in the process of searching for tenants. Do you have any advice on where to look for tenants, or how to go about it if I were to manage it myself? what to ask tenants prior to acceptance ? What demographic is the most risk? Or Should I work with a property management group?

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Abel CurielBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Queens, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
5y

Good morning @Marlia Stone & congrats on your recent deal!

Property management is one route to consider but if you're going to manage the property yourself, I'd recommend going with a local Realtor with experience in the rental market. 

The Realtor can handle all of the time consuming work but still walk you through the process so that you can learn from it. 

The Realtor can:

  • - take care of marketing the apartment on MLS and third-party sites
  • - coordinate and attend all apartment viewings
  • - pre-screen prospective tenants (i.e. collecting financial documentation)
  • - collect and review rental applications
  • - coordinate tenant interviews (once you've found an application worth pursuing)
  • - coordinate lease signing

In my market, tenants sometimes pay the Realtor fees so all of the above could possibly be done for you free of charge!

Best of luck to you moving forward!

Abel

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    • Abel CurielBusiness Member
      Real Estate Agent · Queens, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
      5y

      Good morning @Marlia Stone & congrats on your recent deal!

      Property management is one route to consider but if you're going to manage the property yourself, I'd recommend going with a local Realtor with experience in the rental market. 

      The Realtor can handle all of the time consuming work but still walk you through the process so that you can learn from it. 

      The Realtor can:

      • - take care of marketing the apartment on MLS and third-party sites
      • - coordinate and attend all apartment viewings
      • - pre-screen prospective tenants (i.e. collecting financial documentation)
      • - collect and review rental applications
      • - coordinate tenant interviews (once you've found an application worth pursuing)
      • - coordinate lease signing

      In my market, tenants sometimes pay the Realtor fees so all of the above could possibly be done for you free of charge!

      Best of luck to you moving forward!

      Abel

        REbuild Team - eXp Realty5234 Reviews
        WebsiteView Page
        4Reply
      • Karl B.
        Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
        5y

        I suggest managing yourself as you'll receive the 10+ percent the management company would take, you'll manage it better than they ever would, and finally, you'll learn A LOT by managing, even if it's one property. 

        By far the best place to find tenants is Facebook marketplace. Post the rental on there. I also post on local groups. There's likely a Philadelphia Homes for Rent page or group or something similar. I also post on the buy/sell pages on Facebook, so look for a large group titled something like Philadelphia Buy, Sell and Trade. You'll get lots of eyes on the rental that way as well. 

        I also post on Zillow Rental Manager and Craigslist. 

        Join the Philadelphia Apartment Association. I am a member of the Erie Apartment Association (on the other side of the state) and it's great. They provide a lease written to reflect local laws and a lot of different documents with useful information. 

        1Reply
      • Davartay Miller
        Architect · Memphis, TN · Member since 2020 · 259 posts · 144 votes
        5y

        @Marlia Stone

        Congratulations on your purchase! This is definitely going to be an experience. I would suggest going with a property manager who's job is to do just that – manage the headaches so that you and your family aren't having to. Managing it yourself is also an option but perhaps you interview multiple property manager to see what they offer. The goal here is not to convince you to go with a property manager.... it's to see if you think you would want to do those services yourself. 

        Best of Luck! 

        1Reply
      • Wale LawalBusiness Member
        Real Estate Broker · Houston | Dallas | Austin, TX · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
        5y

        Congratulations on taking action! A local realtor would be your best option. Realtors have access to the MLS and have experience in putting a property on the market for sale/rent. I help my clients all the time with this. Good luck!

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      • Kris A.
        New to Real Estate · Member since 2021 · 18 posts · 4 votes
        5y

        HI there, I find all my tenants through FB apartment/rental groups. There are atleast 6 of them on there, but I just joined the 3 biggest ones.

        1Reply
      • Marlia Stone
        OP
        Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 61 posts · 33 votes
        5y

        @Abel Curiel Thank you Abel for your insight!

        How do I target a realtor that will help me with this? I am not familiar with many in my network that has done this.

        0Reply
      • Marlia Stone
        OP
        Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 61 posts · 33 votes
        5y

        @Karl B. Hi Karl, thank you for this detailed response! I agree with you on the learning aspect as well. It can be a great way to understand the back end once I obtain more in the future.

        I haven’t thought about Facebook but I’m going to deactivate my account to try to advertise on there since I’ve heard some good things about it. All of the others I will be sure to look into as a platform as well.

        1Reply
      • Marlia Stone
        OP
        Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 61 posts · 33 votes
        5y

        @Davartay Miller Thanks Davartay! I’ve heard many people say to go with a property manager to avoid the head aches as well, but I appreciate your insight.

        0Reply
      • Marlia Stone
        OP
        Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 61 posts · 33 votes
        5y

        @Wale Lawal Thanks Wale! How do I target realtors that will help with this?

        0Reply
      • Marlia Stone
        OP
        Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 61 posts · 33 votes
        5y

        @Kristen C. Hi Kristen, do you know the names of the chats?

        0Reply
      • Davartay Miller
        Architect · Memphis, TN · Member since 2020 · 259 posts · 144 votes
        5y

        @Marlia Stone 

        No problem at all. 

        Best of Luck! 

        1Reply
      • Michael Corona
        Financial Advisor · Syracuse, NY · Member since 2019 · 7 posts · 7 votes
        5y

        @Marlia Stone in this market, you should be able to lease any decent apartment on Facebook marketplace in a couple days.

        1Reply
      • Scott M.
        Real Estate Broker · Rochester Hills, MI · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
        5y

        I see a lot of folks recommending you work with a realtor and as one, I would say be careful.   My experience says that most realtors do not know how to lease a property or qualify a tenant.  I agree they can put up a listing, handle showings and push YOUR paperwork to the tenant but unless you fine the unicorn realtor that also understands tenant prospecting and qualifications I would not trust them for that part.  That is something you want to do on your own or at the very least qualify the realtor before letting them do that.  

        Your steps are to come up with your leasing criteria, an ad and if you are going to do it yourself post it on the popular sites. Zillow and facebook marketplace always come up but lots of smaller sites too like zumper etc....a great thing to do is find some of the online software designed to help people like you, like turbo tenant etc....and look for what sites they put your ads on.  Then you can do it yourself or use their services.  But that is one way to find lists of sites to advertise on.  

        Congrats on your journey. 

        3Reply
      • Danny Kaminsky
        Rental Property Investor · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2020 · 66 posts · 89 votes
        5y

        @Marlia Stone

        Others on this forum have given good answers to most of your questions, but “What demographic is the most risk?” tells me that you might not be super familiar with Fair Housing laws. Make sure to read over those carefully before screening anyone out, and if you have any questions, ask an attorney.

        2Reply
      • Marlia Stone
        OP
        Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 61 posts · 33 votes
        5y

        @Michael Corona Hi Michael, thank you, I’ve been hearing Facebook is a great resource a lot I’m going to give it a try once everything is done!

        0Reply
      • Marlia Stone
        OP
        Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 61 posts · 33 votes
        5y

        @Scott M. Yes I’ve never heard of a realtor advertising for tenants but I agree they may be a great resource, but not the tenant prospecting if they don’t have any theirselves. I actually want to do it myself, but I just don’t want to make any major mistakes in picking since it is my first property. I’ve heard so many landlord horror stories!

        Thank you so much for your detailed response in regards to the steps. I appreciate it. I don’t think it should be that hard, besides Real-estate is a gamble no matter what!

        0Reply
      • E.S. Burrell
        Rental Property Investor · MI · Member since 2019 · 192 posts · 205 votes
        5y

        I agree with @Karl B. You’ll get the most experience by self managing and saving money too. You get to screen and pick your tenants; that way you’ll know who/what you’re getting. I self manage my rentals and enjoy it.

        2Reply
      • David Campbell
        Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2017 · 190 posts · 117 votes
        5y

        You can look for tenants on craigslist, fb marketplace, word of mouth is always good too. You can choose to market on zillow to cast wide net though they charge now FYI. 

        Prior to acceptance run credit/ criminal background, get proof of income, check references and previous employment. 

        1Reply
      • Beau Watson
        Rental Property Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2019 · 90 posts · 73 votes
        5y

        @Marlia Stone

        Congrats on the property. First step is the hardest.

        If you want to manage yourself Rentec direct will help market the property for you. Take applications. Takes care of credit and background check. Makes a website for you. Etc etc.

        Also, I use EZlandlord forms to make my lease.

        Both services are very reasonably priced and worth the small investment.

        Feel free to reach out anytime with questions

        2Reply
      • Steve Faucette
        Rental Property Investor · Baldwin, NY · Member since 2015 · 69 posts · 21 votes
        5y

        @Marlia Stone

        Congratulations on your new, investment Milestone!. In this industry with, with the with supply and demand, you don’t have to look for tenants, you can list your vacancies on apartments.com. And or one you can hire a realtor that, you can trust.

        1Reply
      • Matt Bishop
        Rental Property Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2020 · 50 posts · 41 votes
        5y

        @Marlia Stone,

        Welcome to the neighborhood!

        I believe a property management company is a wise choice for you.

        1Reply
      • Marlia Stone
        OP
        Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 61 posts · 33 votes
        5y

        @E.S. Burrell Hi Burrell, you guys have a great point. The beginning is where you learn the most. Do you mind telling me a little about the first tenants that you encountered? How did you find them? Did you advertise on a website or were they inherited? Do you work somewhere else full time or do you manage your properties full-time? How was the first year after they moved in? Is there anything that you would have done differently, given the information that you know now?

        Sorry I know there’s a lot of questions but feel free to dm me your response as well!

        0Reply
      • Marlia Stone
        OP
        Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 61 posts · 33 votes
        5y

        @David Campbell Hi David, thank for your advice on this! Do you know of any websites I can use to run the criminal background check?

        0Reply
      • Marlia Stone
        OP
        Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 61 posts · 33 votes
        5y

        @Beau Watson Hi Beau, thanks for writing in I appreciate it. Yes, now I’m past that part everything else is just apart of the process.

        I’ve never heard of that website but I’ll give it a try as well! sounds like a really good resource to have everything all in one site. How long have you used the two websites? What has been your most challenging part about managing the tenants on your own?

        0Reply
      • Marlia Stone
        OP
        Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 61 posts · 33 votes
        5y

        @Steve Faucette Hi Steve, thank you so much for the advice. I will keep the realtor and apartment.com in mind as I prepare to market it.

        0Reply
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