Juma Otoviano at Tidal Loans here in Houston put out a landlord playbook this week that's worth passing along, so credit to him for the list. I've added my own notes from the lending side.

The setup: asking rents are up only 1.9% in a year, the slowest since 2020, and roughly 39% of listings are offering a concession. Accidental landlords are near a record, and 7 of the 10 metros with the most of them are in Texas or Florida. If your flip became a hold, you're competing for tenants with people who do this full time.

His nine:

1. Verify income against bank deposits, not pay stubs. AI fakes are easy now.

2. Call the previous landlord, not just the current one, and check who actually owns the property on the appraisal district site.

3. Switch to a landlord (DP3) policy with loss-of-rent coverage the day it becomes a rental.

4. Use a 14 or 18 month first term so renewals land in spring or early summer.

5. Compete on speed and condition. If you need to give something, one month free spread over 12 beats a rent cut.

6. Sewer-scope the rehab before the first tenant, then keep a maintenance calendar.

7. Ask your CPA about cost segregation and document the date it went from for-sale to for-rent.

8. Auto-pay, and a late fee set to what your state allows, enforced from month one.

9. Separate account, logged repairs, everything in writing.

The ones I'd underline from the lending side are 5, 3 and 9. The rent of record is what an appraiser leans on when you refinance into a long-term loan, so cutting it to fill a unit can cost you on the cash-out. A denied claim on a homeowner's policy can sink the whole hold. And the paper trail is exactly what gets asked for at refinance.

I wrote up the full version on my website, which you can find through my profile, and you can sign up there to get new reports by email.

For those who held instead of sold this year, what's filling units faster for you right now, a concession or a lower rent?