All Forum Posts by: Alex Suarez

Offering discounts for longer leases is a solid idea if you find the right tenant. I’d suggest a 5-10% reduction spread over the term for an 18-month minimum to make it enticing without cutting too deep into cash flow. Screening here is key though as like some of the other comments have suggested it can backfire. 

Self managing is totally doable! My wife and I have been self managing since we starting investing 5 years ago. For tenant screening we've used Innago and have been since we started. It's free and pretty easy to set up. There's other software we use for handling tenant inquires, lease questions etc but if it's your first property it might be overkill. Exciting that. you're getting ready to buy your first one!

My wife and I primarily self manage from out of state. We have rental property in Florida and have managed them from Denver. Not sure where you're investing from but totally doable. Let me know if you'd like to connect. 

Is your property just posted on Zillow? I've heard that it's not really worth it but haven't used it myself. 

We have rentals in Denver and Florida but mainly do medium term furnished rentals so we've used Furnished finder and FB marketplace. Both have pros and cons to them. I think mainly the issue we've had is inquires that ask the same questions or tenants wanting additional details so we built software that handles those types of inquires so we're only dealing with serious potential renters. 

House hacking has been our primary way to live for the past 5 years as well. We bought a townhouse and rented out the rooms while we stayed in one. 

We bought a SFH a couple years ago where we lived in one section and rented out a portion of the other side of the house. We had our first baby a year ago and have since switched our strategy since we don't want to live with tenants while we grow our family.

The SFH we sectioned off the house so we have our own side and the renters have their own. We're looking at buying another property and will do the same where we will have our own space but still in a way "house hack" where we have other sections of the property rented out. It's a step up from people living in your space while still getting the benefits of house hacking and keeping expenses low since babies aren't cheap!

Totally get being over living that way though. Nothing wrong with switching it up to make your living situation feel more manageable. I think you could do it in a similar way where you can still house hack to keep your costs low but upgrade your living situation. 

Hey Heather,

We’ve had a one-year lease come up for our mid-term rental in St. Pete.

Furniture Wear: Florida law (83.49) says you can’t deduct for normal wear (like faded upholstery). Do a walk-through with photos and a signed move-in inventory to track conditions. Deduct only for major damage (e.g., broken chairs).

Deposits: For a one-year lease, we charge one month’s rent as a security deposit ($2,000 ish). Pets are a hard no for us, faster furniture damage, but if you allow them I’d add an additional deposit.

Early Termination: We ask for 60 days’ notice and charge a one-month rent penalty.

Other Tips:

• Clear lease: rent, utilities (we include them), no subletting, pet rules.

• Screen tenants: 3x rent income, ask why they want a year-long furnished stay.

Hope some of that helps. Is your mid term in Saint Pete as well? I’ll send you a connect! Would be nice to know other investors in the area. 

I’d recommend a smart lock. They’re pricy up front, I go with the schlage encode smart lock for all my properties, but they’re worth it as you can change lock codes remotely when tenants move out (so no rekeying) and the only way a tenant can lock themselves out is if they forget their code. Highly recommend. 

Hey Emily! I'm also an investor currently located in the Denver area and also used to work in property management. My wife and I mainly invest in Florida but had a rental at one point in the Aurora, CO area.