All Forum Posts by: Karen Bickford

@Jacob Wietholder Great question. All of my rents are collected via ACH. It comes out of their bank account on the first of the month. I want to be in control of the money. Not wait for a check in the mail, wait for them to login to a portal to pay. Paysimple.com

@George Kopp I agree about the blinds ruining the aesthetic of the windows so with you there. An alternative would maybe be a curtain?

I have a slider in a rental that I refuse to put up those heinous vertical blinds so I bought a simple white almost sheer curtain. They were 14$ on Amazon and look really nice. Each panel is 55 “ wide so plenty of coverage with two panels. You can purchase longer than you need and mount them higher for some drama. Light filtering and offer privacy.

Also most binds today are cordless which is what you would want any NICETOWN Sheer Curtains for Living Room - Grommet Top Faux Linen Semitransparent Curtains 84 inches Long for Patio Sliding Glass Door

(White, 1 Pair, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BNBWL9C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_DBUAZvBu17Cr3 way. Good luck 😊

@Kurt Pourbaix I swear by the Yale assure. They are back ordered right now. That with a Vera Plus hub allows you to set up codes with start and stop dates.

@Adedayo Odugbesan

Airbnb Automated on YouTube. There are 100’s of hours of video by Sean Rakidzich who is a guru in the arbitrage space. He does offer courses however the free content gets most people started.

@Michael Wegner I allow dogs in all of my rentals including my vacation rentals up to a certain size. I do not however allow cats.

In my area a lot of landlords don’t allow dogs so it widens my pool. I of course don’t allow the banned breeds.

Pet parents I think tend to be more responsible and will stay longer if you allow dogs because they know it will be hard to find another place that allows them. Plus I just love dogs!

@Nicole A. Good question however I surmise with rents being 400-600 under market they need a lot of love. Then she can maybe get above market with Shiny new units 😊

@Chinmay J. Yes lesson learned with Lowes and HD appliances. They often come dented and you must unbox while the delivery people are still there. They will try to hightail it out of there without unboxing.

They want you to sign that the Applicance is correct and damage free. Well the only way I can sign off is if you unpackage it and I inspect it 🙄

Hello looking for some feedback from knowledgeable rehabber.

We were cleaning a home and my cleaner broke the shower head. Subsequently some water leaked down to the kitchen ceiling. She sent me pics of water stains that were less than 6 hours old. While I agree we caused a leak in the ceiling from the broken pipe the stains look very old to me.

How long does it take a water stain to turn orange? Less than 12 hours ?

She did say she has had leaks in the past from her son not closing the shower curtain and seeping through the bathroom floor.

@Jim K. So true. I am an employer in MA and it is ridiculous trying to find help there are more jobs than people to fill them. There are jobs everywhere!

@Matthew Barnett As others have said, having access to the MLS is invaluable. You can do your own comps, see sales history and ownership info, tax info etc. Plus you can list your own rentals on the MLS for rent.

In my MLS I can run lists of absentee owners and mail to them or any other criteria I am looking for. It's definitely a useful tool 😊