All Forum Posts by: Bonnie Low

Hi, Katie. Congrats on getting your first property - that's very exciting! And it's good that you're already thinking about systems to manage it. I use Baselane. I've used other programs in the past (Quickbooks) and an old fashioned spreadsheet, but neither worked for me. I love the simplicity and user friendliness of Baselane. It's very thoughtfully designed specifically for real estate investors by real estate investors so it doesn't have features you don't need and won't use. I like that I can quickly set up bank accounts for each property and sub-accounts under those so I can keep my property finances in "buckets" as I like to think of it. The virtual credit card feature is also really slick. I have specific credit cards set up for my cleaners, handymen, etc. so when I see a charge come through for that card I know exactly what it's for and what property it's associated with. It makes categorizing expenses very easy. I also like having my tenant vetting, lease agreements and rent collection all in one place on my dashboard through Baselane's partners. I'm glad I switched. I just wish it was around when I started way back when! Hope this is helpful. 

 Yessss - this is what we need!

It will be different in every market so you need to call some local PM companies to find out what they're charging and what is included for that price. It's not unusual for LTR property management to run about 10% of rents, though I've seen higher and lower numbers and the more properties you put under one company's management the more likely it is you get a better rate. Rates for midterm rentals usually run 15-25% but, again, this varies and so does the level of service. Rates for managing a STR can be 25% and above. There are just too many variables to answer more precisely than that.

I understand where you're coming from. As an investor, I will always ask for the rent rolls or P/L for a property so I have some idea of the income and expenses. I think most investors do ask if it's available. We all have to do our due diligence and no one should be taking for granted that what you were able to generate is what they will be able to generate, but it's not uncommon at all to ask to see the financials. I would be firm with the agent that you want wording that states something along the lines of "property is currently used as a successful midterm rental for 30+day stays and financials are available upon request." Unless, like Bill suggested, there is some kind of local restriction on the property usage that you have been unknowingly violating. If your agent won't support you on this, get a different agent. 

 I don't use an application. I start with a conversation with the person to understand what they're looking for and whether or not my property is a good fit for them. If that checks out, we do the background check next and so on as I described before. And yes, I require every person over the age of 18 who will be staying in the house to go through the background check and be a signer on the lease.

 Thank you for taking this seriously!

 Yep, we see it ALL the time. It's literally copy and paste.

There are lots of FB pages dedicated to vacation rentals for sale. Here's one: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2030179357267062 This is nationwide so you'd have to filter for FL or just put out a request. You may also find a page more specific if you search STR for sale & Florida as keywords. I'm seeing LOTs of FL and Smoky Mountain properties coming up for sale lately.

I don't know what you mean by your trust account, but I use Baselane to manage my LTRs, MTRs and STR. Baselane is a banking and bookkeeping platform build specifically for real estate investors by real estate investors so I find that it provides everything I need and nothing I don't. It's not a property management system. It is for banking and bookkeeping specifically. You can link it to your external accounts if you have them, open new accounts quickly and easily through Baselane's partner bank Thread. You can create sub-accounts for each property and create virtual credit cards you can assign for use with certain properties or with certain providers like your cleaners or handyman. The best part about it is it's easy to tag your transactions for each property with categories that sync to your Schedule E for taxes, making tax prep super easy. It sounds like just what you're asking for.

Hi, Summer. Here are a few brief answers to some of your questions. This is just what I do so it may or may not work for you. I would call at least one prior landlord reference but you may find they don't respond so you may need to call a few. For travel medical professionals I will accept a copy of their fully executed contract in lieu of pay stubs because their prior pay stubs may be totally different than their current contracted rate. 

If you're renting to multiple individuals for the same time period they should all pass the background check and all be signers of the lease. I don't charge an application fee but I do have the tenant pay for their background check. 

For pet deposit, you'll need to discuss with them what their plans are for the pet when they're gone. Ideally, they're either going to pet day care or have a pet walker come in to relieve them during the day. But some people do leave them in a fenced yard or even in the home. It just depends on what you're comfortable allowing. Service animals are not a red flag in my book.

Rent is always due the 1st day of the month and late fees apply by the 3rd. Guests are responsible for moving trash and recyling bins to/from the curb and that is spelled out in the lease. 

hard to say how many pages the typical MTR lease is. Use a state-specific lease and feave everything in there so long as it applies. You can add clauses, like how to handle garbage and where parking is allowed, but don't take out anything relevant in your state specific lease. I use Baselane's partner Rocket Lawyer to create the lease but I've used Keycheck and Avail before and they're all very similar.