All Forum Posts by: Brad Russo

I agree with those, who recommend you to start looking for a new tenant asap. Yes, you can keep the security deposit. However, if your tenant manages to find a subletter or you are able to find another renter immediately, your current tenant will be owed the return of your security deposit. But check your lease, it may state that that breaking the tenancy results in loss of deposit.

Thank you for this great guide. Especially, I like that you included links to rules and laws of every state. And case studies are very helpful. I’m looking forward to your next articles.

I would ask for bank statement and tax returns. However, as for bank statements, it’s important to not request a full history, but instead specifically request a financial history of incoming business payments to verify income. Run a credit check as well. It is important to consider a person’s credit score, but some discussion may need to take place regarding their actual financial situation.

I like Zillow, Trulia, Rentberry. Sometimes I use Craigslist. Zillow is very convenient, cause it syndicates property to other platforms and Trulia is among them. Rentberry is a new rental service similar to Zillow. I recently find out about it on the one of review sites http://www.serchen.com/company/rentberry/. It also shares listing to other partner websites and it’s free for landlords and property owners. As others mentioned, Facebook is a great service to advertise your property on.

Ask about experience and how long a company has been on market. Inquire what types of properties it has managed. Ask how they handle the evictions. What are the costs to evict a deadbeat tenant?  Find out about filling vacancies and retaining tenants. How long does it take you to fill a vacancy? What is the average length of tenancy?

Unfortunately, I can’t recommend you any particular property management company in Seattle. You can google such companies in your city and then check out the company’s reviews on sites like Yelp or even Facebook. Also look some of the property manager's current rental ads. Find out where they advertise their properties. It’s important that their ads aren't limited to free sources.

I personally think that landlords could be more flexible when it comes to price negotiation. In some articles, like this one https://rentberry.com/blog/typical-mistakes-landlords-make, lacking of flexibility even considered as one of the mistakes that property owners make. However, don’t agree to lower price if tenant simply can’t afford it. If a renters ask you to decrease price, then they should offer you something instead. For instance, they can suggest to pay rent earlier or they are simply reliable tenants, who keep property in good condition and cause no problems to you.

Experience means a lot. But I would also advise you to check out review sites such as Yelp to see what other people think of these companies. You can drive by properties that the management companies are managing. It will give you a good idea of how they will treat your property.

It is worth for you to ask recoomendation from property manager, he will guide you through all this process. It’s difficult to buy and then rent out a property on your own, especially for the first time.

First you need to check whether it’s legal to rent out garage in your state. And the easiest way to start is to check local ads to see if anyone in the area is renting garages. There is one more important point. If garage is heated, then you and your tenant need to decide who is responsible for utilities. I hope this help