All Forum Posts by: Bill Wallace

Hey Dan - Minnesota guy here too.

Ideally you'd start about 60 days out but I've had a few times when I bought a place that I've had the same situation. Here's my advice -

- The biggest advantage you have is to make sure and advertise that any renter can have the rest of April free if they start May 1st. All they need to do is transfer utilities on move in day and pay for the first month. This is a nice win/win since it allows people to move in over time vs. a huge rush at month end.

- Make sure you are on the low side of market rent. I'd much rather get someone paying in May and take $25-50 less/month the first lease. What I normally do is start at market rent but aggressively reduce the price down in $25 increments every 2-4 days.

- Also, make sure you are using mediums other than just Craigslist. I love www.postlets.com which helps create a professional listing and then posts it on all of the major real estate websites like hotpads, zillow and trulia. I get quite a few inquiries from those and it's all free.

- Finally, those things said, don't compromise on tenant quality. The cost of a lost month is way less than a bad tenant.

Good luck!

I'm with Joe - if you try and change the terms it could be construed as a counteroffer which allows them an out. Stick to your guns on the pest issue but don't pursue the duct one.

I get the question quite a bit but I think its usually in the context of a potential tenant wondering if I might have openings.

I tend to be more open with others here but I also have somewhat nicer places with pretty decent tenants. My actions might be different if I was doing section 8 or renting in lower class properties.

My actions are also dictated by the fact that I'm a Realtor and hope to get business from tenants in the future. That's happened twice so far and I see that as a great add-on revenue stream.

Joe - You can't just have a blanket statement that says that all people need a renters insurance policy.

Take my daughter - she has purchased all of her furniture off of craigslist with a maximum purchase of $30. She buys all of her clothes at thrift shops or through clothing exchanges with friends. Her computer is 5 years old and on its last legs. He most valuable possession is her iPhone which is on her at all times. She's beyond frugal. The deductible would be more than her stuff is worth. It makes no sense to pay $100+/year in that situation.

I make renter's insurance optional except for a couple HOA's I have that require it.

I only do 12 month leases but there's a method to my reason.

I'm a full-time Realtor and I give tenants an option to terminate their lease with me at any time if they use me to help them buy a home. By having them tied to a 12 month lease it means they are more likely to use me as their agent. I had a client last fall that interviewed 1 other Realtor but used me since they still had 6 months on their lease.

Commission on their new home was over $5k.

The solution to this was to have done a bare minimum inspection and cancel. In Minnesota you need to hire a "qualified" inspector but then the Inspection Contingency Addendum says that the qualifications are basically up to the buyer to determine.

If your state requires a certified inspector you could have hired someone for 15-30 minutes for peanuts and then cancelled. Now it's exposed you to possible breach.

Not sure about your first question. I would think the landlord would need to pay back the funds if the tenant ever asks but it's really not specified in the statue.

Your 2nd question is tricky too - it does sound like the abandoned property rules should apply in that situation and landlord should have removed them and stored them for 28 days.

Ask your Realtor. I can use our MLS to set up a hot sheet which will immediately send an e-mail to a client for any new listing that matches our search criteria.

I'm a lot newer to being a landlord than many of you (1 year+) but I have an ulterior motive for only doing 1 year leases.

In addition to my 6 properties I am a full-time Realtor. I have a standing policy with my tenants that they can cancel their 1 year lease with me at any time if they use me to purchase a home. Currently 3 of my tenants will probably use me to do that in the next 1-2 years. I get a stable tenant and a real estate buyer and they get flexibility with being able to buy a home and move without paying for 2 places.

I use Quicken Property Management and a local accountant (6 rental properties). He is really inexpensive ($175/year for entire tax return including self employed realtor business) and the software is pretty easy to use once you get it set up.