All Forum Posts by: Shannon Slade

Congrats on becoming a new Landlord.  I would definitely recommend familiarizing yourself on the Texas Property Code. Understanding what is permissible to be on your lease and what your responsibilities are to the tenant.  You do not want to be learning the week you have to go to court to get an eviction.  In Texas it takes just under a month depending on when your JP's office can get you a court date ( 3 day quit notice and typically in my county i can get a court date on the 10 day after I file, then once you get judgement the defendant has 5 day appeal.  

We do yearly leases on all our rentals, nothing less.  I recommend giving a few days grace period ( your mortgage co gives you grace so show them grace) then whatever that is then send out late notices, if that does not get them to pay send a 3 day quit notice (this starts your process of eviction).  If the tenant wants to stay he will stay on a weekly or yearly, either way you have to evict to get them out.  This week we did two evictions because of non payment.  

Lastly, be firm but polite when dealing with tenants because they will give you ever reason under the sun why they cannot pay. 

 Tile all the way!!!  I have installed tile in two units now for 8 years and its definitely the way to go.  Tile from Home Depot, Lowes was a little more expensive but you can get as much as you want, the tile from builders surplus shops was the cheapest but you are limited to what they have.  Those units that have tile usually rent faster than others maybe its just a coincidence.   

The floating floor is very durable and looks great, but quiet is not one of its attributes. Floating snap lock floor is floating so it moves and temperature differences will make the noise more noticeable.  But hey you cant hear it from your house.. Right!

We have added vinyl, carpet and tile over the years in our units and the tile has been the best way to go.  Other than the grout showing stains (which can be cleaned) the tile hasn't cracked or had to replace any.  We bought our tile from a small local seconds store for $0.40 per foot.  It has been laid down now for 7 years, I think we made a good decision.

Welcome Brandon.

Stephanie Dupuis@ Thank you. I didnt think about most 3-1's would typically be a smaller house in general than a 3-2. (room wise)
and so lesser square feet makes taxes lower by in large. In my area the market was way undervalued for a couple of years and now are starting to turn around a little.
SFR that I own is a 3-2 and has a CF of around 260 ( got a really good deal from the bank) and will be paid for at the end of this year!! It produces better that my MFH in which I bought at the peak of the market in 07.

On to the topic. I was wondering this very same thing. Been looking at a few in my area and was wondering how much lower were the expenses versus a 3 or 4 bed?

Welcome Jon! Dig in there is tons of great people here with lots of experience.
See ya around the forums!

Welcome to BP. Tons of information here with tons of contributors!

Thanks Brandon looking fwd to learning more of what I don't know and helping others where I may have some experience.

Brian Smartt you got great advice from Brendan J.!! I am assuming thats the reason you started this thread

My day job is 48 miles to work, so instead of moving I bought a cheap car to drive back and forth that gets great gas mileage. The car has 220,000 miles on it now still runs good (go GM). I do prefer to live outside of this metro area though. Good luck on any decision that you make..