All Forum Posts by: Casey Powers

People change. Denying someone forever is not only against Fair Housing rules (which can be a very costly issue to defend); it’s also not reasonable. In my area there aren’t many chances for people to avoid an eviction if they don’t pay. Often an eviction is granted without ever going to court, and they are locked out in the 3rd week of the month in which they didn’t pay. If the eviction was several years ago and everything else checks out, there’s no good reason to keep denying them housing. Some people do grow up and change their ways, and it will be obvious on their credit reports if they’ve become more financially responsible since getting evicted several years prior. 

Also in my area, we can get up to 3 times the rent as security deposit, so we can mitigate a lot of risk. 

Recent Fair Housing regs say we cannot deny people for past transgressions indefinitely. There must be a time limit, including for evictions and criminal. We cannot say no evictions or criminal ever. If you are a DIY landlord with no more than 3 rental units, you MAY be exempt from this rule. My rule is no evictions in the past 5 years and no unpaid landlord, utility, or payday loan debt. I may also require increased deposit based on their credit scores. This eliminates the vast majority of “problem” renters.

What about the numbers on the current house? $245 sounds like a good deal if the legit comps are $295. 

I often end up managing properties where the owner is upset about the negative or low cash flow once they see that it often doesn't rent for as much as they'd hoped. Rents haven't caught up to home prices yet, especially in the popular neighborhoods. It is possible to get properties that can cashflow here. Appreciation potential is probably much better here than just cashflow.

Someone only has to think they’ve been discriminated against, to file a complaint and take up your resources to defend yourself. It’s simply not wise as a property management company to advertise for a “target” type of renter. 

“Targeting” certain renters based on type of job is a fair housing problem. 

@Kenny Dahill Thanks! It’s been overpriced, people paying above appraisal, softened a bit lately.

I’m happy to be here! Looking to learn more about investing more, and contribute what I can. I’m an investor and a property manager in Las Vegas :-)