All Forum Posts by: Corby Goade

You can do it through a simple addendum- I am sure there are examples on BP. Sounds like he'll probably be living there whether you sign him on or not. Since he's passed your criteria, might as well add him, at least you'll have legal recourse if there are problems.

Although we do have fees built in to our leases for people who break them, as long as they've been good tenants, we will only charge them rent until we get the place leased again and forego the fee. That said, when there are roommates or shared leases involved, we don't modify the lease or negotiate, it gets too sticky and usually its because there is a personal problem that I want nothing to do with. Your comment above is really the way to go, and I would convey it to both tenants in that exact way. Even if they move out, if rent isn't paid, they will be legally liable and you'll have to collect, even if that means going to court.

Good for you- most people don't wake up from that dream until its way too late. The desire to have a nice car kills many middle class families- I hope you are ditching the leases and paying cash for a couple reliable used cars. Once you clean up your debt, with an income like you both have, you'll have no problem building up a nice portfolio. Best of luck!

Sure, that's what we typically do. Our cleaning fee is $200, but I would guess that you could probably get by with $300 in most situations. Whenever we keep any of the deposit, we document every expense and provide a report and invoices to the tenant so that they know we aren't just pocketing that money. If your case, you'd need to document all of the $300 cleaning fee, plus whatever you keep from the deposit. Good luck!

You could do that, but keep in mind, you can always decide what your own criteria is going to be. It doesn't have to conform to the calculators on here or any advice you get. If you are comfortable with it and can make it work, then make it work. I know people who can buy houses with cash and don't give much consideration to cash flow as long as rent is being paid. I'd be bankrupt if I did that, but it works for them. Do what works for you.

I agree with @Kristina Heimstaedt, but one M2M benefit; we always add at least $100 per month if a tenant chooses to go M2M after their lease ends and we've had tenants stay for years after that. It can help with cash flow, but a couple vacant months in the winter can easily make up for that.

We charge a cleaning fee on every least and use every penny of it and then some, even with our great tenants. I don't think it necessarily reflects on them as a person- they've got a new, exciting place they are moving in to and the one they are moving out of isn't going to get that much attention. I've never had anyone leave a place trashed because of the fee, and on the flipside, before we charged a cleaning fee, I never had anyone leave a place rent ready either. This is the better of the two options, they know going in that they won't get that money back and you don't have to dicker over keeping their deposit for cleaning.

Hey @Paula Fulbright, welcome! Yep, jump in and start investing. It's not complicated, so don't let it be!

@Myles Christian- there's really no such thing as "no money down," with very few exceptions. When people say that, they really mean borrowing money from somewhere or someone else, but it's still takes money. When you are starting out, you can house hack and buy a multi with an FHA loan at 3.5%, those loans are readily available and it's really an excellent way to get your portfolio going. Best of luck!

Hey @Melissa Hostetter- most people in your situation (which is also my situation) just move equity around. What I mean by that is if you have equity in your current property, do a cash out refi and use the proceeds as a down payment on the next purchase. Even better, if you have equity in your primary residence, use a HELOC to pay cash or make a down payment on your next property. There are lots of ways to do it, tons of info on these boards. Good luck!