All Forum Posts by: Chris London

Ann,  There are 3+ wonderful ways rental properties make you money compared with other investments.

1) You have the cash flow which I personally believe people put too much focus on.

2) You have the principal paydown by the tenant's rent.

3) You have appreciation (typically) that is your paper wealth. 

+) tax benefits

Of course, asking this group if you should keep your condo as an investment I suppose is like asking your bartender if you should order another drink :)

Shain,

Good quesiton. 

Personally on the properties, I own (vs what I manage for others) I've spent more time landscaping myself and 'swinging a hammer' at turnover time to save paying others. 

I've also had 2 of my properties come vacant in April and upcoming in June and I deliberately posted ( and signed leases) at a higher rental price based on recently increased property tax assessments. I worked very hard to market these properties and get that increase in a time when there are not a lot of other properties on the market relative to LY at this time in my area.

I'm also working to refi all properties which will lower my piti payments.

You mention working with insurance companies above, curious to see if others have successfully managed this?

@John Litzenberger it can be common when you are renting to people from overseas especially student housing. Some PM's charge a double security deposit if they want to move fwd on a candidate like this.

Red Flags aren't just for parades. 

I have a 650 minimum on all applicant's over the age of 18 who will be living in the home and I deal in mostly A-B class rentals. I have accepted a little below 650 with scenario's like you have described.

It sounds like from your reply to some of the responses that you are likely to move forward with these candidates so I would suggest requiring a higher security deposit (double if your state allows).

Long before I became a residential property manager I started with Brandon Turner's book on managing rental properties. I recall my wife and I read it together after we put the baby to sleep each night and bookmarked pages as we moved on to each step.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/managing-rental-properties-ebook

Here is a good blog post from our very own Brandon Turner: 
https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/vacancy-rates

60+ days before the lease is due I re-run the comps. I make the decision about what to do with rent based on what the market will bear.

It sounds like the tenants assumed there would be automatic openers and there were not. Is this right?  To your point, this would be an improvement, not a repair. The same thing happened at a property I manage in Durham. It was a single garage and the tenants said, 'no problem'. They can still open/close the garage door by lifting it up by hand.

If you want to make an improvement, great, but for anything over $800-$1000 I get more than one estimate and you PM should also. 

1) Tenants pay to have the carpet professionally cleaned and broom sweep the property.

2) The owner pays for a deep clean. I don't let owners do the cleaning themselves and I try not to let them coordinate themselves either as they often try and save money with a regular cleaning. It should cost you about 15 cents a sqft.

Show the tenants moving in what your expectation is. If they walk into a dirty property they will leave you a dirty property.

Steve, Cozy that you mention above offers an application and can take care of the credit and background check that you want. On the site, it gives landlords instructions on how to use these features with potential applicants. There is not a standard credit score and while I personally use 650 as a minimum and 3x's gross income to rent, I know some that go lower if they manage lower income properties and others with different opinions. If you search some of these forums you can find why different people like and use different criteria. Good luck with the process after you do the 1st one it only gets easier.