All Forum Posts by: Christen G.

Sounds fun! What are you doing to it? How many bedrooms/bathrooms?

 I love the model honestly - having 2 STRs, a bunch of LTRs, a career in hospitality/entertainment and an eye on moving overseas, it's just intriguing to me. I'd love to hear about your journey and/or ay resources, books, etc.. youd suggest!

Just found this post and I'm wondering how it's going, @Kristi Miller

A lot of this I'm here for and agree with - but the late fees not exceeding 1.5% of rents is BAFFLING to me. I'd love to know what others think - for me it seems like this will stack up evictions again.

Check the local laws and follow your lease. If it's vague, then refine it.

I'm sorry this is happening. I had something similar in my condo with a lame HOA board. My advice is to document everything and get the police involved ASAP. You'll have to stay on them any time something happens and you'll want a paper trail. Police departments need a "heat map" - and if you call enough and they have to respond, your building will "heat up."

Also - go to the HOA meetings! And speak up/get on record there. Hopefully it gets resolved and then you can hit the HOA with a "negligence, complacency and complicit" complaint. I was on the board of the HOA at the time and was shocked at the inaction (I was new to the PNW and the passive aggressive ways here). When all was handled and the tenant was literally arrested (door busted in, etc...this was a drug dealing scenario) I went to the next board meeting and let them know I was lawyered up and they're very, very lucky I didn't bring a suit (which would have only raised my HOAs so I didnt). Needless to say security in our building has gotten much better. Good luck.

It will not leave a long-term smell at all. But follow your lease.

Sorry that happened. She sounds like a handful that should be a Westin or something and not a cabin in the woods. I keep instant book off for just this reason - screening tenants. As nostalgic and cottage core as people think they want to be, cabins in the woods aren't for everyone.

I have a few doors with Section 8 in the PNW and have had good experiences overall. I agree with what others have said: I'm sure it varies based on the local office. Getting a contact or 2 at yours and/or going to a seminar/webinar, etc... that they hold would be a good start/introduction. I find that tenants who have a voucher understand processes and how to complete paperwork and they have to do some hoop-jumping to get into the program. So once they're in, things run pretty smoothly. If there's a bump in the road, you have an advocate to reach out to that will help you course-correct. In my area they have inspections every so often (and before move-in of a new tenant) and occasionally they'll find a burner out or a floor heater not working - stuff the tenant wouldn't have mentioned otherwise - and you fix that up.

I get a fair amount of leads (and do my screenings) through Apartments.com. No fee. I also list at Zillow which pushes to Trulia and a couple more. I find Facebook to be exactly as you described and while I list there, I add the application link to the Apartments.com listing so I don't have to reply to 40 "Is this available" messages. I also list w/ our local housing authority and their partners. I'm in a similar situation as you right out in the PNW. Getting a lot of inquiries, but a lot of it is from out of state and a lot arent meeting our minimum qualification standards. Best of luck to you.