All Forum Posts by: Connie Chan

@Jeffrey Lecroy I have a lot of respect for anyone that has served in any defense capacity, but I also think you want to optimize for what will be the best tenant so I don’t think the fact that he is a Marine alone is enough to decide to rent to him. Remember this is a business do not let your emotions cause you to make bad business decisions unless you do so recongizing you may be leaving money on the table. Not saying at all that you shouldn’t rent to him, but if you are concerned then maybe consider listing the property on more sites to get more leads. And then after that if you still pick this candidate you will have peace of mind you looked at all the options. There are several sites that will help with mass listings. The rental app I use Tellusapp.com for example helps owners list on over 15 websites, this helps you get more leads. I have not listed a home with them yet (my tenants have not moved out), but I have heard good things and it’s free so might be worth checking out. Again I’d say if you have hesitations then expand the search for renters.

@Jessica Prunk I use Tellus app to manage my rentals and they partner with Naborly so the tenant screening is free. I think the benefit of using it through Tellus is they aggregate all your applicants in one place. I think they might help reject them for you too I’m not positive.

@Cory O'Dell Agree! I love using the Tellus app to take a photo and throw the receipt away right after. I find myself logging even small amounts now. Those expenses still add up so it’s a great feeling!

@Mason Warnimont I don’t know if this will solve your investing needs. But the rental app I use tracks expenses and rent revenue, one off payments, and calculates my cash flow. The main reason I like it for expenses is the easy input, you take a photo and tag it to the right house or unit and this way everything’s organized. I used to use excel for tracking which is actually great for numbers too (I‘m a former banker and still love the power of excel), but I found it a pain to have to keep the physical receipts around for tax documentation and also I would only input them whenever they stacked up since I hate spreadsheets on the phone. No keyboard shortcuts! Haha Anyways the app is called Tellus, works for basic expenses and revenue and you can download the data. I don’t think it handles investor calculators yet so if you’re looking for an analysis spreadsheet you may want to try the Zillow calculator apps or use the calculators on bigger pockets!

@Kai Van Leuven very reasonable and thoughtful process. Thank you for sharing it! A few suggestions, try expanding the list of where you list your rentals. Some services like Tellus app will list it for you on over 15 sites for free. I would let all interested parties apply because I’m worried about discriminatory lawsuits and complaints, but if you don’t do it that way just make sure you’re staying within the law when turning people down. For screening perhaps the tenants want a cheaper option? The app I use apparently partners with Naborly to collect applications for free. I haven’t used Naborly myself so I can’t speak to it but I looked at a sample report on the Naborly site today and it looks comprehensive. Similar to what another poster has mentioned, don’t lost heart just because of the season. And remember for something like Craigslist if you’re managing the listing yourself instead of using a listing helper, then you have to keep reposting it because the listings show the most recent ones first. I made this mistake a few years ago I assumed reposting the listing from the listing manager would put it back on top but it doesn’t! You have to literally create a new listing to have it show up at the top of results. Again I’d increase the places you list because with more applicants you can be more picky.

I'm interested as well! Is it sold out?

Originally posted by @Shamus Wheeler:

@Account Closed have you used Tellus to screen tenants? How was it? The only reason I am skeptical is that most platforms charge $30-$40 to screen tenants and Tellus is completely free. 

I haven't had tenants move out yet so no, but my mom has looked into it for one of her rentals that might need to be listed soon. I believe customer service told her they partner with a screening company and have some corporate deal. Maybe you can ask for a sample report?

None that I've encountered plus the customer service is really quick to respond which is not typical for this category of software! haha 

My husband has been using it for about a year, I joined a few months after and added my own rentals, and my husband also lists me as a co-manager of his homes. the app support multi-user which comes in handy when husband takes a picture of a receipt and I can see it on my side, too. Oh and it captures tenant chat with read receipts because some of my tenants prefer to message me instead of email. basically it covers everything I need. I don't have 100+ units so I'm not looking for something like appfolio or buildium, I just want something high quality that tenants will find professional, that backs everything up, lets me download my data if I ever need to, etc. And Tellus fits that, plus it's free! you can see the feature list at tellusapp.com, I'm probably forgetting a few.

@Dean Attali your approach makes a lot of sense. See if he wants to get out of the lease. Definitely don’t go down eviction path or anything like that without consulting a lawyer. Not even rent increase. It could be considered retaliatory so you don’t want to do either of those things after a request. For the bathtub overflow issues (where the tenant is at fault), perhaps you can come to an agreement with him that if it is found to be his fault he can pay for the plumber visit? That might cause him to complain less.

@Michael Ciraolo No problem! Venmo over time is going to be a tough solution to scale with since they cap the amount you can withdraw per day to I think $3k? There’s also a weekly cap. So as you scale your portfolio it doesn’t work well and then the history of your payments gets scattered. Plus if you use Venmo occasionally for personal payments it’s tough to keep financIals separate. The nice thing about landlord specific apps like the Tellus one I use, it also lets you turn on or off late fees so you don’t have to be the bad guy reminding them of it. And it lets you collect separately per tenant, and most of all you can block partial payments or payments alltogether. This is important if you ever (knock on wood) have to start an eviction process. Where my rentals are, the eviction process is totally difficult if renters are savvy and send you partial amounts making the origInal filing void. Long winded way of saying I think life is a lot easier with landlord rent specific software :)