All Forum Posts by: Dale Lotts

Hi @Peter Tverdov, thanks for weighing in. 

I agree, spending the time at lease signing to make sure they understand everything is important and sets the tenant up for a successful rental term. 

Did you have anything intersting come out of these 30 minute sessions? What works well? How has it changed over time?

I'll join

@Paul Salmela . I looked at Knockrentals.com recently and was told they only consider landlords and managers with 100+ units now so it's cool you got in early and free!  So I wrote my own (very ugly) version - I also didn't like having the showing times visible in advance so my system does the scheduling after the showing request is received.

I'm happy to share whatever I can to help you automate more.

Yeah, Buildium is an excellent option - I also heard about Cozy. I use the ACH for other non-rental related parts of my business so the small additional cost is worth it. If it was rentals only I would switch for sure.

2) I'll check out Buildium.

3) Good stuff. I especially like the new tenant welcome letter. 

4) I've been working on something similar, I also include model number and serial number for all of the mechanicals - appliances, furnace, air conditioner, garage door opener, etc. - I didn't think to add filter size! Duh! Yes, standard materials helps a lot.

5) I've been doing group showings for years, they are hard to beat! I've built out the software for tenants to request showings so that handles all of my pre-screening for the showing without having to take a call - I guess the next step is to sign up realtors (or on-site manager) to do the actual showings  - I guess the realtor could just be paid a flat fee for the showing and given a checklist/info on the property and how to do the showing. This is the part I'm really trying to outsource now - I travel a lot for work and its not really possible for me to personally do showings most of the time

It sounds like we are working on similar things - I'm happy to exchange ideas and results if you're interested.

There are several factors and I think credit score and down payment are the the two biggest . I've noticed that the rates for investment properties are about 1% higher than the rates you find for owner occupied loans on bankrate.com - I refinanced a SFH in September as an investment property with 30% equity on10 year fixed loan for 3.75%.

Based on current rates, I would expect the rate to be between 4.6% and 4.8% with no points if you have excellent credit.

I love automating my rental business. Here is a short list of what I have automated so far:

1) Showing pre-screening: After getting some ideas from other Bigger Pockets users, I automated gathering information from potential tenants before scheduling a screening. (PM me for details, if I mention the details in the forms the post is  deleted for self promotion)

2) Lease signing- I use DocuSign or other services to electronically sign the leases and other documents. 

3) I collect all of my rent via ACH using U.S. Bank Single Point Essentials ($35/month) - never a late payment, I never check the mail

4) Tenant reminders: I use boomerang to schedule recurring reminders to the tenant  - i.e. change the furnace filter, winterize the home, etc - I ask the tenant to respond when the task is complete and boomerang will also remind me if they don't respond.

5) (Manual and preventative) I automatically replace certain components before their end-of-life to prevent tenant calls if things break - i.e. All faucets and toilet parts every 5 years, etc

I'm experimenting with creating a chat bot to allow the tenants to create work orders/repair requests via voice call, text message, facebook, or kik.  I'm sure I can do more with the chat bot, I just haven't thought of it yet. =)

I'd like to automate/outsource showings and move-in/move-out inspections - has anyone attempted this in the past? How did it go? 

What tools and techniques do you use to automate your business?

I self manage my properties now. I have used Greenwell Property Management in the past - they were really good and easy to get along with, and always found good tenants. I learned a lot from them while they were managing my properties.

I think there is an inherent conflict of interest between the property manager and property owner. The property manager is protecting _their_ income by making the tenant happy at almost any cost and there is little concern about the profitability of the property for the property owner. This is fine if the property owner is looking for appreciation, but if the property owner is looking for cash flow it can be a problem.

@Jeff Gates, yep, there sure are. W2 and tax returns are just as easily faked.  We always do our own independent research. We contact employers directly as well as search public records to make sure the company is legit. We also contact previous landlords through public record of the property owner vs the info on the application. Everything is independently verified.