All Forum Posts by: Daryl Luc

It's a business....you make your money when you buy because market rates dictate your monthly gross and that's all the math you need.  To a renter...a 3/2 is a 3/2 as long as it's in the location they want and priced like all the others in that area.  If a thin margin works for you, then your question is moot. 
If you're a handyman, then your operating costs will be lower than if you hire out...simple math again.  Example: it costs $20 to buy a Moen cartridge for a shower mixer and one hour of your time to replace it.  It costs $150 to hire licensed plummer to do it.  Same thing, you make your money when you buy.
If your profit margin at the end of the day is 30% then you have to earn $3 to put one in your pocket.  If you save $3 up front by spending less, that entire $3 goes into your pocket.

Check your state law.  If your state only allows first + security, then the 'extra' creates an accounting issue that may not be worth the trouble.

Marketing 101....research the market ie: go to hot pads or trulia and create a filter that maps out your zip or neighborhood, house config etc. and then look at what's available.  Thats your competition and what I just suggested is what most looking to rent do. 

More accurate and 'real time' than any guesstimate software could ever get.  Run like hell from Craigslist.  Most rentals happen from one of the Zillow companies.  If you need Craigslist, then a check-mark when you post populates that for you, but watch out for some scammer scraping and relisting your house for their benefit.

You need an attorney's thoughts.  Without knowing your pet policy, t's and c's of your tenant's renters insurance coverage, local laws etc. any response here is just whistling a tune.

Find your local Landlord Association, get an invitation to their next meeting.  If more than one, visit them all.  Look at their meeting schedule and topics covered.  If one seems a fit, join. 

You'll have plenty of mentors who are experienced (experience is what you get when you don't get what you want) in your local market with several who started  with the same or similar ideas as you are.  Additionally you will get exposure to lawyers, vendors etc. who make presentations on the various problems we face and how they solve them.  The coffee and donuts are covered in your dues.

Before you do anything, don't make it about you....make it about your renters.  Renting to college kids will give one direction to go ( 9 months of click click click), renting to mostly boomers another(think US Mail).  Not everything is enhanced by clicking.  A good rule of thumb to consider...automating can make your problems happen faster....that's not necessarily a solution to anything.  

Here's a thought...talk to your renters and get their input.

Think can of worms.  Large can of worms.  The law of cans of worms is that it takes a larger can to put them back than the one they escaped from.  Just the mere fact that your rent is fixed and you could never change it if she lived that full ten years is reason enough to say no thanks.  From her perspective, what if you were a crappy landlord by her standards and she wanted out, then what.  Also, I know there's some weird stuff going on with landlord tenant rights and rent fixing etc in your neck of the woods, but I'd be having a conversation with a local attorney about this as well.  See, there's this thing in contract law that goes something like this:  You can't make a contract to make a contract.   And a ten year lease could fit the definition since performance is outlined for an extended period into the future without any guarantees that performance can be achieved.  What if there's a fire?  What if she deteriorates and needs a ramp installed.  In other words, there are a pile of what if's in your proposal and no answers.

My question is 'why?'  My properties are in Cuyahoga County but are based on market research used to meet a specific strategy.  For the life of me I don't see how any market research would put my money into those zips unless I had a concealed carry, was a lot younger, and had more money than brains.

Get an independent agent.  Let him know what you have and then answer all their questions.  The policy recommendation will be good enough to start.  Insuring contents of a rental is the tenant's responsibility, not yours.  Accept a high deductible on the landlord policy since residential losses are almost always contents related.  Require tenants to carry renter's insurance and to name the property owner as first named insured.  It doesn't cost them one nickel and if they cancel, you will be notified by the company directly. 
Also, make certain that your tenants carry automobile insurance...show you the policy. Photograph the declarations page. (you'll need it if you take them to court for damaging property with their car and they've cancelled it)  Crazy you say?  I've had tenants get drunk and drive their car right into the house.  It's a nightmare to deal with.  Let it be their problem, not yours.

I don't care what the business model, remote management doesn't work.