All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Grant Rothenburger great idea on the storage! Hadn't thought of that one.

I hadn't thought about the water or the maintenance on the washer and dryer. Make no mistake, this is much more of a business idea than it is a kindness idea. My wife may disagree. I'm just thinking of ways to increase the cash, again I didn't see the downside. Thanks for straightening me out.

At this point my wife and I are just throwing ideas out there, and then researching them down their respective rabbit holes. We're trying to think of ways we can generate more monthly cash by offering "services" to our tenants. (No, not like that). When my wife and I were newly dating, I moved from Texas to Georgia, and she moved down from Tennessee. She had the credit score, but was MAXED to the gills. I had the great job, but had a credit score of "get out of my office." We had plenty of cash, when finding our first apartment we found that cash didn't make things any better for us. All of the snooty apartment complexes we looked into were so corporate there was no wiggle room for cash.

The first item, of course is Pets. A deposit up front, and a monthly charge per animal. I did another post on that subject (and smoking) so if you wanna holler at me about it, go over there. :P 

I can get a Washer and Dryer that isn't terrible for 300 bucks on Craigslist, and rent it to the tenant for $25.00 a month.

My son can mow their lawn for $25.00 month, since we already have the mowers, and I can deduct them!!!!!

Then came the idea of cleaning services...I promised my wife I would write that one in here, though I think she over estimates the quality of renter we will get.

Furniture rental, I don't know, maybe like a kitchen table or something.

Does anyone else do this sort of thing? What are some other ways? I know lots of renters who have the cash, but don't have the credit, even to the point of utilities. Probably a slippery slope with that last one.

Anyway, proceed with knowledge sharing.

Thanks,

DK 

As a former renter and a former smoker, I'm stunned that smoking is so universally rejected. I agree with everything you all are saying, I guess I'm just looking for more ways to have my own niche....with more positive cash flow! Although I'm not sure there's a way to charge for smoking without it still being a loss at turnover.

Thanks everyone!

Great advice everyone!

I have no doubt the dues are worth it, they just caught me off guard is all. I've been a commercial Facilities Manager for over a decade. My position was recently eliminated, so my wife and I decided the time was now to get off our rears and finally do this. Nevertheless, I'm still watching the spending.

Our plan is our own LLC, where I will manage our properties. As mentioned above, I do want to learn the ropes of the residential side but also see if there's anything in us taking on properties to manage that are not ours.

Clearly I've come to the right place.

That's a great resource, thanks. Wow, $600.00 for the National and then local dues, ouch!

@Nathan Gesner I agree whole heartedly on the pets. An excellent opportunity for increased cash flow. I agree with the stiff penalties for getting caught smoking, which is good cash. I wonder would 50 more a month to be able to smoke not be better long term if I am painting already.

Guess I'll have to run the numbers for real sometime and see.

I'm a former smoker, I hated going outside.

Without being to terrible cynical here, I understand the demographic of what a renter is. Of course there are wonderful renters out there, and there are terrible renters out there too. The middle course or group, I think I have pegged pretty well.

All of my rentals will not have carpet, I will take care of that unless I have no other choice.

I have all of the supplies and means for painting between tenants, so this begs the question.

Do you allow smoking, do you not allow smoking, do you charge for smoking, or do you care?

Where I live you can still smoke in most bars.

I'm curious peoples thoughts.

Also, with pets, same deal. Only as this is a more common charge, do you charge monthly, or in a lump, or both.

Trying to think of ways to increase the monthly cash flow when I near a rent cap.

All of these answers are great. Provided you don't have a million windows, the big box store is the best bet. Even the nice looking ones aren't too expensive. I also wouldn't be afraid to put them on the inspection and let the tenant know they're responsible for them with their security deposit. Might help.

It's as simple as the title says. I've been a commercial Facilities Manager for over 10 years. My wife and I are putting our first deals together, but I'd love to get involved managing properties for people. I have no idea how to start this. I have a Georgia Real Estate license. Can anyone point me to a thread where this has been discussed.