All Forum Posts by: Mike Franco

what's the cause of this flood? 

does sactown actually have better jobs?

 Haha, yes. They are slobs. They can't agree who cleans what, like they're playing a game of "Not it", so they leave everything dirty.

College grad roommates are the worst. I had these same type of tenants in 2013, and they were pigs. The place was filthy, bathroom full of mold, and they continued living like that.

I hired the help and ruthlessly deducted from security, and they were even worried they wouldn't get their deposit back.

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Gerard, shop around and ask for references. Those who are not fly by night hacks will have plenty. Take the time to research handymen like you background check your tenants.

I should do an experiment in my next turn over. "will consider pets for $250 extra rent per month"

I imagine I'd price myself out of the market and those with pets probably won't apply.

I justed used myrental.com recently, applied a 20% off coupon to bring tenant cost down to $24.

I'll be trying Tellus on my next turn over. It's amazing Tellus can do all that for free...

• Free tenant screening (for landlords AND tenants)
• Rental applications
• Unlimited number of applicants
• Credit report from Equifax
• Criminal background check
• Eviction history
• Employment and income verification
• Identity verification
• Detailed screening report
• Tenant leads management
• Tenant messaging

However, I recently read that judgments from evictions are no longer reported to credit agencies, especially equifax.

So it's kinda scary knowing that you may have incomplete info because these screening services did not find that one eviction record. These screening services need to access government records to find out if anyone has been evicted.

I wonder if Tellus actually has people who call to verify income and employment. I'm curious what sources they use for income verification.

Nevertheless, this will give landlords an advantage because they don't have to charge a screening fee, and renters are more likely to apply.

I already do not charge for initial screening, so this is even better.

nah. I like renting to those who can't afford a dog.

College kids are the worst. They go to class, and then who's watching the dog? I've been to enough college classmates' off-campus housing to know what a pigsty they live in. Add a few dogs to the mix, and holy sh

In LA suburbs, there are enough pet friendly rentals everywhere that we never get into bidding wars.

There isn't enough of a safety buffer. If I charge $800 for one dog, you might get lucky and have no damage, or your luck runs out and you get a whopping damage bill that the $800 won't cover. Maybe even the security deposit is not enough.

Worst is when you have a tenant who doesn't pay, AND have dog damage.

For me, there just isn't a reliable way to determine if you're dealing with a responsible dog owner who has a well trained obedient clean dog with no dog body odor.

can sec8 tenants afford the rent increases?

minimize my vacancies. 

and don't nickel and dime on fees, or charge exorbitant fees for simple cheap tasks.

When I look at zillow, I see management companies that are not proactive in finding replacement tenants.

Ideally, prospective tenants should be touring the place as soon as tenants give 30 day notice, not waiting until the tenant moves out and the place is empty. That's lost rent right there.

And buy a DSLR camera with a wide angle lens so you can make my rental look decent online.

someone should contribute an article about all the sh** crap tenants do.

Vice is another trash outlet that accepts random articles from outside contributors.

and never let tenants do any work. Especially painting.

Painting requires 95% prep work that no one does properly.