All Forum Posts by: Christopher Finn

@Russ Marlborough

Most states require you to hold a brokers license, while some require you to specifically hold a property management license. 

See here:

https://www.allpropertymanagement.com/propertylaw/

@Juan Bustos

Before you acquire a property in the future you should know if the property is occupied by tenants and acquire a copy of the lease from the seller.

 How long is left on the lease for the resident that is still in the house?

@Nae Bell a great way to get started is by attending some local real estate meetups. You can connect with some great people who are doing business in your area, and they will provide you with some of the resources that you need to get started. 

Some great questions to ask are:

• Do you know a realtor that works with investors? (contact them and let them know what you are looking for and what your budget is)

• What areas of Albany do you invest in and what are the rent #'s like? 

• What ways were you able to finance your deals? (in case you were looking to get a short/long term financing to fund your deal)

There is a lot to know in terms of property management as well:

• Do you plan to manage your own property?

• If you do you're going to find to find some reputable service professionals in your area such as an electrician, a plumber, an inspector..

• How do you plan on doing the bookkeeping for your property? You may want to consider finding a Certified Public Accountant.

There is a lot that goes into buy & hold investing if you want to it to be successful

Best of luck to you, and if I can ever be of any help feel free to DM me!

In terms of a rental agreements, I would recommend using a professional attorney in your area who is familiar with the NJ landlord/tenant laws to help you craft an air tight lease.

For the tenant application:

• You can get away with writing up the pre-screening questions yourself based on the preferences you have for a potential tenant

• You can use an online screening service to receive credit, criminal, background, and eviction history and charge that fee to the applicant.

At that point you can choose from the most qualified applicants.

Best of luck @Kyle Brown

@Joseph Aghia

Try posting your rental on local tenant/landlord renting groups on facebook. I would also post to any public listing site you can to increase your exposure. There are a bunch such as zillow rental manager, craigslist, doorsteps.com.

It really depends on the area that this property is located in. Take a close look at the rental rates surrounding you and determine if it is renting under market value. 

If it is, you may want to look into some cheap and affective ways that you can force appreciate the property and increase the rents. 

There are many ways you can do this by touching up the appearance of the exterior & interior:

• A new coat of paint throughout the house (bright colors)

• Smart locks

• Smart thermostats

• A little TLC to the landscaping

I wouldn’t be worried about how the tenant perceives you. You are operating a business and at the end of the day it is your money that is on the line. They should understand that they MUST pay you what is rightfully owed - on time, in exchange for providing them with a place to live. 

That doesn't mean you shouldn't always be professional and curteous, but you aren't there to be there friend and they should understand that from the very beginning.

Welcome @Andy Rousch I'm from you're area so if you're looking to connect or are looking for anything specific feel free to reach out!

@Keashawn Hunter

Regarding lead generation software - try out Clearbit. It is a helpful gmail plugin that provides you with 100 free searches, and has proven handy for me in finding realtors, brokers, and property owners (who may be willing to sell) and who have a website . All you have to do is enter the address of the site for the prospective person and it will return email addresses for you.

Congrats on your first rental @Vincent Plant !

Regarding your lease I would get in touch with a lawyer who can draft you a state specific form, or for your convenience I believe BP is now offering state specific leases. Make sure to look into addendums you can add to your lease - check out this thread for some more ideas: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/442...

In regards to screening tenants, I recommend having an application for prospective tenants to fill out, followed by a required full criminal, credit and background check. This will help you weed out a lot of bad prospective tenants. There are various online services that you can use to help you screen. You can also check out their social media to get a more in depth look at the person.

Always try to leverage technology to benefit your business.

Best of luck!