All Forum Posts by: Eric D.

Renting to low-income tenants is almost a sure way to lose money.  Especially if you are out of state.  

The only way to do it is to run it like a slum-lord.  Minimal upkeep, industrial strength supplies at cheap prices.

 I do my first appointment ~5 days out, then pack as many pre-screened prospects into that 1-hour window as I can, 15 minutes apart.  I set up a Google calendar invite for me, the existing renter and the new applicant.  Good tenants show up, low-quality tenants forget.  It's almost as good as screening.

Good quality applicants have a 6-8 week window they are looking at. 

I advertise ~60 days before it is vacant.  I do 1-day turns.  

When you have good tenants, and you set your rental up correctly, you can do 1-day turns easily.  I have 24 rentals, and very seldom do I have a place that I cannot show.  That is the 'hidden' expense of a low-quality tenant.  If you are looking for tenants to move in within 30-days, odds are, they are low quality.  Most tenants needs to give a longer notice.

in 2018, I had 15 days vacant and three turns.  The tenants did not move in on-time, and I did not charge them.  I am headed for 0 days vacancy in 2019.

Vacancy is your #1 avoidable expense as a landlord.  Avoid it at all costs.

They do charge 10% to me, and a fee to the guest.  They handle all the bookings, and connect me to a PM on the ground, which is $120 a month.  Both of them coordinate the checking in, check out, maintenance and cleaning.

Other PMs charge 20-30% per month.  A vacation rental is something you need to be 100% professional with.  Since I travel a lot, I do not have the time to make sure all the details are taken care of.

For an ESA animal, you can.  For a service dog, you cannot require anything.

Most renters have pets.  Landlords that do not allow them exclude a lot of applicants.  I would rather exclude applicants by credit score, not pets.

I charge extra for pets, however I have fairly high standards for my tenants.  Good tenants have good pets, or are responsible enough to pay for damages.

ESA and Service animals cannot be charged for.  The first year they are free, the next year you can bump the rent a bit to make up for it.

Yes, they will become part of the basis of the property. 

I use Evolve Vacation rental to advertise my rental on several vacation rental sites, including Airbnb.  It's relatively painless.

Anything all parties of the original lease agreement agree to, will be legal.   If you can somehow "Trick" the tenants into abandoning their cheaper lease to signing the higher priced lease, that is legal and they are obligated to the new terms.

If you eventually have to evict them, and a Judge gets wind of the"trick", you never know what may happen.  Lucky for you it was not a 10-year lease.

I would ride out the existing lease, or pay them to leave.  That is part of the due diligence that you should have done before buying investment property.

Plan on your maintenance budget being double+ in a class D property compared to what a class C+ property would be.  Your vacancy rate will also likely be higher, due to the more extensive repairs between tenants.  With quality tenants, you can do 1-day turns.  

With Class D tenants, you have to do some maintenance in order to show it, but can re-rent in a week. 

There is a reason most large investors do a Class A building.  You can make a lot in a low-income area, but you have to run it as such.  If  you like the 'decorating' aspect of a remodel, forget it.