All Forum Posts by: Landon Elscott

 Yea, the $40 per month is pretty steep if you don't have a huge number of properties.  The $99 setup fee isn't too bad considering its a one time fee, but some of the tenants appreciate the online payment abilities.

I'd agree, for most small investors there may not be a huge value, but personally I really like the service and the organizational features.  

i can as well.  Although, Ive already got one referral so I'll share the love.

Where I live in central Iowa, its actually pretty common for older homes to have basement water issues.  Most of the homes with older/original foundations get a lot of moisture and dampness, some of which can be controlled with dehumidifiers and some that cant.  Either way, the vast majority of people just leave this as something they live with.  I even know people who get trickles of water that come in through the clay blocks and then down the drain.

I even know people that get a couple inches of water in their basements at least once every couple years, and its almost like they just treat it as a normal routine of clean up and then end up filling the space back up with furniture as though it'll never happen again .

But i think the trend is startinv to change alot and basements are starting to become a more used space for beyond just storing stuff.  For the past decade or so, it wasn't such an issue for buyers or tenants, because the basement was just a dingy place to store junk and now I think buyers are really interested in turning these spaces into second living areas and tenants want the extra space for places to hang out.

To fully waterproof those areas, its pretty costly.  My main objective is to avoid any areas that are at a huge risk of having a flooded basement and also avoid areas with bad drainage.  Other than that, I tell tenants to not expect the basement to be any better than a garage when it comes to habitability.  If you want to store some stuff down there, that's fine.  If you want a ping pong table that's fine.  An old couch, that's fine.  But its an unfinished space and shouldn't be treated as anything other than unfinished with the potential for moisture.

I've heard of people doing quarterly inspections and then providing tenants with like a $30 gift.  I'm not totally certain on how well such a system works, but the idea is that it incentivizes tenants to let the landlord inspect on a schedule, provides an incentives for the tenant cleaning up on a schedule for your arrival, etc.  $30 may be steep (or maybe not every 4 months) but it probably saves headaches.

Or perhaps, you're looking for A/B tenants in an area you said is "not A/B, but not bad either."  This means, you're going to attract C tenants if you invest in C neighborhoods.  I'm not saying you shouldn't expect some minimum requirements, but a lot of families are already living pay check to pay check and many probably technically can't afford the 3 times rent.  

The question then becomes, do you consider being more lenient on the 3x rent in income.  Some of them may have subsidies that make it still affordable.  It might seem counter productive to go that route, but it might cost you more in the long run waiting for A/B tenants than just finding a C tenant who's willing to sign a lease and capable of surviving 9 or so months before running into issues at which point you evict.

You could try royalties...

I never have and don't know much about it, but there's a website that auctions music royalties that people are getting rid of.  Granted, I think royalties only last X number of years and I have no idea how to figure out an estimated value of royalty payments. 

Eh...not to say this is a bad idea, but in my opinion, I think its more effective to just focus on the core concept of the business, the actual lease of the property to generate good profits rather than trying to nickel and dime tenants into more profits.

Obviously, items like laundry services and perhaps vending machines might work well and make since in a multifamily setting, but I think offering to wide of a selection of add-ons cause an over complexity to a business that often runs smoothest when kept simple.

In a large, class A facility, there are probably lots of avenues for setting up additional revenue streams and services, much of what can be outsourced, but for attempting to confuse a lease with different services and add on costs can often become a headache to manage on top of the tenants.

At the very least, instead of offering additional services, I would simply partner with local businesses who might allow you to profit from discount, bulk pricing which you can then up charge to tenants.

Personally, I would not just let this go.  I would simply tell them that while you were okay with that single occurrence of a guest bringing a pet, you are not okay with it turning into a habitual occurrence.  I would let her know that you've been seeing the dog on a weekly basis and that it either needs to stop or - if she's a good tenant and if the dog is decent and you wish to continue - consider enforcing some rules and monetary agreements.

Well, I use Buildium for my accounting ACH services.  $30 per month gets you to 40 units I think.  Anyways, its typically $99 setup fee for ACH but they've got a referral program going on if you sign up under me that will waive the fee.  Let me know what you think.

i use Buildium too, but I don't think an email would suffice in court as appropriate notice of eviction.

For me, Buildium sends out an automated email when the late fee is applied.  I will post a notice to their door on either Saturday or Sunday if it lands on a weekend, then wait til Monday to send out the certified and standard postage notices.

In total, that's four different notices they've received.  But if the notices aren't mailed until Monday, then from my understanding according to Iowa law, even if I post notice to their door on Saturday, I have to wait until the certified mail has arrived and count three days after that.  If I send out on Monday, that means they receive on Tuesday, and have until Friday to pay or I visit the clerk of court.