All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Looking for ideas on how to handle the chronic slow payer.  I'm thinking someone out there has some good ideas?  Yes the lease covers late fees.  No they don't pay the late fees,  but do pay the rent.  I'm thinking a diect discussion with the tenant is the starting place.  Not sure a letter is going to do it.

Say that both a discussion and letter do not work...how have you remedied this yourself?  Do you use late fees as an eviction basis or just leave them out there to be settled at lease completion.  Do payment plans work on fee collection in your experience? Looking for the best practices on BP....Thank you!

As a biased dog lover,  I'll have to set that aside....BUT as a property owner...I do the math.  Charging a monthly fee has probably covered my actual damages five to ten times over making dogs a profit center.  Setting aside the 1% incident of the 'pet disaster' scenario for a minute.  The real issue here is not the dogs, but irresponsible tenants.  Chances are if the tenant is letting the dog tear the place up,  the tenant and thier children and guests are just as likely to do much or more damage.  

I would suggest making periodic maintenance inspections inclusion in the lease.  Better yet letting them know up front in the application process that you will not permit any form of neglect on your property.  Periodic inspection and routine maintenance whether performed by you or the tenant is just good for your long term bottom line.  

Most landlords don't do enough maintenance, so tenants don't expect to see you or your crews.  By showing up and  doing simple things like furnace filter replacement, you can help them on their heat bills.  This prevents a furnace call on Christmas night.  And oh by the way, if the furnace technician notices a strong urine smell....nip it in the bud.  Send in someone that has a good nose though.  My best furnace tech has zero sense of smell, so I send someone else!

Bottom line...better tenants and better maintenance is the key!  Just make sure your furnace tech takes along some milk bones for the sweet puppy dog and everyone is happy even bowser.  I keep a box in my truck.  And not all pit bulls are evil....but they do bite landlords as evidenced by my friend's experience.  I saw the marks and he got rabies shots just in case.  Care needs to be exercized entering certain houses.  If momma has puppies don't go in there!    Require caging of animals when not home and during maintenace calls.  Fencing or staking outside required.  Pay close attention to basements and the evil doers that isolate the pet there.  Concrete is porous and the tenants can do some nasty damage down in the hole.  Maintenance people don' t like basements much either.  Give them a checklist of critical items and let them know you want pictures and a personal review of thier report.  The maintenance people enjoy reporting the people that are tearing up their handy work.

As for cats....I'm sorry I'm a dog lover and the kitties are better left outside!  Keeps the mouse population down.

Welcome to the BP community!  I'm a recent member myself and firmly believe you will find some great people and advise.  I've been in the business for years and found this to be a fantastic source of information as well as contacts to assist me in my daily activitiy.  I've met some great people active on BP both local and out of state here.  As @Shawn Holsapple  indicated,  your targets are attainable.  Make sure you are dealing with reputable sellers and don't underestimate the selection of your PM as that is critical.  In the midwest you will find good houses with good tenants that would allow you to buy at least three properties with rents in the 7-900/month range.  I'm biased of course to Indianapolis, but would recommend doing your homework upfront select a stable market with an established PM to service your activity.  

As a confessed dog lover...I'm biased. As a landlord, I do math. I've had my horror stories over time that made me think twice, but when you do the math and prepare houses properly the money says rent to people with dogs. Carpet is not an option in lower end homes. Multi family houses may be considered for no pet policy for simplicty. For SFH you will restrict yourself from good tenants for potentially no reason. Charge for them and you will make out on the bottom line. Require periodic inspections if you want to avoid the horror stories. Nip any issues in the bud and charge for damages along the road to keep them on their toes. You may learn that the real issue lies with the tenant as well as what the dog is doing. Watch out for the cruel owners that throw the dog in the basement and do not maintain the mess. This is difficult to overcome once it occurs. We tend to overlook the basements...and there in lies a big mistake. My biggest issue with dogs have been sending maintenance people in. Require the pet to be 'caged' when tenant is not home in the lease. Require high cost penalties in the lease if the yard is not kept clean. I've had health dept issues on one slob that chained his dog and left the poor creature in deplorable conditions. These are by far the exceptions. I think dogs can be a landlords best friend. I probably make five or ten thousand a year on them.

@Ben G. hit the nail on the head. It boils down to investor risk tolerance and PM. A slightly higher tolerance for risk with a PM that knows how to work the area equals the best cap rates.  In as much as I respect the investor's interest to categorize to the A-D groups, Indinanpolis has so many "shades of gray" that it takes time on the ground here to really appreciate the subtle differences and find the low hanging fruit on the tree.  I shoot to find the "boarder zones" on areas.  It may be the edge of a trending area that still offers value and gets the spin off benefit of a higher cost area.  Other areas are great little places to live that don't get any press but renters like them.  While I don't go to the so called warzones typically,  I suspect there are some players there that make big money.  It's not easy or glamorous for them...but I bet there are a select few that smile on the way to the bank.  Not for the typical out of state investor probably.   PM is the true secret sauce in this business.  Matching your risk tolerance with the right PM for your target area will get you to a happy place on the numbers!  Last but not least...manage your PM.  Auto pilot is not the best option.  Stay involved.  Good luck.

I concur with Didi and Darrel above!  Home depot will do phone call approval...stay on top of it!  Get a pro reward account and save some bucks too!

Taking material out of the equation makes for a simpler arrangement.  Keep the focus on labor, but make sure there is not a leak in material cost somewhere at the same time.

You can bulk buy most of the material on a customer order with using phone in as the backup.  Quote the job where they pick it up as needed unless you want to be deeply involved.

Congratulation Stephen! I'm new to BP and very impressed with the group I met last week at the meetup in Indianapolis.  Great bunch of people active at BP here.  Keep up the good work!  I'd like to catch up with you and talk more soon.  

Blowing out the wall to open the kitchen up is a great idea!  I do that often and it totally changes the house.  The more open the better in my book.  I did that in the house I live in and actually eliminated 7 areas into one great room.

If you have a slab foundation,  ceramiic will be a good choice. Floating laminate flooring in some areas if you choose.  Place some throw rugs in it to stage if you like..... Semi gloss paint is more durable or satin...if you choose to wash on turnovers.  Flat is cheaper otherwise....  Plastic tub surrounds are cheaper.  If you have a cheap tile person, that is much nicer....Good fixtures that are serviceable are worth it...no plastic ones....Easily replaceable furnace filters left onhand for them to change.  Have fun!

I would recommend you have a clear definition of scope and a fixed bid contract.  That is a significant improvement.  Change defintion should be built into the contract to handle the surprises.