All Forum Posts by: Jill F.

I have found events most useful for gathering potential vendor/supplier contacts and references

That sounds like a scammer.

We use and like Buildium. I believe that deciding to invest in full featured property management in the beginning helped us grow self manage more effectively than we otherwise could have. We self manage our 78 units; we started out 9 years ago with the purchase of two 4 unit buildings.

The only dishwashers I've had trouble with were really, really old.

If you have decent personal credit, Home depot has a 'project loan' that lets you borrow up to 55k with a 6 month interest only purchases period followed by a 5-7 year fixed rate loan pay off period. We've renovated over 30 units with home depot project loans. You can apply from the pro xtra website. We've found these loans to be very convenient for our renovation projects.

I have a tenant now that was way behind when I purchased (I did know) but I took the following actions:

Made it clear that I had to get paid every month on time,

'Discounted' her rent to the actual market rent in that area ($50) for on on time payment,

Fixed her broken front door.

Forgave the rent owed to the prev slumlord

She's paid me on time every month for two years now.

fyi: Fair housing laws prohibit you from charging more for children. If water usage or wear and tear is the issue you can charge for additional occupants  of any age, but you can't charge extra just for children.

A lease is not executed until both parties sign the lease. Did YOU sign and give the tenant a copy? if not, the lease is not in force. If you gave the tenant a copy with your signature, it's a little shakier. Did you give him the keys? 

I always sign last and never ever sign until I have the money (in cash or a cashiers check from a local bank). I keep showing my units until I have money in my hot little hand. It's not a deal until you have money.

Oh Nathan, I'm so, so sorry. -Jill

Quote from @Benjamin Aaker:

I'm on the other side. I prefer having the long-term lease. Here's why:

1. Why aren't you just starting with a MTM lease? If you are worried about the bank, then you would want to continue leasing up annually. I've never had my bank inspect my leases. Maybe it's different for others.

2. MTM tenants are always one month away from leaving. Then, you have 2-4 weeks of down-time when you are surprised that they left you. They were so happy there!

3. It's hard to raise the rent on MTM. You always worry they will leave.

4. The end of the yearly lease is a great time to raise the rent, sensibly, and following the market. I put on a premium for MTM. Tenants that are willing to pay this are the ones I know will be leaving within 12 months. Now, I'm prepared.

5. To the tenants will leave when they want to argument: They certainly will with MTM, with a contract, there is at least a thought about staying. You can sue them for breaching your agreement.

6. Tenants under longer term contract in my experience take better care of the place. Your mileage may vary.

You are in the landlording business and you've got to run it that way. Keep reupping the contracts and know when they will leave.

I have not found it difficult to raise rent on m2m tenants. In fact, when difficult (usually newly inherited, end of lease term) tenants don't sign my rental agreements, I'll tell them I"m going to raise the rent every 30 days until they get my paperwork turned in. That stops that nonsense. every. time. 

If a tenant really needs to move, they are going to move whether they
have a lease or not and you have a duty to mitigate the loss. Usually I get a bigger increase when turnover a unit than I would get from an in place tenant, so I don't worry about it if a tenant decides to  move.