All Forum Posts by: Jill F.

Don't pay if she requested not to be paid. Take her out for a lovely dinner and treat for a girls night out at something she loves to do in appreciation.

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

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.