All Forum Posts by: Jon A.

Cozy accepts partial payment which sort of drives me nuts and they can also take the money back out of your account if the tenant claims fraud but I would assume any online rental collection site can do that. One thing I learned about zillow this last time around is that once and applicant pays for the credit/background check they can use that to apply to any listing on zillow which could easily allow them to go somewhere else with their application. So, from now on I only accept applications through cozy. But I can only assume that a smart tenant will only want to apply through zillow since they pay the fee once and have options for any rental on zillow. I think they all are going take a couple days to deposit the money in your account because it ACH checking and I don't think they have any control over that. Cozy has been responsive has gotten back to me within 24 hrs with answers to my questions. In addition, Cozy says that on time rent payments can increase the tenants credit score if I remember correctly.

You just have to follow the market, talk to realtors in that area, join the local real estate investors club or whatever they have. Check the rentometer website although some will say it is not that accurate.  What you see on zillow and Craigslist is what people are asking for at that moment, not necessarily what the price people are getting. It's just a snapshot of the market in a given time frame. Call some property managers in the area you are interested in.  

IMHO GOOD people make GOOD dog owners. If you want to keep them as tenants I would ask that they keep the dog under 30 lbs. and have to pay a pet fee and/or pet deposit to make it worth it to you. Explain to them that this is your policy on all your rentals and you are just asking they abide by your policy as it would be unfair to your other tenants to deviate from your policy just to accommodate them.  It is very hard to find tenants without pets lately in my area so I have had to loosen up on my restrictions also. Do an inspection every couple months to ease your concerns. Most people that get pets nowadays crate train them so they really aren't just running around the house when people are gone.  If you allow them a pet they will just stay longer.  If you want them to stay work with them. 

I would repost your question saying something like "has anyone ever rented to an in home health care agency?" . There may be a huge upside to doing this. 

I think he means it can be some money down or no money down. It is all negotiable. 

I charge one months rent up front for deposit. What does your old lease say for the last tenant? Does the new tenant have pets? By the way, it is not rented until you have money and a lease in hand. Keep showing it until that happens even if it is an hour before the lease signing. If this tenant is as good as you say then they will have options and keep you on the line as back up. 

USDA loans can be %100 financing but they are done in rural areas. 

This may seem obvious, but I would make sure it is a legal multifamily. For example, not an illegal 4 plex when it should really only be 2. Lots of old properties have been chopped up to accommodate more units than are allowable by code. 

@Bailey Sessoms, I have not, but it is my understanding that the majority of owner financed homes go back to the owner through default so I would make sure you do your due diligence. The only real reason I can think of that someone would owner finance is because the buyer cannot obtain a loan through a traditional lender. So it is more of a risk for both parties. 

Deposits are not the landlords money to keep, so I don't see how you could leverage them in any fashion. I would think they would need to be turned over to you along with all the current leases.