All Forum Posts by: Kurt Hines

Someone on BP said they have a "Butt Fee" in the lease. Any cigarette butt they find, anytime during the length of the lease or found after move out has a ($25 or $50, can't recall) fee applied. The point being to scare away smokers, and really punish people who do smoke or have people over who smoke.

It seems really early to be showing for August move in. My guess is most of the people you are showing are just lookie-loo's. Or maybe it is a local market condition, like student rentals? The way I do it is as follows. I pick one 2-4 hour window, one day a week (usually sat). All showings are scheduled in that window 15-20 minutes apart (some people do them all at the same time, to create competition frenzy, I might switch to that.) I schedule with my tenant ahead of time, so they know it is only that window, they get very ample notice. This is much nicer than random showings all the time. Happier tenants make for easier showings. I'm considering implementing a bounty program, where the current tenant gets a small bounty ($200) if a lease gets signed before they move out, and they leave the place in great condition upon move out, so the next tenants can move in 1 day later. It seems odd, but every empty day costs me money, and if the current tenant doesn't keep the place clean, and makes things hard, so that showings can't happen until after they move out, the place will sit empty for 2-3 weeks, costing me a lot more than $200.

My rental is a condo, which I've had for a while. Similar costs, but lower rent unfortunately. Few things to check before you pull the trigger. 1. Do a review of the history of HOA special assessments. Do they do them often, or do they hold enough reserves at all time to cover any large costs. 2. You won't necessarily get appreciation with a condo like you do with a SFH, so keep that in mind (and check out historical numbers.) 3. The rules and politics of HOA's can kill years of profit. Are you actually allowed to rent the unit? Many complexes have limits, and you have to apply to rent. If something goes wrong (say water pipe leaks, causing damage in your unit), how long do you have to wait for them to fix it? Can you work with the board if needed, or do they treat the complex like their fiefdom? I make a profit on my unit, but if I didn't self manage it would be a lot less. This is a concern. I did a stint on the board as treasurer, and keep good relations with the current board members, so I can just call one up if I need to. So it can work out, but do your due diligence.

I don't have any notes yet, but I was just at Papersource, and made it a point to ask people who they used and liked. I had multiple people tell me they love Allied. The main points people brought up were they did everything, and don't nickel and dime you for things like sending letters or checking taxes. I haven't verified that yet, so caveat emptor.

Llewelyn A. A lot of my procedures are based in my experience in other realms, like time sent in the tax and mortgage industry. It helped me devise my application procedures with only a little bit of painful learning. I don't like the idea of the tenant just giving me a credit score because a score is limited. I like to see the actual details of the credit report, amounts owed, payment history, etc. and, since with Rentalutions, the tenant is the one pulling the report, it counts as a soft, not hard inquiry, so doesn't effect their credit. Then I look at their total monthly debt payments, and compare it to the income I've verified(the credit report doesn't know anything about income). This tells me if they can afford the place. It also does criminal and eviction check (though I still search the county court records for their name. Be careful of common names, I verify what I find. ) Most importantly, I tell prospective tenants I will do all of this, before I accept an application. A lot of people tend to self-select out at this point, saving me time and hassle. Their overview of the application process. https://www.rentalutions.com/education/guides/the-tenant-screening-process/

Unless you have a pre-existing relationship (or meet some other exemptions), if their number is on the Do Not Call list, this is very illegal. So you need to scrub your list against the Do Not Call list. (The law applies to txt messages as well.) https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/stop-unwanted-calls-texts-and-faxes

I use Rentalutions. Initially for the application/credit screening, and then for monthly rent deduction from the tenants bank account, deposit into mine. ($2 a month for 1 unit, monthly plans for multiple units.) I used Cozy before, but the interface was subpar (I'm a bit picky, as my day job involve this sort of user design). My tenant also had issues doing things in Cozy, and I decided free wasn't worth it. I heard they made changes after I left though. I'm very happy paying Rentalutions $2 to make my life easier. https://www.rentalutions.com/landlords/credit-and-background-check

Sorry for the double post. The app didn't show the tag!

Talk to Keith Jourdan . He should be able to help you out.

Thanks Bob Malecki ! That was very helpful. I'll look you up at Papersource!