All Forum Posts by: Rene Hosman

I haven't received much feedback from other users but use it personally and would be happy to answer questions (if I can!) if you're considering using it. I know there are a ton of features I don't utilize personally, I mostly use it just for tenant application and screening process, and then for rent and fee collection 

In my personal experience here's my pros and cons

Pros
•Had a template for screening questions on the application so I didn't have to think of things to ask myself
•Handles rent collection easily and for only a $1 fee to my tenants for ACH transfer which makes it easy for both parties
•I can set up all rent and fees at the beginning of a lease term so it's set it and forget it for me
•My tenants have said setting up auto-pay was easy and I like to make it as easy as possible for them to pay me!
•The applicant pays the background check fee and I don't have to deal with it myself
•Can set your own logic and rules around what kinds of late fees to charge and when to charge them and if a tenant is late paying those rules are automatically applied
•Can set the payment rules to not accept partial payments. Haven't had to worry about this yet but I hear it makes it impossible to evict if you accept even a partial payment so I'm glad I can choose my settings to only accept full payments
•I can set up rent disbursements from different properties to go to different bank accounts for bookkeeping purposes that's nice

Cons
•My only big complaint is that I cannot set up a general application link, I have to use the RentRedi portal to send an email to "invite" individuals to apply one-by-one. I wish I could just get a single link that I can put on my renal listings online and say "apply here by clicking this link". I only have three rentals so it's not that big of a deal but I can imagine if I had more that it would be a lot to manage to send out individual links to apply
•Smaller annoyance is $30 seems like a lot to charge tenants to submit a background check on an application but that is the fee required by RentRedi for them to pay. I am in a metro area and I know some big apartment buildings charge $50+ for an application fee so it's not that ludicrous to ask for $30 but it does seem high. It's the rate set by Rentredi though and you can't change it. I tell my applicants that as long as their info checks out and their application is accepted that I will reimburse them the fee as a credit toward their first months rent just because I don't like to nickel and dime people, but that's a personal preference. All that said I think $30 is probably industry standard so I haven't had too many applicants complain.
•Even if my tenant pays on time or the day before, it still doesn't land in my bank account until 6 days later, but I think that's true of all ACH payments

 Oh asset protection!! That's a great one, I would love to connect with someone about that too!

 Not embarrassing! I personally think it's the best deal BP offers, only $100/yr for all the books and all podcasts ad-free!! But it's kind of a hidden gem and not advertised very much idk why, hopefully that's helpful for you, happy listening!

 Of course! You didn't specifically mention this but I just finished Start with Strategy by Dave Meyer a couple weeks ago and while it's a great book for anyone at any point in their investing journey, I WISH I had read that earlier because it's so helpful. If you're more of an audio book person, you can get the whole BiggerPockets collection of ALL their audio books + podcasts ad-free for only $100 (both Start with Strategy and estimating rehab costs are included in this membership + 30 other books)! And you still get access to all the worksheets that come with the books.  

Audio membership link below!

https://biggerpockets.supercast.com/

I don't know a ton about Philly, but in Denver I have a large SFH that I'm splitting into a duplex by sectioning off two sides of the home from one another. Is that something that might be an opportunity for you? Either an up/down duplex or side by side? In my area I'm allowed to rent it out that way but I don't plan to get separate addresses because I want to be able to have the flexibility to remove the doors I'm putting in should I ever want to sell it as a SFH in the future. Could possibly be something for you to look into if SFH are more plentiful in your area!

I would recommend just going to their website and filling out the inquiry form, the agent I worked with was Kyle B but it seems like part of their schtick is that it's all technology based insurance brokering to save you $ so I don't know that reaching out to a specific agent like a normal insurance quote would work! @Gytenis B.

 Yessss to all of this!! @Michael Baum knows what he's talking about for soft furnishings! I use almost all of these same things for my mid-term rentals

@Chara Hornbacher what are your ultimate goals? I think Dave Meyer's book Start with Strategy could be useful for you as you think about options. 

Do you want to live here forever? Do you want to be as liquid as possible? Do you want to bring in an equity partner to fund the house build to rent out and you retain some equity? You have a lot of equity so you have a lot of options. Most importantly you need to think about not just what your options are, but what your objectives are and let your end goals help you decide. 

 Hey Steven! I'm in Denver as well, I started my journey by house hacking, and I continue to house hack currently! I'm in the middle of a live and flip so if you want to talk house hacking or construction happy to answer any specific questions.

A few resources that might be useful for you given what you're looking for, I know they've helped me:

The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs by J Scott

The event and meetup forum here on BP for finding IRL events to go and meet other local investors and soon-to-be-investors 

Setting keyword triggers here on BiggerPockets for things like Denver, House Hack, etc so that you don't have to go out and search for the information, the information can find you! Instructions for how to set up keywords on the forums here

 Thanks for sharing Alecia! Luckily even with the extra $100 toward principle the last few years I was able to build up reserves that I'm comfortable with but as soon as money has to come out of reserves I'm sure I will use the extra $100 to replace it until I'm back to my waterline and start putting it toward investments again!