All Forum Posts by: Nathan Miller

Some of the platforms are probably going to have minimums that are too high to shoulder for just one property.  For example, Appfolio won't talk to you unless you have ~150 properties.  

For the list of features you want, you have a couple major categories of software you could consider.  

The more mature platforms that are designed for landlords/property managers include Rentec Direct, Buildium, Appfolio, Propertyware, and Rent Manager. These platforms typically have billing policies where you pay a per unit fee per month to the software and you get regular updates and support each month.  These are popular options if you want an ad and promotion free experience for yourself and tenants, but are less frequently used by single property landlords.

There are a number of low-cost, or even free, platforms available that are able to offer you a lower price by advertising to you and your tenants and/or passing along fees to tenants (payment processing fees, applications, tenant screening, etc). These platforms include RentRedi, Stessa, Avail, Innago, Apartments.com (formerly Cozy), and TenantCloud.  

I recognize you only have one unit, but it would be worth a couple hours to try out free demos (where available) of the above options and see which one feels best to you and which one has customer service that works well for you.

Each state is going to be different, but based on the language you pasted (if it's accurate and current), it sounds fine to ask for 1st months rent + 2 month rent as a security deposit.  Just be careful not to call any part of it "last month's rent" or you risk earning yourself one extra month of lost rent and lost time if they stop paying.  If it's all a security deposit, you can often apply security to unpaid rent.

You might also check with your local rental association.  Pretty much every area has one, and they are a good group to be a part of anyways.  They often provide and/or sell the forms applicable to your area.   Be careful not to use a generic form or something you find off google because every state, and often even each city has specific laws you may need to follow in regards to applications.

That sounds like a very odd and abnormal scenario.  Somebody trying to play property manager that isn't really a property manager.  I'd definitely follow Nathan Gesner's advise above ASAP.

@Anthony Cortello Good news, you have a lot of options.  Most online rent payment services also provide functions for managing the accounting, maintenance, etc of your properties as well.  You'll find two major classes of software, and they both enable you to accept online payments for your tenants.

The more mature platforms that are designed for landlords/property managers include Rentec Direct, Buildium, Appfolio, Propertyware, and Rent Manager. These platforms typically have billing policies where you pay a per unit fee per month to the software and you get regular updates and support each month - some of these include online renter payments for free, some upcharge a bit for it.

There are also a number of low-cost platforms available that are able to offer you a lower price by passing along some of the costs to your tenants (payment processing fees, applications, tenant screening, etc). These platforms include RentRedi, Stessa, Avail, Innago, Apartments.com (formerly Cozy), and TenantCloud.

The best way for you to figure this out is visit the platforms and explore their free trial (if offered). Run through some of the features you will need like setting up a property, moving in a tenant, receiving rent payments, and publishing online applications.

Pay attention to which platform feels the best to you as you perform these functions. Each platform does it a bit different and you are going to like some more than others. While trying it out, call their customer service and see how they treat you and how knowledgeable they are on their product. Ask their customer service to walk you through the above options if needed.

I have one in the freezer and one in the fridge, they both have been working perfectly for over a year on the same batteries.  No problems yet.

There's no way they are taking 35% of the security deposit itself, that would be illegal everywhere.  But their fee might be equal to 35% of the security deposit amount whereas the fee is charged to the owner (not against the tenant's security deposit balance).  PMs can get creative I guess.  I usually see the fee being a percent of rent, not the deposit.  But the deposit is often higher than rent so maybe they are being creative in ways to increase their fees.

Watch out for indemnification clause.  I think another red flag is look for language in their agreement that states you will indemnify them from everything.  A lot of PMs try to slip this in and it means even if they make a negligent mistake, or fail to follow the letter of the law, you are on the hook to pay for their lawyer.

I switched to using a temperature sensor instead and just put it into the fridge/freezers.  If the temp exceeds a certain threshold I know that either the power is out or the compressor has died.  Here's the one I'm using.  Works by bluetooth or wifi and battery lasts for years.

https://us.govee.com/products/wi-fi-temperature-humidity-sen...

I've never heard of a bank cancelling a loan that is being paid on time when the property changes to a rental.  I've never seen it done in less than 12 months from the loan origination though.  Since you have a lender attached to your insurance, they will very likely get notified when the insurance changes.

Property tax no, it will be the same regardless if you own it as an LLC or yourself. Insurance varies. Some insurance companies let you insure it under a typical landlord policy if you are the only owner of the LLC; however, not all. Your insurance company may write a commercial policy instead for the LLC and commercial policies are 50-100% higher than a personal policy. Check with your insurance agent on this.