All Forum Posts by: Michelle Marty

I think I will start requesting they call before the appointment. Great tip! We have other rentals, though in a lower price point, that have never had a for rent sign longer than a week. Maybe it's the higher rent, or time of year or maybe I'm not priced right. Thanks for all of your advice.

I have a rental house that is high end and priced competitively for the neighborhood/sq. footage. I've showed the house to 4 prospective tenants and two expressed interest and said they wanted to move forward. I gave each an application. One of them keeps telling me she will email it all to me and then gave an excuse as to why it had been so long (nearly 2 weeks after she said she wanted it) the other keeps saying he wants to come to the house to show it to his fiance and drop everything off. He's canceled twice. He'll make appointments and then when I call him 30 minutes after he was supposed to have met me he says he got caught up at work and then reschedules. He's now stood me up twice which is infuriating. Anyone have any idea what is going on here? I can see one person just being flakey but it's two unrelated prospective tenants both giving me the run around. Each time I ask if they are still interested they both say yes. I'm at a loss here. I've never had this happen before. I'd love nothing more to tell them both to not bother because it's rented but there hasn't been a ton of activity and I'd really like to get this rented ASAP.

I provide fridge, stove and in two sf's a a washer and dryer plus built in microwave. I asked $100 more per month than I would have had the property not had a washer and dryer and seemed to have had a lot of interest because it was included.

There is a 4 unit building I am interested in. Each unit is 2 beds 1.5 bath townhouse style. The building was built in 1997 and is all brick. It appears to be in good condition. It is a foreclosure and has been on the market for nearly a year. It has been sitting empty for nearly a year and half. The bank started asking $209,900 and has reduced 6 times and the asking is now $160,000. Each unit would rent for $650 - 700. I own another rental property in that area that has been a terrific investment. However, I have no experience with foreclosures. On realtors site he has the taxes listed at 4,000 a year but I checked the county records for the year and they said $1,200. I asked about the difference and he is checking into it but has not replied.

It's an average place but in an expensive area. The rent we are asking is $2200 per month.

I am using a leasing agent to get one of my properties in another state rented. This is the first time I've used an agent. In the application process she asks for an application fee to do a credit check and rental history she also is asking for the security deposit upfront, even though the property isn't available until feb. As well as pay stubs and two years of tax returns. There have been 6 times now that she's told me there were people interested and then nothing ever came of it. It's a nice house that's priced right. Ive always had it leased quickly. I'm wondering if it's because the leasing guidelines are so strict. No one has filed out an application even. When I lease my own properties I verify employment and check credit. Is the rest standard? What checks do you do?

I've always done credit checks but never asked them to pay for it. In my state If you deny them you have to tell them why and give them copies if they paid for it. then they can dispute it. It's a cost I eat to not get into a big mess.

Not sure where in TN you're looking but I've bought properties in the Nashville area at an average of 80% of list. Nashville doesn't come down as much as other areas and the more work the house needs the more they will come down.

I'm not sure what you would consider to be a bad tenant. We have tenants that rent out one of our 3 bedroom houses and they are always late paying their rent. It's usually about 3 days late. We've asked if it's because the due date doesn't match up with pay day and they said no they just forget and then always send it after we call. They never complain about anything but we do have to call them every month to remind them rent is due. That is the only problem we've had though. We consider ourselves pretty lucky. We do stick to renting in military towns. If a solider doesn't pay up all you have to do is call his commanding officer and the problem is fixed ASAP.

Sorry built in Jan 2011