All Forum Posts by: Madeline Burke

Thanks @Timothy Lee and thanks for checking out TT. I completely agree and feel privileged to live in the tech age!

Good morning BP! I recently moved to a very competitive and quickly expanding market in Fort Collins CO and am house hunting aggressively.  I want to live in the property, bring in a housemate or two, and eventually convert it to a rental (maybe after doing a small amount of remodeling).  

If you don't know FOCO it has an extremely desirable trendy downtown district and then a lot of suburban communities surrounding. In my price range (<$400k) I can either get ~900sq/ft 2br/1ba down town or as much as 5br/4ba a few miles out...

Emotionally I want downtown. I tell myself that the value retention and the rent-ability there are much more stable than where there is more inventory further out. That the aesthetics and amenities of downtown that I love would keep rent up and my property occupied. 

But am I right or is $/sqft more important investment-wise?

@Michael Enriquez I've been using free online tools to manage my own units with a lot of success, not exactly what you're asking but maybe helpful? (...and I'd rate myself five stars ;) )

@Chris Seveney I'm with @Chris Seveney Tell us more about your scheme, it sounds fun

@Tony Castronovo Congrats! I would love to know more about how you did your own tenant screenings!

@Shawn Ackerman what an interesting dilemma! Unless I'm missing something you're kind of asking about a compassion/business balance and that's something I struggle with. Totally makes sense to want to take the money now but, personally, I would want the standard to be lump-sum payments only. If you said you could take the whole amount plus late fee on Friday you wouldn't be opening the door to getting paid in pieces in the future. Compassion-wise, you could hold off on issuing your notice until Friday as a one time courtesy.

Let me know how it plays out.

@Nicholas W. That is confusing, the service I use is free to landlords, uses TransUnion too, and has an optional eviction screen. I'm new to BP and am worried to sound like I'm marketing but I can PM you if you want to know more. 

The national average for "application fees" (including screening) is $42, so it certainly doesn't sound like you're being ripped off however you end up splitting the fees.

@Rick Alvi as a Gemini I can totally relate ;)

Thanks everyone!

@Account Closed I really appreciate that! Got any restaurant recommendations?

@Rick Alvi You're getting a lot of great advice and I'm not sure what your feelings toward housemates are but I have had a lot of success buying as big a place as possible that's in rentable shape and taking in a housemate or two. It might not be ideal long term but its how I paid my mortgage while living rent-free.