All Forum Posts by: Mariel DeVito

@Rebecca E. thank you for that reminder.  That is actually one reason why it's hard to work with my husband on my investments because he has a soft spot.  At the moment, I'm drawn to one tenant.  She is able to pass the 3x income and steady income so far but what makes me lean over is the fact that she is employed at the local blind and deaf school.  My daughter, now passed, was blind and we have a neighbor in the block where the rental is who is deaf.  Long term I know she would want to stay in the home.  Anyways, I did schedule another viewing and am considering other candidates so I'm not committed yet :)

Hey BP friends - I have used zillow rental to do my tenant vetting and applications.  Unfortunately the realtor who sold us our newly acquired rental won't release until title sends $ and paperwork and thus ties the property in the system for renting purposes.  Without going into that issue, what other alternatives are out there that does the same?

The decision is really up to you but as a landlord, make sure that you are abiding by the Fair Housing guidelines in your selection.  Online applications may not carry the same weight as someone who has seen it but you never know what people's circumstances are - maybe they are relocating or ??? I personally would give it a chance and interview any that I thought would be a great fit.

You may want to check with the lender on what can be counted as a "gift" towards the purchase.  I don't think they'll allow just her if most of the money is coming from you.  Unless you are paying cash for it, you will be on the hook for it.

@Jim K. great point! funny story to share - with our last rental, I had someone (a realtor) who was trying to negotiate on the rental by paying six months up front for the price of five months.  When I got the background check.  Score was in the high 500 and she claimed to own a trucking company on the side.  Yeah, that was a HARD pass.

@Nathan Gesner the rent is low in comparison to the crazy numbers in the city but based on comps, it is definitely where it needs to be.  I definitely learned a lot from the last rental and avoiding those pitfalls this time around.  At the moment, I have a targeted group of people who have shown interest in the property.  It's definitely easier to deal with a handful than the mostest.  I haven't aggressively advertised it yet since we are still updating but reached out to specific people who have posted in social media.  Thanks for the feedback though!

@Chris Heinmiller I am in Fl and have started exploring tax deeds.  As someone mentioned, Florida does things differently.  Not sure if you are sticking with Duval County as you tagged Jacksonville but you will need to learn how different each county is.  It is a lot of work to do the title searches.  Thankfully, some counties have developed their sites to show everything you need in one page and identified through multiple tabs.  My concerns with tax deeds are (1) if it is currently owner occupied (good luck trying to get them out if you end up with the property), (2) some vacant lands are crap (marsh land, non buildable, etc.), and (3) appraised value (I won't bid beyond its appraised value - some do which doesn't make sense to me).  Hope this gives you some insight!  Good luck.

PS when you attend a tax deed...not sure if you ever been to one but the Fl ones I've been to are fast and quick.  It can be daunting and it may pressure you to push your limit up.  Don't.  Stick to your budget as per your research.

@Pamela Gordon I unfortunately do not have time to do that type of follow up.  If a person commits to a time and they are a no show, they go to the rejected pile.  I'm actually surprised that I had one be a no show twice! She did send a message after the fact on day 1 but none was received for day 2.  She applied and for ghosting alone, it was a big NO for me.  I guess I'm lucky that there are multiple candidates to pick from.  I also did the prior advice and booked 15 minute slots which did work out so I didn't have long wait times.  It's a 30-45 minute drive to me one way to get there so a no show is a big deal.

We have a very competitive rental market in our area and we priced our rental, not with the craziness of the market but with what we think is reasonable for a family to pay and still afford the other things we are asking as part of the property - all utilities and the upkeep of lawn. This said, when we listed our prior SFH, we had 100+ contacts and about 40 applications and it wasn't even in the best part of town. Now our rental IS in the highly coveted part of the city. This said, how do you respond to an applicant who asks - what will it take for you to rent this house to me today?!

@Pamela Gordon when we listed our first SFH rental, I did by appointment only. It took a lot of time AND effort. The sad part is that there were a handful of no shows. This said, I'm listing a new rental in the next couple of weeks. My plan is to have an open house. However, I broke my own plan because I had out of town parties wanting to see it so...it looks like it may have to be by appointment. One mistake I won't make (aka lesson learned from last time), I will only book applicants who I think will likely be successful in the vetting process.