All Forum Posts by: Matt B.

"Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but doesn't get you anywhere" -Van Wilder

With that being said, renting a home is investing, like all investments there is no guarantee of a good return. the only things you can do are a) keep some capital in reserve for emergencies b) screen screen screen c) diversify with multiple properties d) realize that you are only human and you will not make the best decision 100% of time...you cant always win, that's why you should hedge your risk with strong cash reserves just in case. good luck to you!  

I charge $50 flat if anything less then the full amount is received. partial payments are not accepted.

My tenant has 2 cats. I didn't charge him anything extra.

thanks guys. Liberty mutual ended up insuring me. I will say that I am no longer sending geico my business haha. I spoke to an underwriter at liberty mutual who was awesome. Very sweet and licenses in my state. She did everything she could to get me approved and she got it. I never had liberty mutual but apparently once your there you get assigned an agent (in my case it was her) and they give their direct line. Should anything happen or I get another property, I just call her direct line and she takes care of it. I will definitely be using her for my future properties. Thanks again for your advice and insight. 

hey all, I just signed my month to month rental agreement with my first tenant and I'm having a problem getting insurance. I have my home and auto insurance through Geico but when I called to switch my homeowners to a landlord policy it was denied because I don't have a "long term lease in place". For all you guys with month to month rental agreements, what insurance company do you use? 

hey all. A little update on this. I ended up renting to the cat people. Turns out they are very clean and organized people. They rented from the same people for years without an issue. They are looking for something long term with a great landlord. When I called them to say we chose you they were ecstatic. Every time we met they were clean and properly dressed and they gave off such a great vibe. I did not charge them extra. 1500 security and 1st month rent (also 1500) up front and 1500 a month going forward. I feel like I made the right decision. Thank you all for your guidance and insight. 

thank you everyone for your advice and experiences. I'm going to meet these people tonight so I can feel them out and I'm going to take it from there. Thanks again guys!

hi guys, I'm renting out my first property and we have a prospective tenant who has 780 credit score great income and seems like the kind of person I would want to rent to. The only problem is I put on my ads that's I don't want cats and he has 2 kittens. I never had a cat but I was told that if they are not properly trained and they urinate on rugs or hardwood that I will never be able to get the smell out. So it was suggested not to allow cats so that's why I put bit in my ad. What do you guys think, would you allow cats in your rentals?

Also, I'm a dog person and I have dogs, so I am okay with small dogs.

Thanks guys!

welcome Karen! 

Tim Mellor, have you used MACU before? Are the national or regional? I went to their website but couldn't find the loan you were referring too. A lot of times banks don't advertise some products so I would probably have to call them to get more information about it but I figured I'd ask if they are national before I called. Thanks for the info!