All Forum Posts by: Megan Moody

Agree with the above. It’s a nonnegotiable for me. Always require renters insurance.

I agree about the liability issues and would have concerns about insurance. Also, you should be getting some portion of the profit. I would definitely talk to an attorney or an expert about what other contractual agreements need to be put in place to keep the arrangement going forward worth current renter;  if they are taking care of the place and there are no other issues and rent is coming in on time, I’d take care of the items noted above and that other posters noted and keep tabs on things going forward.  Good luck!

Thank you all for the info on this thread – I’ve appreciated reading all of the commentary especially that about these different investment vehicles.

If I had $3m and were in his/her shoes, I'd find an investment or wealth management advisor (fee based, not someone who will try to sell him on annuities and whole life insurance and such) with experience in real estate. There are so many nuances, pros/cons, to each of the strategies outlined above. I'd get with someone who has has advised or helped managed this type of investment, has good reviews and references, and a track record of growing returns.

Curious to see how this plays out and nice to see someone's hard work pay dividends - 

disgusting! I’m not a neat freak by any means but that makes me want to throw up in my mouth. Sorry you dealt with that! 

And PS -I’m dealing with a cat pee house that smells terrible and I’m wondering how the tenant has been living there… But your pics make me feel so much better about my situation! :)

Hi  - I should have clarified - when my tenant was in this situation I was very upfront with her that over the course of the year it would net out to an increase in the rent (2 payments worth) and wrote an addendum to the contract/lease agreement that I had her sign acknowledging that she was aware of this and the biweekly payment terms.  She was fine with it,  but was having a hardship coming up with the full rent payment on the 1st of the month. 

An alternative if you wanted to keep it rent neutral would be to stipulate payments on the 1st and 15th of the month, which would give you an even 24 payments over the year. 

I have taken biweekly when my tenants had cash flow issues.  They were actually doing a good job paying on the biweekly schedule and as long as I was made whole by the end of the month I was totally fine with it. 

Also, I get paid at work biweekly and there are 26 pay periods in a year (52 weeks/2). So instead of 24 bieeekly payments so you may end up with 26 and a little more cash at the end of the year if you’re breaking a monthly payment into biweekly. Just a thought. 

after reading your post I’m concerned about the long-term rentability and the continued problems you may have with the unit or property. I may consider selling if you are not underwater on the property and look to potentially upgrade neighborhoods.  Just thought I’d offer another perspective. You also need to think about your time and all of the headache you’ve been having boarding the property up, cleaning up after the break-ins and such.

 I can’t comment on the legality of what you’re asking but I do think that’s a lot of money to collect from a tenant. It will limit your renter pool. Most renters, including even relatively high earners,  don’t have that much cash sitting around to fork over. 

 I do – it’s not a super big expense and gives me peace of mind. Same with smoke detectors. I work in insurance as does my mother. I’m super risk-averse when it comes to things like this.