All Forum Posts by: Jeanette J.

Thank you Steve. I'll do it that way.

That brings up another question I have. It's a bit off topic, but you reminded me of it. When people come look at the duplex and they're interested in it enough to fill out an application, is that when I take the "application fee" from every adult to cover the cost of running the background/credit check?

Thanks for the input. I looked at other rentals more carefully. It seems that about 95% of them offer W/D hookups. So I guess I'll go with that. I might even be able to go with the original $850/month rent asking price. I guess I can lower it if I get no bites. It's hard being a newbie. =)
I'm so excited to get this going though. I can't wait to purchase another rental. This forum has be so helpful to me. I don't post a lot, but I read a TON!!

My husband and I bought a fixer upper duplex (both sides) and it's been rough. We've just about finished with one side and would like to get it rented so we can at least get some sort of income while we fix up the other side. The problem we're having is that we would like to provide a washer and dryer for our tenant, but we can only fit a 24" stack-able unit in the 2bd/1ba unit. Apparently those are really hard to find.
My question is: I'm pretty sure we can get $850 for the unit with a W/D. Since it seems the cheapest one we can find is about $1000 new (can't seem to find a used one for much less), should we go ahead and install it, or should we reduce the rent? How much should we reduce the rent?
We're first time landlords and this has always been a dream of mine. I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks!!

What about HUD's 203k loan? I've never gotten one, but I believe owner occupied can buy for as little as 3.5% down. Plus you can do a rehab loan and get those rehab costs into the loan. I'd go to HUD's website and check it out.

Thank you all. I have stayed away. The auction ends tomorrow. Someone actually bid on it, but the reserves hasn't been met.

I have also read about contacting the actual owners of the addresses that tenants say they have lived at before. The assessors website gives the owners current address, but how do you get their phone number? Google it and hope for the best?

I've been thinking about it. You guys are a great help. I do appreciate your input. I'm going to watch that house during and after the auction and see what happens to it. I tend to make what should be something slow and easy into something huge. I've almost completely remodeled my entire house because of small little things here and there that I wanted to change that turned into complete renovations down to the studs. I don't regret it, but trying to bite off more than I can chew in this situation would be a bad idea. There will always be another opportunity. I keep telling myself that, but at the same time, I can't watch too many go by.

Thanks for your responses. I will look for a landlord association around here that I could join. I'm sure that would be very helpful. I will definitely call their current landlord and especially their previous landlord just in case the current one is lying just to get rid of their bad tenant.

So the past rental screening is pretty limited. It only shows evictions if any? Do you actually go to the prospective tenants current address to see how they take care of their home? That seems like such an invasion of privacy, but I suppose it's a good idea. I like the idea of looking at the vehicle they drive and how they take care of it.