All Forum Posts by: Paul Ronto

Just to chime in here as well, there are some great software options out there they allow you to write the property listing once and syndicate it out to dozens of listing sites for free, so you don't have to re-create the listing over and over on all the listing site. 

I would say try to pack as much information about the unit and its features as you can into the listing. Take a ton of photos too, the more the better. I'd also even suggest putting some high-level acceptance criteria in your listing, like must have 600 or better credit score, or have income equal to or above 3x the monthly rent. Things like that, which are important to you so you don't get hit with a ton of interest and questions from potential tenants that are not even going to make it through your screening processes. For me, it really helps me pre-screen and only encourages the upper tier of tenants to even reach out to me, saving me tons of time. 

The list from @Krystallin Baker above is a pretty good checklist. I say go robust, more information in my opinion is always better than a vague listing. 

If you ever need advice, feel free to reach out directly. 

You could to a short term lease to start, just for the summer and continue to look for a new tenant to start August 1 as well.  That works well here in Fort Collins, it's a college town so people are always looking for a summer rental, but may work elsewhere. 

And ya, something is better than nothing, but lower rent with good tenants is also better than high rent with bad tenants. It's a delicate balance. 

Let me know how it ends up going.

@Bobby Vernazza just a heads up to save you some time. There are some great software programs out there that will help you market your property for free. Instead of creating 20 listings on each of the listing sites you can just create one listing and syndicate it to all the listing sites. Makes life easy. 

Don't be scared by the fact that people disappear when you mention screening either, you are the owner and you should vet potential renters thoroughly, which includes credit, criminal and eviction reports.  Don't give into not running these reports because someone pushes back on you. Probably a sign that they have something they don't want you to see. Good tenants will be fine with you pulling these reports, and reassure them that you are doing a soft credit pull which doesn't hit their credit at all. Again there are good software programs out there to help you with tenant screening so find one that fits your needs rather than trying to piecemeal this all together one at a time. 

I would say try a few more marketing channels before you lower your price, the second you lower you price you may get more interest but possibly not from the type of tenants you'd ideally be looking for. Eventually though, you need to get it rented, so I like the idea of offering it to some of the people that were interested in the 2 bedroom, for the same price with a section in your lease that if they find a 3rd person that wants to move in that the rent will go up, maybe not to as high as you'd have liked, but at least it covers your expenses a little bit if they get a 3rd roomie, but gets it off the market at an affordable rate for 2 people.

 Good luck. If you ever need more tips or advice feel free to reach out directly as well. 

The great part about TransUnion is that they have access to data to pull all three screening reports, credit, criminal and eviction. Other services like Experian only offer credit, but not an integrated criminal or eviction report so you need to source those elsewhere. We partnered with TransUnion because of their integrated nature which makes it easier to get the full picture on a possible tenant. 

HOA was included in the original 460$ number that I came up with. And management only costs you if you farm it out. There are great tools out there that make it easy to manage on your own though at no cost. There may always be unexpected maintenance issues but with a condo those tend to be less, and with a newer unit they tend to be less. I stick by my original thoughts, I think you're looking pretty good, even if your first year you don't cash flow a ton based on maintenance issues, you'll get those solved and be better off moving forward, plus like mentioned, you'll be gaining equity through appreciation every day and someone else is paying the mortgage. It's normal to have fears when you are first getting into this, those will dissipate as you start to get the hang of things.

I think you did alright. If you put 20% down with rates at about 4% today, you're looking at around $600/mo for principal and interest, insurance on a condo is usually cheap, not sure what you are paying, but probably like $200/year, and then if taxes in Raliegh are about 1% which is probably a little high, that's another $1500/year, so you're looking at about $840 in monthly expenses on the high side of these simple calculations, so if you can get $1300 you'd be cash flowing $460/mo. Plus Raleigh is a good medium sized city so appreciation is probably in the mid-single digits. I'd say you did pretty good on your first investment.

Now it's time to get it rented! Remember you can kill your profits with bad tenants and high turnover, so spending the time to vet tenants properly and find good tenants is going to be key. Be sure to have a solid rental application and lease, as well as screening and acceptance criteria. Also, always do proper screening complete with credit, criminal and eviction reports on your potential renters.  

Good luck! Let me know if you have any landlord specific questions, happy to help. Feel free to direct message me if you'd like. 

@Tiffany McDaniel this may not be the best location for you to post about looking for a rental. I would say check the major listing sites like zillow, zumper or craigslist, as that's where most currently rental listings live. 

Again, I agree with @Nathan Gesner , I tell my tenants how to pay, I do not give them the option to pick. I obviously use our software because it lets me track all payments and even allows multiple tenants to pay separately and keeps me updated on who has paid how much and when. It makes it super easy to track and then I can reach out to the specific tenant that is late if the issue occurs rather than trying to contact all a property's tenants to find out where the late payment is. 

Also, the online methods really reduce the excuses that I get from tenants that they didn't have a stamp, or the bank was closed, or a million other things I've heard, when really they just forgot or didn't want to pay on time. To make it super simple you can just set a reminder to send out a notice to pay at the end of every month to "remind" them that payment is about to be due. 

I agree with @Nathan Gesner , you need to reach out to your state or more specifically your city, to ask the local regulations. Start small, with the city, if there are no regulations there, grow out to county, then state. 

I actually live and landlord in Fort Collins, and like Nathan mentioned, we have a city Occupancy Limits law that says that the max is 3 unrelated adults, so You + 2. The fines are real and steep, I believe if you are found in violation it's currently $1000 a day until you rectify the problem. But there are some loopholes like you can rent to 4 people if two are related, so if you find let's say, two brothers that want to live together with two buddies, you're good to go. Or if you have a family of 3 (mom, dad and child), they can rent out two rooms to two unrelated people and still be safe. 

Here's a famous memorandum by HUD on this topic that's worth reading: https://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/library/occupancystds.pdf

@Jin Kim I completely understand where you are coming from, as I am a landlord in a college town as well, but be very careful with your screening based on these demographics. Some of these may get you in trouble with HUD and Fair Housing issues.

This is directly from the HUD site: In the Sale and Rental of Housing: No one may take any of the following actions based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap. 

Some states have additional protected classes like age as well, so only renting to grad students could be seen as discrimination against people under a specific age group, and putting any restrictions on families with kids is a red flag for sure. 

Just wanted to give you the heads up, here's more info: HUD Site