All Forum Posts by: Paul Ronto

@Andrew McIntyre I don't think you need to hire this out. If you do the screening well, you should end up with a good tenant. It's a bit of work up front but then can be fairly easy after you get people moved in. Again this all hinges on finding the right tenants. 

If you go the management route you'll be giving up 8-10% of your monthly rent, which you can keep with a small amount of effort, especially with the tools provided, it shouldn't be overwhelming. 

Let me know if you have specific questions, always willing to help. 

The best advice I can give someone new to landlording is to be very diligent in your tenant screening. Set your minimum acceptance criteria and stick to them. Always pull credit, criminal and eviction reports, and it's best if you can get these from one source so they are cross-referenced so they are as accurate as possible for your prospective tenants, call references, both past landlords and current employers, as for proof of income or savings. The hardest parts of landlording can be solved through proper tenant screening. 

Also, be sure you check your state and city/county laws and stay up to date on laws relating to owning rental property, like occupancy limits for example. Be sure not to violate HUD or Fair Housing Laws as you start screening tenants as well.

Let us know if you have any other questions we're happy to help. Feel free to reach out directly if you need. 

Here's a more in depth response about different payment methods. There are many ways to take payment, cash, check, money order, ACH, credit card, wire transfer so you just need to understand the pros and cons or each so you can make the best choice for you. 

Cash: Cash may seem great, it's real and doesn't bounce, however, it usually means you have to meet your renter in person to collect which can be a pain and it's hard to keep track of. You need a system that you manually enter amounts and dates and it's easily lost without any way to recover those funds. I would warn against cash.

Personal Check: This is the number one way tenants pay rent. It's easy for renters and landlords. They can be mailed and deposited from afar. The downside is bounced checks which cost you, the landlord, extra money and time to deal with. They can be canceled by the tenant at any point as well.

Money Orders/Cashiers Check: These are considered safer than personal checks because you need to use verified funds to purchase them, however, although it's harder they can still be canceled before you deposit them and they are a burden for the tenant to get and for you to electronically deposit through most bank apps, which means you have to take a trip to the bank.

ACH: This is a direct deposit from tenant to a landlords banking account, is usually free to both parties but can take 4-7 days to process. It's easy but not quick.

Credit Card: Easy for everyone usually involved but there tend to be steep charges to the person collecting, typically 2-4% of the total amount, so on a 2K rent, you could be paying out 80$ just to accept payment. Also, Credit cards are easy to reverse the charges on up to 120-180 down the road. So although you get payment today, if your tenant decides to charge back 6 months down the road because they are unhappy with you about something they can, and most large CC companies like Visa protect the end user over the person collecting the payment.

Wire Transfer: These are bank to bank transfers and are usually the safest way to transfer money, they are fast, almost immediately in most cases and cannot be easily reversed. However, they tend to cost 20-30$ per transfer.

Anyway, there's the quick rundown on a few of the most common payment methods. Our suggestion is to find an online payment system that helps you navigate these and track them in one place. I would urge you not to share your personal bank information with a tenant like an account and routing number as mentioned above, some online payment systems out there let you sign up and submit all your bank info, and then invite tenants to pay. They are connected to your account but never actually see or have access to your sensitive banking info.

Hope this helps! Feel free to reach out directly if you have any other questions about collecting rent payments. 

@Kaycee Miller hit the nail on the head, and eCheck is an ACH transfer. They are secure, like a wire transfer but two differences, wires cost money and are almost instant, ACH is much cheaper but take a few days to deposit the funds. 

The nice part is these are "verified funds" from one bank to another. If something goes wrong your bank will help you sort it out, where as with cash, CC or checks it can take time and energy if something goes wrong. 

Be confident, eChecks are a good route to go. 

@Aaron McKenzie I think the first question is what are you looking specifically to have Buildium help you with? Do you need a software just to help you manage your marketing, assist with tenant screening, collect rent online? 

I think that depending on what you need out of a software is the right place to start in picking which software is right for you and your needs. 

Just a though, let us know and we'll try to help steer you in the right direction. 

I agree with Alex, credit is not the only telltale factor. You should be pulling credit on all prospective tenants, but you should also pull a cross-referenced criminal and eviction report so you have the full picture of anything on their official background. 

Unofficially, you should call employers and past landlords. Red flags right off the bat include anyone who stresses they can move in today, good tenants plan well in advance. People who boast about being the best tenant ever, usually are not... Anyone who refuses to submit a formal application or allow you to pull credit, criminal or eviction reports. 

Some landlords like to look in the car of prospective tenants, how you treat your car can be a lot like how you treat your house, I don't personally do this but I know others that do. No references is a red flag too. 

My advice is to set your minimum acceptance criteria and post that in your property listing, it will weed some of the unsavory tenants out right away, the rest, just be sure to be vigilant as you do your screening, don't be rushed or made to feel like you should skip any of your steps if they threaten to lease another property unless you move things along...

@Kuang H. I'd be very weary of the way you are collecting payment. What happens if you are out of town and one tenant deposits money, and another withdraws before you move the funds. It seems like money could go missing easily. 

For me the most important aspects of collecting are that the funds are real, that they are secure, and that I get them on time. 

There are many ways to take payment, cash, check, money order, ACH, credit card, wire transfer so you just need to understand the pros and cons or each so you can make the best choice for you.

Cash: Cash may seem great, it's real and doesn't bounce, however, it usually means you have to meet your renter in person to collect which can be a pain and it's hard to keep track of. You need a system that you manually enter amounts and dates and it's easily lost without any way to recover those funds. I would warn against cash.

Personal Check: This is the number one way tenants pay rent. It's easy for renters and landlords. They can be mailed and deposited from afar. The downside is bounced checks which cost you, the landlord, extra money and time to deal with. They can be canceled by the tenant at any point as well.

Money Orders/Cashiers Check: These are considered safer than personal checks because you need to use verified funds to purchase them, however, although it's harder they can still be canceled before you deposit them and they are a burden for the tenant to get and for you to electronically deposit through most bank apps, which means you have to take a trip to the bank.

ACH: This is a direct deposit from tenant to a landlords banking account, is usually free to both parties but can take 4-7 days to process. It's easy but not quick.

Credit Card: Easy for everyone usually involved but there tend to be steep charges to the person collecting, typically 2-4% of the total amount, so on a 2K rent, you could be paying out 80$ just to accept payment. Also, Credit cards are easy to reverse the charges on up to 120-180 down the road. So although you get payment today, if your tenant decides to charge back 6 months down the road because they are unhappy with you about something they can, and most large CC companies like Visa protect the end user over the person collecting the payment.

Wire Transfer: These are bank to bank transfers and are usually the safest way to transfer money, they are fast, almost immediately in most cases and cannot be easily reversed. However, they tend to cost 20-30$ per transfer.

Anyway, there's the quick rundown on a few of the most common payment methods. Our suggestion is to find an online payment system that helps you navigate these and track them in one place. I would urge you not to share your personal bank information with a tenant like an account and routing number as mentioned above, some online payment systems out there let you sign up and submit all your bank info, and then invite tenants to pay. They are connected to your account but never actually see or have access to your sensitive banking info.

Hope this helps! Feel free to reach out directly if you have any other questions about collecting rent payments. 

I sent you a message about this. Happy to help! Let us know if you have any other questions.

There are lots of online payment options but security is a huge risk, as well as knowing the drawbacks of each type of payment. Like Credit Card payments can be charged back up to 6 months, so your rent could be in jeopardy for up to 180 days, Wire Transfers are immediate and secure but cost the user 20-30 bucks. ACH is typically very low cost but can take 2-5 days to transfer. 

Then there's the fraud side of things. If you are trying to do this manually you are going to have to give your tenants your banking info which has plenty of risk associated with it. My advice is to use a service that is mitigating the risk through standard fraud practices. 

Let me know if you have any other questions on this, I'm always happy to help! Good luck.  

Most national credit agencies can run your reports for you. We partnered with TransUnion because they offer integrated credit, criminal and eviction reporting with cross-referencing between reports. Some other agencies source their reports separately which can lead to issues in the criminal and eviction reports. My advice is to always pull all three so you have a full picture of your potential tenants. On top of pulling screening reports, be sure to call references, both personal and professional, get a copy of recent bank statements and pay stubs and ask any other questions you are concerned about, like how many people will be living in the unit, any animals, or other concerns you have. 

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions, always happy to help.