All Forum Posts by: Rob B.

I'm with @Joseph Firmin on this; for an apartment like this, and as someone who has been a tenant, personal preference and experience in that the small fridge really isn't the best way to go. It probably is best to go with that normal sized fridge (the dimensions of the one that you proposed - 29.5” depth and 15cu ft). All of this said, what type of market for renters are you working with? 

Just something that is currently on my mind, there are a ton of new commercial rentals here in Chicago and they have all of the amenities/utilities, but a trend I'm noticing is that they are going with those smaller fridges; to be 100% honest, I'd be pretty upset as a tenant paying all that rent for a commercial property for a mini-fridge -- I know your property isn't a commercial rental unit, but I think there's clear value add there as far as going with a full fridge and not a mini. 

A lot of great responses on this thread already and I have to say I share in a similar thought as @Mike McCarthy and @Matt M.; this is one of those things where it is best not to stand in the way of them stepping into homeownership. It is great to see others buying and deciding to own. Kudos to them. As others have noted, you can still decide to charge them the remainder of what is left on the lease, but I'd personally let them out of it (if they've paid on-time, left the place spotless and are trying to work on their first home, I say go for it). @Tyler Speelman

1000% what Nathan and Patricia have noted. Keep that calendar blocked until January 1 and get your place advertised. I still imagine it won't take too long to get it rented (condo on the beach sounds mighty nice). There are a ton of short term vacation rental sites (ex. VRBO, Flipkey, HometoGo, etc). I hope that helps!

If you ever switch gears and decide to do longer-term rentals, there are some options for small DIY landlords with 1 to 15 units, built with you in mind. There are some tools available to you where you can bring a certain level of automation to that rental management process (ie. automatically syndicating a single listing to 10+ major listing sites, thorough tenant screening with full background checks, digital lease creation, automated online rent collection, and maintenance tracking). Best of luck to you -- @Kristi Pulmano

I share in similar sentiments as what others have noted above; I will say the likelihood that she'll be able to pay through the medical issue she's dealing with isn't as likely, but also, probably best to just proceed with a new tenant. Keep in mind screening timeline (generally, 30 to 60 days prior); and while some of the major platforms are trying to change their listing practices, it still could be worthwhile to look into a tool where one listing will syndicate to multiple sites. That might help you to find a tenant in a shorter time span. There are some tools available to you where you can bring a certain level of automation to that rental management process (ie. automatically syndicating a single listing to 10+ major listing sites, thorough tenant screening with full background checks, digital lease creation, automated online rent collection, and maintenance tracking). And this next go-round, keep your baseline expectations firm as far as screening; proceed with the full spectrum of screening (an option that lets you pull not only their credit score, but also a full breakdown of their credit history, and also includes a nationwide criminal background check, sex offender registry list, and eviction history check).

Hi, @Hoang Bui definitely important to make sure you have a dedicated team in place if you decide to set your sights on investing out of state. Since it sounds like you have a smaller portfolio for right now, there still are some options for small DIY landlords with 1 to 15 units, built with you in mind. There are some tools available to you where you can bring a certain level of automation to that rental management process (ie. automatically syndicating a single listing to 10+ major listing sites, thorough tenant screening with full background checks, digital lease creation, automated online rent collection, and maintenance tracking). Let me know if you have any other questions, as this could be a good route to go if you are interested in further building out that portfolio.

Hi Randy, definitely important to make sure you have a dedicated team in place if you decide to set your sights on investing out of state. It is a big undertaking but it can be easy if you have the right team. That said, there are some tools available to you where you can bring a certain level of automation to that rental management process (ie. automatically syndicating a single listing to 10+ major listing sites, thorough tenant screening with full background checks, digital lease creation, automated online rent collection, and maintenance tracking). Still, I'd look into evaluating good prop. manager options, just to keep it 100% honest. And then from there decide for yourself how you'd like to proceed (prop. manager vs landlord software). Let me know if you have any other questions, as this could be a good route to go if you are going to get into out of state REI. @Randy Smith

Hi Derek, there are a couple of ways you can approach this. While you wait for the school year seasonality to kick in, you can easily establish a 6-month lease for a shorter term renter and then offer the option to go on a month-to-month lease status to get yourself back on track for a June 1st occupancy; using that month-to-month option can be super helpful for making sure you get your rental on the right season as you're getting started.

@Isaac Curiel - Kenny has the right idea here! There are definitely a lot of helpful tools out there; ***a lot of people use Zelle or Venmo, but they’re not designed specifically for rent collection. Some would suggest TenantCloud, Tellius or other apps which allow you to process rent collection; but, there is an option out there which allows you to collect rent much quicker than those others but still provides other rental management tools you might find valuable (again, not to knock Cozy or these other tools like Zillow rental manager - which admittedly is newer so they still have to iron out all of the kinks), but you can easily keep track of who paid what and on which date with a tool that is reliable and fast. It definitely can help to make the process as painless as possible and more efficient for both parties (landlord + tenant), and also offers digital leases. Again, you may run into transfer limits with some of those other apps which aren't necessarily designed for the purpose of rent collection but the right landlord software can make this seamless for you. I would love to learn about any additional needs; definitely helps to keep landlord solution providers on their toes!

Amanda has the right idea! A lot of insurers have some restrictions based on breed and definitely outline those expectations in your lease. It is best to have them agree to this early on during lease signing rather than them take the route so many tenants are taking by claiming it as an ESA (emotional support animal, which is considered a service animal -- no additional fees can be charged for ESAs). So, good to clarify with the insurers first and then make sure to have everything outlined in your lease.

Quite a few changes with this latest legislation, but as some others have noted above, there are still things that can be done to incentivize on-time rent payments in full. From a perspective of establishing positive tenant behaviors, using tools that can report on-time rent payments directly to the major credit bureaus can be a positive reinforcer (ie. let your tenants know that this is a credit-building option, and by making payments in full this way can help them to boost their scores by up to 40 points). This will certainly incentivize on-time payments; the other side of that coin is negative remarks/late rent payments being reported as well. I'll defer to others on additional suggestions but I hope this helps. Thank you for sharing all the updates dealing w/ the NY Tenant Protection Act @Ryan Vienneau