All Forum Posts by: Ron Rohrssen

You can try it for a week for free, or a paid month or year. 

https://www.rocketlawyer.com/plans-pricing.rl#

The free week would probably give you a good sense of a lease specific to your state and property. Then you can decide whether to continue. 

@Evan Bell Ok. So, I was curious enough to calculate this on my properties.

Here's what I get: Condo 1: 3.09%, Condo 2: 3.59%, SFH 1: 8.16
Condo 1 and Condo 2 are very comparable properties in the same complex. SFH is a nearly 100 year old home compared to the condos that are <15 years old.

I do not calculate expenses (insurance in this case) on the basis of rent collected simply because I'm going to be paying the insurance whether the unit is occupied or not.

My expenses (tax, insurance, future CAPEX, advertising, etc.) is calculated on an annualized basis spread on a monthly expense amount to give me NET income/month on all of my properties.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something here. I might learn something as more answers pour in.

There is a lot of discussion around analyzing deals on the front end, and some great calculators on BP PRO. However, I'm not finding a lot of tools to help track ROI performance of [rental] properties.

I am using Quicken Rental Property Manager. I'm comfortable exporting data and getting that into other tools, like Excel.

What are others using to track their own ROI performance? I would think this would be a very useful metric in making deals. Plus, I always want to track my own performance and try to keep improving on that.

@Ryan Murdock Actually, I didn't realize it had come from there. (Good to know) It came into my lease process via Rocket Lawyer. I thought it was good to spell it out in the lease.

Thanks for the feedback.

I'd get two or three quotes, and work with the roommate to recover expenses. That may be the total cost or simply the deductible.

The SD is to cover expenses on moving out. I would not touch the deposit for this purpose. I've heard that some states may have restrictions on this as well.

The lack of auto insurance is a national problem, that needs to be corrected.  

While I agree that your resolution may involve taking them to court,  the courts are not likely to make them pay faster.  The fact that they don't have auto insurance speaks to their character and overall financial responsibility.  So, it may be that they don't have the funds. 

You may find that any judgement will involve an even longer pay back.  You can file for small claims and avoid attorney fees.  But,  you will still have court costs. 

Last year,  I was struck by a woman with no insurance. She produced an insurance card at the scene of the accident.  Later the insurance company confirmed the insurance had lapsed due to non-payment. The officer was hesitant to add additional charges. My only recourse was small claims to try to get payment for my deductible. 

Both my lawyer and insurance agent advised me that this would not be worth my time as she was likely to get a settlement over twenty years or more. Very frustrating. 

@Ryan Murdock Glad to share. Here's the clause that I added to my lease specifically for military.

Military Termination. In the event, the Tenant is, or hereafter becomes, a member of the United States Armed Forces on extended active duty and hereafter the Tenant receives permanent change of station orders to depart from the area where the Property is located, or is relieved from active duty, retires or separates from the military, or is ordered into military housing, then in any of these events, the Tenant may terminate this lease upon giving thirty (30) days written notice to the Landlord. The Tenant will also provide to the Landlord a copy of the official orders or a letter signed by the Tenant's commanding officer, reflecting the change, which warrants termination under this provision. The Tenant will pay prorated rent for any days (he/she) occupy the dwelling past the first day of the month. Any security deposit will be promptly returned to the Tenant, provided there are no damages to the Property.

Currently I have 3 properties. I've taken a lot of care to make sure that I know the condition and age of all of the major components as part of the purchase process. I feel it's a good way for me to manage the risk in the amount of CAPEX in reserves without keeping too much or too little.

Money that is sitting in reserves is money that is not working for you! Like @Austin Fruechting I keep a LOC established that is my backup if I find that reserves are not sufficient.

Plus, I manage my investments like my personal property. "It's better to maintain than repair!"

As an example, I pay for furnace filters and install them myself. It allows me the peace of mind in knowing that they are replaced on time and gives me an opportunity to inspect for HVAC issues and head it off before they become emergencies or unplanned expenses.

@Bailey Mason I did a ton of research for Iowa laws and found several example leases online. I was able to use the main points of those leases and come up with my own language to cover our first rentals. Late last year, I wanted to take a look at what Rocket Lawyer might create for a lease. They created an online lease with specific wording for my property and covered state and regional specific laws, 

I'm a member of the local Landlord Association, and I've been able to compare that lease with other lawyer prepared leases. I'm impressed with what Rocket Lawyer generated. One of the areas I learned about with RL was how to handle rentals to military personnel in cases where they are unexpectedly deployed during the lease. I hadn't yet rented to any military personnel, but it's always a possibility and I'd rather be prepared instead of trying to accommodate during the application/leasing process.