All Forum Posts by: Jennifer T.

I could have almost written your post when I first began LLing :). I thought my place would rent right away but, despite having tons of showings, no bites. Almost three weeks had gone by and I was getting really bummed and frustrated.

I was initially asking a fair, but competitive rent amount. I was a regular watcher of a show about flipping and the hostess always advised to price a home 2% below market value for a quick sale.

I applied that idea to my situation and lowered my rent amount by about 3% ($50)...which put it slightly below the competition. And BAM, the floodgates opened. I had multiple applications in just a couple days and found my first tenants...who turned out to be great...from that.

As for people being bothered by a credit check...which is weird to me because it seems so standard...but if it is unusual for your area I can see where that is challenging.

What is it specifically that bothers them? Perhaps, you can combat those fears or reassure that a low score may not necessarily disqualify them if they show good bill paying history (or whatever the appropriate criteria may be for you). Or if they are worried a credit check may lower their score, let them know it does not affect their credit much (1-2 points), if at all, and falls off in 2 years. At least that is true in the US, I'm not sure about Canada.

Another strategy I have seen other REIs on here recommend is holding an "open house" twice a week. Once on the weekend and once on a week night. If multiple potential tenants show up, it creates a sense of urgency for those who are interested. And that psychological part of human nature that says, "Oh! If other people want it, it must be good, so I must have it."

Like the old saying, "No one goes to a restaurant with an empty parking lot." ;). I have actually never done this myself, but may for the future. I think it is a great idea.

Something I have done, though I have never seen this strategy mentioned on BP, is to look at the "housing wanted" ads on CL. These ads usually give good descriptions of what people are looking for as far as size, cost, and area. I pick the ads that "match up" closely with what I have available and send a response e-mail with details about my rental unit and an offer to send pics, if it is possibly what they are looking for.

I still screen the same way, like I would for any tenant, but the potential tenants already have a very good idea about the place and the details before they even come see it.

The last two times I had openings, I found my tenants this way. Never even posted my own CL ad. No dealing with a myriad of calls or run ragged with showings.

Congrats!

It never even occurred to me to refi my current property in order to purchase more properties, until I became a member of BP. I'm still a bit "aaahhhh...scary" about the idea, so I love to hear stories about how other REIs did it successfully ...especially when they were also on the newish end.

I just had to click on your post to find out how you are only paying $300/mo. in rent in Tustin. Time to rent out the other half of my NOLA duplex and move back home to OC. ;)

But seriously, I know I am not the only one on the site to wish I had been in your situation AND already thinking about REI when I was in my mid 20s.

Before making any moves, I would use the BP site to get a feel for what kind of REI most appeals to you. Then learn as much as you can. Don't stall in "too much information I have to do everything perfectly"....but establish a strong knowledge/understanding in order to preserve and expand your investment. It can be a fine line, I know, I know!

For example, when I bought my multi, I became a homeowner for the first time AND a landlady. Did I educate myself and thereby make mostly good decisions? Yes. Was I also pretty clueless about some aspects of having tenants/owning a house and also make some bad decisions? Most definitely. Did it still work out pretty fantastically. Most definitely.

That's my understanding also about abandoned property. Though, I do remember reading something about...although all the neighbors and their grandmas can go in and take whatever property is put out on the curb...the landlord themselfves have to wait 24 hours before taking or disposing of any property on the curb.

I have a friend who works for one of the biggie RE firms in the area...dozens of big apartment complexes...and that is exactly what they do. Tenants are evicted and their stuff is immediately put in the dumpster area. When I used to live in one of the complexes, she would give me a "heads up" if there was anything good going out, lol.

Flood Zone X is "minimal flood risk". I don't think flood insurance is even required for that, though it is probably a good idea and it will be much less costly.

Although I was initially paying $1200/year after I bought my house for flood insurance. It is a raised house and I got a new elevation certificate....which "upgraded" my flood zone to an X. That dropped my insurance rate to only $300/year.

An elevation certificate is basically having a surveyor (not sure if that is the right word) come out and and measure the elevation for YOUR specific property instead of the "blanket" elevation for the area. It's not free, of course. It's about $250-$400 to have a company come out and do that. However, for me, it was a small fee compared to the huge savings I got. The elevation certificates are good for at least (I think) ten years.

I second @Michael Faulk's recommendation of speaking to a local agent. They will be in the best position to know what insurance companies will even cover properties in the area(s) you are looking at.

Hey @Ron Drake--

I'm a landlord in NOLA, though I don't have much experience. I've owned a shotgun double for three years and rent out the other side.

I've never had to evict anyone, thank goodness. But the research I did before buying a multi leads me to believe that Louisiana is pretty landlord friendly...at least on paper.

So...evictions, fairly quick and easy. Though I suspect the filing fee is steep, at least in NOLA, just because filing fees are ridiculous for anything. Probably $250...because everyting else is, lol.

For example:
--Filing my HELOC with the parish...$250.
--Filing my pre-marital agreement with the parish $250.
--I also know it is $250 to file a small claims case, not including serving. FYI, from my understanding, Small Claims court almost always sides with the tenants.

However, depending on where you are looking to invest in Louis., other parishes probably have cheaper fees. Orleans Parish is in the business to rob its citizens blind every chance they get, while providing some of the worst crime rates, school districts, and healthcare in the country. But I will get off my soapbox now :).

I'm not familiar with RE markets in the rest of the state, but NOLA right now is enjoying much higher rental rates than in years past. And I get TONS of quality responses every time my place is up for rent. There are definitely some good deals cash flow-wise in this market...but a negative is the VERY high insurance rates. Both dwelling and flood. Still good cash flow opps even taking that into consideration.

For example, when I first bought my home, I had a dwelling-only policy that ran me $2100/year for a $160K replacement cost. The flood insurance was $1200/year and I was even in a good zone!

I grew up in So Cal myself and graduated from CSU San Marcos, so please let me know if I can help a fellow Californian out any further! And if you are specifically looking to invest in the greater NOLA market, I can definitely give you advice on areas.

Whoa! I cannot even imagine.

I was watching Selling New York (something like that) on HGTV a few years ago and JUST the monthly HOA fees for some of those buildings were over twice my salary, lol.

There are a lot of reasons people are long term tenants. I was in my late 30s before I bought my first property and was a tenant for all that time before it. Though at different places for typically a few years at a time.

Flexibility was a big reason for me. For all of my 20s, I wasn't married or really that tied down to where I lived, so I wanted the flexibility to move wherever the wind (or an awesome paying job) might take me without having to worry about selling a house, at possibly a loss.

With all that said, if I could go back in time knowing what I know now, I wish I would have bought my first duplex YEARS ago! Who knows how many rental properties I might have under my belt now if I had started sooner.

And, yes, I also think coming up with a down payment/closing costs is a big deterrent to most tenants. Many people, especially in the US, are just not very disciplined savers. I know I wasn't when I was younger.

My very first tenants gave me 6 months in advance on a 1-year lease. It was fantastic! Especially since I had just spent a chunk of change on closing and renos. In exchange, I waived the $300 pet deposit...though they still paid the normal security deposit.

I also wrote in the lease that, if at the end of 6 months, they wanted to prepay again...I would take $50/month off the rent. However, when that time came, they chose to pay the higher per month rent. And they always paid it on time, so that was all good too.

For those of you talking about Target gift cards, they are having a Black Friday sale...both in stores and online...where you can buy Target gift cards for 10% off between 6AM-noon.

I have given Costco boxes of chocolate in the past...1 lb. box of truffles for $11 ;)...but I like the suggestion of a grocery gift card for a Thanksgiving turkey/Christmas ham. I might do both this year.