All Forum Posts by: Jimmy Lee

Web rent management systems such as cozy.co make it easy.  They connect to realtor.com and doorstep.com and post the house for you.  Best of all; it's free!  If you need additional posting, you can post on zillow.com or put signs in the yard, advertise in the paper; pretty much anything!

Welcome!  I wish I had a head on my shoulders at 18!  Obviously, it will be tough with no money in hand.  One option with that is to find a house that will qualify for USDA (or rural) loans.  Typically those are no-money down.  Live in the house for a few years and then refinance or sell for profit.  Other than that, real world says no one is going to hand out money to someone without skin in the game, especially if you're young.

Good books to read:

Rich Dad Poor Dad
Miracle Morning - just good lifestyle

Edit:

I obviously forgot to mention, when you buy your house, rent out other rooms to people your age.  It's a way to have them pay the mortgage and you (may) live rent free!

@Account Closed Long story; but my property management was the only shop in town.  They focused more time on making sure tenants were happy than to be my representation (afterall, I paid them 12% of my monthly rent).  They also wouldn't make a decision without contacting me first (despite having agreed upon "anything less than $200 please fix" statement in contract).  We also discussed my reasons for using them (collect rent, background check, handymen/contracts with laborers, etc).

Issue 1: AC went out during the hottest day of August (capacitor issue).  Property Management called me to ask what I wanted to do and who I wanted to use. After I informed them to fix it (duh); they called my wife and played the sympathy card for the family in the house.  My wife is very caring.  She started stressing because the AC isn't working and all the bad things that are going to happen.  End of story: $80 for labor and capacitor.

Issue 2: Tenants had several late payments leading up to Tenants texting PM that they are breaking the lease at the end of the month.  This was March 13th.  I was made aware that they had paid late the last couple months.  PM called me and gave me the news as if it was something I would be OK about.  PM told me that there wasn't anything that they would do (I could use their lawyers for a charge).  In fact, they started telling me about the issues that the girlfriend was having and how bad I should feel for her in the situation, and she is a victim, etc.  (This sounds cold-hearted, but my concern does not pay my mortgage).

Issue 3: After the 2nd month of the contract, my rent checks started coming later and later.  I was assured that my rent check would arrive between the 20th and the 25th of that month (Rent is due on the 1st, they pay vendors on the 12th, rent checks are mailed around the 20th).  Basically, my November check came December 12th.  December check came January 20th.  February I called and complained and my check arrive February 25th (January check came February 5th).  The kicker: I had no vendor call outs during any of those months.  They were blaming it on a snow storm in December and sicknesses in January.

Issue 4: After tenant (from issue 3) vacated; they performed a walkthrough and told me things that the tenant broke (laundry door, punched a hole in the wall, the usual).  I had already decided to manage myself by now (I hope you can see why).  I went up to the house to do cleaning and inspect the property and found that they had broke the door frame of the front-exterior door causing the door not to shut.  It was visible that there was something wrong with the door.  Believe it or not, this was the issue that made me the most angry.  This is my house and someone who is in charge of "watching" it, for pay, did not even visually inspect the house.  

Issue 5: Obviously I got my security deposit for the damages and the breaking of the lease.  Well that security deposit did not get mailed to me until the middle of May (50 days after lease "ended").  I received every excuse in the book.  Legally they cannot take the check out of escrow until 30 days after the lease or until tenants sign the deposit over to landlords.  Every excuse was made including by the Broker himself (who promised to handle himself), including lost check in route and "We have 5 offices, 135 agents, sell 2400 properties a year.  I don't deal with the day to day of the Mgmt company."

Like I said, I was burned by how much I paid someone to do nothing, other than collect rent.  I've heard there are good PMs out there, but I did not have one.  The house was leased for 9 months with this PM.  Since self-managing, I was able to hand-select my tenants. Rent is paid on-time. House is being looked after.  And I'm cashflowing an additional 12%.

It is true that all of those issues are due to the tenant, but a good property management company should shield you from those issues.  At least that's my opinion.  

Congratulations!  This can definitely be a scary but rewarding experience!  I remember I was terrified renting out my home initially; then excited!

You need to verify that the property manager is not just there to collect money and be there only for the tenant.  There are good property managers and really bad ones.  I would vet the property managers; just as you would a tenant.  After all, no one is going to take care of your stuff, like you.

I personally have enjoyed managing my property.

Disclaimer: I was burned by a property manager and now manage myself.

James, 

Like Katie said, I would look into landlord software that can screen the tenants.  Maybe I wasn't looking in the right place (or frankly knew what I was looking for when I did mine), but I found that process to be fast, easy and it was free for us landlords.  The tenants should pay for the background/credit check.  If they don't want to; they wouldn't be good tenants. 

Maybe it's just the area that I'm in and the difficulty to find rentals for prospective tenants; but October 1? Does Buffalo market move that slowly?  Normally I'd try to get families in before school starts (September 1), so they can be set for school.  Honestly, don't know; that's why I'm asking.  

Good luck!

First, Congratulations!!!!!

Second, like everyone else has stated, screen your tenants.  Late payments, evictions, bad credit score are all indicators.  Also, make sure you do a background check, not only for knowing who is in your house, but also for the neighbors in the community.  

This might be just an issue I've run into more so than others, but my next lease agreement is going to have a "lease break penalty".  Something to consider!  (Totally understand that this is not so much as background check, but...)

I use cozy.co to collect rent and screen tenants.  The reports are good enough to understand who the tenant is, in my opinion.  Full disclosure, I've used property managers in the past so I have nothing to base it on.

Thank you everyone for your input! Definitely very helpful! We have done prescreening and narrowed it down to those two (we actually received a 3rd qualified tenant last night).  I appreciate everyone responding and giving advice. It definitely helps when you can ask questions and people on this site will answer and give advice! 

This is our first time and we know we will make mistakes, but we try to learn from others that have been successful in this, so hopefully we will be successful as well. 

Thank you!

I am a first time landlord and managing my own property.  I have my property listed on websites and have received applications (with background/credit checks), along with many requests to view the property. The property is going to rent ASAP.  The area is a difficult place to rent in.  We experienced this issue when we moved there three years ago.  

How do you all determine who to rent to?  Do you use credit history? Payment history?

Example:

Tenant 1 -

Applied first 

Has fair credit

No background issues

Some history of late payment.

Tenant 2 -

Applied second

Has Great credit

No background issues

No history of late payment.

Am I obligated to showing the house first to one tenant over the other?

Thank you all!