All Forum Posts by: Taylor Roeling

Hey guys! What do you think is a good and interesting topic for all you landlords and property investors that you'd like to learn more about? It can be anything from certain laws, difficult situations and so on!

Thanks for your input in advance :)

@Bart Sklar Splitting evenly among the number of tenants is the best and most ethical way to do it like most have mentioned! It's a pretty standard practice so you shouldn't get any complaints!

@Jeremy Hester Venmo is a great tool to collect rent with and is very popular with younger generations, who are also more likely to rent instead of buy. One con is that there is a limit to how much someone can transfer - this would only be a problem if rent is super high, or if one person is paying for all the tenants in the house. I think the limit is $3,000, but you can visit here for more info! You should be good in most scenarios I think.

@Kevin Ha I'm not quite sure if there are specific laws regarding this, but I feel like you could go either way. Obviously, it's your property you are paying for and are responsible for so you should do what you want - you could always say your dog is uncomfortable around other dogs too I guess. I mean it does seem a little biased toward yourself that your dog would be better than theirs, but once again it's ultimately up to you. The best situation is to find a tenant that doesn't have pets and is okay with yours (assuming you are living in the same unit). You can charge pent rent or a non-refundable deposit for pets so that way if there is damage you would have extra cash - up to you!

Hey BP members! Check out the new landlord resources tab on BP - if you are looking for helpful, simple, and FREE online tools as a landlord - TurboTenant is here to help! You can now find us under the tools tab, services and then landlord resources on Bigger Pockets: https://www.biggerpockets.com/tools/landlord-resources.

@Tandi H. Tenant screening is very important in this scenario - if the couple has stable jobs as well as good credit and no criminal background - those are all positive qualities! Also, if you like them and think they'd be a good fit for you and your property then they sound like a great option. If you live near a university, then marketing would be pretty easy for your property and you shouldn't be too worried about filling the vacancy after a couple of years! Universities employ lots of people and are hot spots for property investing. Anyways, best of luck! Going with your gut is always a good thing too.

@Trin Nagireddy Pet policies are always of interest to potential tenants! Whatever your pet policy is, you need to make sure you stick with it throughout all your rentals for consistency and honesty - obviously, a non-refundable security deposit for a pet or a monthly pet rent will mean more $ for you - however, you also risk pets being badly behaved and trashing the apartment which you would have to pay to repair. While most pets are generally fine, there are some risks. Cats are actually very low-key and probably cleaner and easier than dogs - just make sure they are litter box trained!

@Nicholas Myler Check out the landlord resources tab here on Bigger Pockets under the tools tab, then services, click on landlord resources. Here is the link as well! There are some PM softwares listed among other things. 

@Richard Weinberg had a great post! Tenant screening is very important - not just credit checks, but also criminal background checks and even previous landlord references. Here on Bigger Pockets if you click on the tools tab, and then under services, click on landlord resources and there are free softwares you can use that include tenant screening through third parties like Transunion and the applicant will pay, not the landlord - here is the link to that page as well!

@Kristin Hargrave I would check out the landlord resources tab on Bigger Pockets - at the top under tools, then under services, click on landlord resources and there are a some softwares listed there that will be helpful to you! Here is the link as well: https://www.biggerpockets.com/tools/landlord-resources! :)