All Forum Posts by: Thomas O'Donnell

I currently have my duplex listed (I live in one unit) but it has not been getting many leads at all. It is in a class C area, and my minimum requirements are credit score 600+, no evictions, no smoking, renter's insurance required, and income 3x the rent. I had listed it for $1500 originally, but I realized that this may have been too high due to being a duplex, having no laundry and not allowing pets. Rents in the area for a 3bed/1bath range from $1200-$1600 on the really high end. I have since lowered rent to $1,395 (water is included in this) and am now allowing a minimum of 2 cats. I am wondering if what is stopping leads from coming in is the price, renter's insurance or the credit score due to the area just being decent (although it is a mile from the Nationwide's Children Hospital). I had leads come in a few weeks back, but most people did not meet the credit requirement, income or renter's insurance so I did not proceed with any showings. I have thought about lowering the price again, but I don't really want to budge on credit score or income. I would love to see what you guys think I should do to attract more leads, as I do not want to get stuck paying the full mortgage for another month.

 Thank you for this input, much appreciated.

 I am about a mile from the children's hospital in driving park. And I haven't thought much about doing MTR. I don't really want to spend a bunch of capital furnishing the whole unit right now and possibly not even get a medium term tenant. But I refuse to not keep all options open because anything is possible.

I purchased my first duplex on the last day of September 2022. I had to do some work to it and get myself situated in one of the units, as well as it has been a busy time for me work-wise. I just recently listed the one side for rent about 2 weeks ago and I am worried about securing a tenant. I have listed my unit on Zillow, Facebook Marketplace, Avail (and all of its partner sites), as well as have a "for rent" sign in the front. On my listings I have my minimum requirements stated and a link for people to fill out a rental questionnaire that touches on basic questions as well as these requirements (income, pets, evictions, smoking, credit etc). I have had only 6 people complete the form, in which only one of them checked out but they ended up not replying back to my calls/emails about a possible showing. I am wondering if maybe the rent is too high (although its in the middle of similar comps in the area), or the location just isn't desirable right now (I'd say it's a C or C+ area that is starting to change a little for the better), or maybe my minimum requirements are asking too much of the types of tenants that rent in this area. I would really like to get it rented out by December as I do not want to make the full mortgage payment again for an additional month. Does anyone have any tips or recommendations? Or maybe just some general info that might better help me market my unit or at least understand where we are with renters right now?

I am looking for some advice on if I should make extra payments per month specifically towards the principle of my mortgage. I currently own a duplex and live in one side. I used 0% down financing in order to get this property, so my payments are higher than most and my interest rate is not the best. However I did buy $14k under what the property was appraised for (I know that doesn't mean much). Since in the beginning most of the mortgage payment goes towards interest, should I make extra payments towards the principle (was thinking of 10% of the monthly mortgage so $250 or more)?  Or should I instead put that money away in savings to use for future investments? My goal is to buy a 4plex property sometime in 2023, and then move in there to house-hack again (and have a total 6 doors by the end of 2023). I am struggling a little bit to come up with a plan that can get me to that 4plex next year. Let's just assume I am starting back at the very beginning. What are some things I should be doing to make sure I can get that next property? Does it make sense to put more money into my current one and then try to pull it out later for the next one? Does anyone have some strategies of how I can get into that next property with little money or by doing something more creative than I did with this one? Any input is greatly appreciated, and happy investing!

 The issue I had when I went to Chase was they said I could not have a personal account and use it to collect rent/pay for expenses with rental properties. This didn't really make much sense to me but that is what the teller had said. I did not have the chance to talk to banker.

I am looking to set up an account at a bank different than my personal one for rental property expenses/income and savings. However most places are saying I need an LLC In order to use the accounts for a rental property. Is there a way around this to have separate accounts for your property without having to create an LLC? I figure since it would be a "business account" than an LLC is needed. However I wasn't planning on setting up an LLC until I had a few properties under my belt. Any advice?

Should I say which qualifications were not met? Or just simply that they don't meet them?

Hey guys! So I recently listed the other side of my duplex for rent, and whenever I get a message about it, I send the same response to everyone saying "thank you for your interest in this home. Please fill out this form and I will get back to you regarding a showing", and then I put a Google forms link. This link asks basic contact information, if they have pets, if they smoke, credit score, income etc. If someone fills this out and I see that either their credit is very low, or maybe they have pets/smoke which does not meet my criteria, how should I properly let them know I cannot move forward with them? I am using this method so people can disqualify themselves before either of us waste our time going through the process. It is important everyone basically gets the same type of message so I don't violate any fair housing laws. I am planning that if I get enough leads through the form (obviously not everyone will be honest), then I will schedule some showings, and then after those showings I will have people fill out an actual application. Does anyone have any tips about how I should handle this? Or any input that might be useful for me? I'd really appreciate it!