All Forum Posts by: Wayne Smith

I did this last year, the lady was going through a divorce, was a nurse with good income, etc.  I leased for up to 4 months with a contract to buy before the lease ended.  It turned into a disaster.  She started asking me to repair things and replace the carpet, etc.   Started going over everything with a fine tooth comb and wanted everything repaired (as a tenant), contract to buy was as is, with me fixing 4 things which I did before she moved in to rent.   She wanted a new a/c system installed and when I refused, the a/c mysteriously went out that night.     She ended up not buying the house, claiming she could not get funded, and moved out of the house and sabotaging the a/c.  After she moved out I went to inspect house and fix to sell again, and when I turned the breaker to the a/c, I found out she had swapped wires and tripped the 200 amp main breaker coming into the house.  Luckily she had swapped wires and the power went to a dead wire (that unfortunately hadn't been disconnected but did not damage) and it was minimal cost to repair a/c.   I took her to court and she stiffed me for approximately 2200.   I am sure some people would be ok to rent to before buying but I can also see how they move in and start seeing "problems" that they want fixed or they will back out of the deal.  Also, I couldn't keep the earnest money because if I did she would dispute it with the title company and I couldn't sell or even list the house for sale until the dispute was settled.

@Beth L.

I did the same thing starting off, meet and get a feel for them, worked ok at first, but not so great lately.   I do think the credit check will improve it.

@Account Closed

And I agree with you, different things work for different people, just have to find what works for you.

@Ariel O.

Good point.  I did not think to check the court system to see if they had taken other landlords to court for lead based paint issues or others.  I should have thought about that considering I bought my 3rd house from a guy that was being sued by his previous tenant for not disclosing lead based paint.

I have not used any type of screening company before and over the years I have done pretty well with the process I have used.  In the past 4 years, I have noticed that I am not getting the quality tenants I want (I had to evict my first person about 4 years ago, after 9 years with no evictions) and I am wanting to improve my screening process.   I have met with them and driven by their house to see what it looks like on the outside, look at what their car looks like inside (if they don't keep it clean, chances are they don't keep the house clean) etc.   I have many long term tenants (one for 14 years, 3 for 8+years, 2 for 5) but still don't feel like I screen them well enough.  I am going to try Smartmove and see how it goes.  Thanks for the feedback everyone, very interesting responses.

In Texas (or at least in Baytown, TX) I was told by the housing authority that I can make a deal with the tenant for them to pay the additional rent.  My lease contract states that the rent is 850, section 8 housing pays 740, tenant pays 110.    I have a very good tenant that pays on time, but I am sure there are lots of others that do not pay.  I would check with local housing to see if this is legal before going forward, and I would be cautious because if they are needing section 8 that is a huge extra chunk of money coming out of their pockets.

It sounds like a pretty good deal.  Two things I can think of is you need to remember that even if the trailer is not rented, you still owe lot rent.  Also, I have found that mobile homes require more maintenance than houses, when tenants don't take care of them, they fall apart faster.  Also, the mobile homes will not increase in value.  I can see why the park owner wants to get rid of them, they are more maintenance than just renting the spaces out.  I currently own 1.75 acres with 4 mobile homes on it.  My plan is to pay it off this year and build a 6 plex and sell the mobile homes and rent the lots out.   I find I spend more time doing repairs on the mobile homes than I do on my other 7 rentals combined.  Good luck but sounds like pretty good income, and the owner finance keeps the loan off your personal credit.  My land and mobiles are owner financed as well. 

Has anyone used Smartmove tenant screening?  If so what do you think?  Anyone use other methods?  I need to improve my selection process and need some advice/info.

I don't see anything wrong with it.  It saves both you and the potential renter time and money

@Bobby Brown

Yes they do, I just bought SF and eventually I will buy an apartment complex. but I plan to pay off my houses first, then decide what to do with the houses (continue renting or sell to finance multifamily

@Rhondalette W.

My plan has changed over the years, but I really think this is the best for me.   I associate mortgage loans with risk, and once my properties are paid off, then I have lots of cash flow to buy and pay cash.   A few years back I had 12 rentals and 5 of them became vacant in January.  I almost lost everything I had, so that has changed my attitude about loans and the risk associated with them.   And as Dave Ramsey puts it " I have done tons of research and I discovered that 100% of the foreclosures had a mortgage!"