Landlording for maximum profitability and Financial Independence
If you have been a landlord for a while, or have managed many units, sooner or later you will be faced with the question of what to do when your tenant dies.
I recently had a tenant death, and it can throw a perfectly good rental unit into some flux.
Continue reading “What to do When Your Tenant Dies”
No issue scares a landlord more than bedbugs in an apartment. OK, maybe crime, evictions, vacancy, insurance and taxes come first, but bedbugs and other pest issues are a serious matter in a rental. When you have bedbugs in your apartment, you need to act on it and get rid of them as fast as you can.
Continue reading “Landlord Nightmare: Bedbugs in an Apartment”
The rental cash flow for the month was almost perfect. The June rents came in like clockwork. 23 for 25 by the second of the month, one collected on the third, and 25 for 25 in the bank by the 6th of the month. Similar to all of my other recent months. I did generate an extra $75 for a late fee. I challenge most any other landlord to beat that record. More details on how to do that is in the rest of this post.
I had to do some advertising to get two new tenants for July 1, and I initiated a larger capital project. The retirement countdown has been adjusted for the new data.
Continue reading “May – June 2014 Rental Cash Flow”
This post is likely to rankle a few feathers, especially for the property managers out there. But first a disclaimer; I have 24 rentals that I manage and maintain myself.
I manage and maintain a property for another person, and I have a real estate license. I even have a full-time job. I have used a big name property manager in the past, with 100% of tenants provided by them that did not make it a year.
So I know a bit about property management and property management companies. I know many other owners that have had similar trouble with property management firms.
Continue reading “Why Using Property Management Is a Waste of Money”
Here is how to get rid of a mattress for free. A mattress is one of the things that virtually all low income tenants leave behind. They are also one of the largest and most expensive items for a landlord to get rid of.
If you have been a landlord for over a month, odds are, you have had to dispose of a tenants junk. If you are a low-income, or Section 8 landlord, it is 100% certain you have had to dispose of a lot of junk.
Continue reading “How to Get Rid of a Mattress for Free”
My first two posts on tenant screening dealt with the most important aspects of tenant screening, credit and income verification.
In my third post on tenant screening, I discussed, with quite a bit of controversy, the downfalls of past landlord checks. The fourth and final pillar in tenant screening is the Criminal Background Check.
Continue reading “Landlords! Here Is How You Do Criminal Background Checks (The RIGHT Way)”
There are many ways to handle property management at your rentals. Knowing just a few landlord skills can save a lot of time and money. And give you a great sense of accomplishment. I do almost all of my own maintenance, and I actually feel good when it can be done, and I save a great deal of money.
Continue reading “Landlord Skills To Make Things Easier, And Save Money”
I have already written about the two most important facets of Tenant Screening, credit score, and income:
You will never get paid if you do not have tenants that make enough money. You will be continually chasing rents, and other issues, if your tenants have low, or non-existent, credit scores.
This article will focus on the third pillar of tenant screening, past landlord checks.
Continue reading “Fail-Proof Your Tenant Screening With Prior Landlord Checks”
There are four pillars to tenant screening, including:
All four are important, but credit score and income are the main ones.
Those two are the easiest to uncover and verify. They are also the most objective rather than subjective.
Continue reading “The Four Pillars Of Tenant Screening”
In March of 2012, I was advertising for a vacancy that I had coming up. I had recently removed tenants that were from a different renter horror story. I wanted to find great tenants, as I already had the previous two sets of tenant in this unit go bad. Little did I know what the next horror story I was about to have… Continue reading “Renter Horror Story – Bernard the Strangler “
