New to being a landlord - what haven't I thought about/considered?

[Anonymous]

I live in a very LL friendly state and will be renting out our current home (moving into a larger property). Any tips, tricks, advice etc for a new landlord, including podcasts/websites/books? (In addition of course to your own invaluable personal experience.) Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Get a good lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Enjoy fighting with squatters.

[Anonymous]

Don't do it. Do you math. Sell and put the money in the market. You can even out it into tax free account slowly, but surely.

[Anonymous]

This is OP: really that bad? We are NOT in DC - I would never do this in DC. It's a very landlord-friendly red state. I'm in a college town with an abysmal rental market for professionals, with a small house in a very desirable neighborhood/good school district.

Y'all are scaring me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP: really that bad? We are NOT in DC - I would never do this in DC. It's a very landlord-friendly red state. I'm in a college town with an abysmal rental market for professionals, with a small house in a very desirable neighborhood/good school district.

Y'all are scaring me

Basically, the squatters own the place now.

College kids are the worst squatters.

[Anonymous]

This is what I do,
1) Advertising on Zillow with very good pictures and $50 a month less than my competitors.
2) Have an open house on Saturday for interested tenants.
3) Narrow down the best potential tenants based on their profile on Zillow income, credit etc…
4) Invite potential tenants for Credit and income verification on SmartMove.com and sign the lease.
5) Collect monthly rent on Apartments.com
6) Text communications with tenants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what I do,
1) Advertising on Zillow with very good pictures and $50 a month less than my competitors.
2) Have an open house on Saturday for interested tenants.
3) Narrow down the best potential tenants based on their profile on Zillow income, credit etc…
4) Invite potential tenants for Credit and income verification on SmartMove.com and sign the lease.
5) Collect monthly rent on Apartments.com
6) Text communications with tenants.
7) Understand that once the squatters take over, you might as well move on to a new property.

I'm sorry, I really struggle with the idea of #7. WHy invest at all if that's the case?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP: really that bad? We are NOT in DC - I would never do this in DC. It's a very landlord-friendly red state. I'm in a college town with an abysmal rental market for professionals, with a small house in a very desirable neighborhood/good school district.

Y'all are scaring me

No. And I’m a landlord in DC.

The most important thing is to screen your tenants thoroughly. Meet them and require an application (including income and rental history) and a small fee (shows interest/they’re not wasting your time). Full background checks, credit checks, require first month’s rent and deposit, etc etc. Look at the law in your state on what you may request and consider; every state/city is different.

Make updates/small improvements to your place BEFORE a tenant moves in. These are things like touch up painting, replacing light bulbs, considering replacing any appliance that seems like it’ll go soon, etc. It is easier to do all that without working around a tenant. And don’t cheap out; it’s better to do these things now instead of getting a call at 11pm that the fridge broke.

Know that stuff will break and that’s okay. Don’t get too attached. It’s a rental now. But treat it and your tenants with respect— fix things ASAP, keep big ticket items serviced regularly, and keep in touch with the tenants (but not too much). Don’t assume tenants (esp if they’re younger) to know anything about home maintenance. If you expect some, discuss and put it in the lease. Some tenants literally will not figure out how to replace a lightbulb even if one is provided for them, so have a plan for things like that in advance. This includes things like gutters etc. Deferred maintenance can lead to big problems like leaks so don’t just “forget” about your rental. Have someone on standby who you can call and send over about little and big home maintenance issues.

Price your place appropriately. Look at comps in the area and try to match them. In a good market, you should get interest within a few weeks; if you’re not, it’s either a dead time (what that means depends on the place, but generally mid-summer or mid-winter) or it’s too pricey.

Also, I’ve never found a property manager I like, fwiw. Some people really rely on them. But often they take quite a bit off the top and don’t earn it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP: really that bad? We are NOT in DC - I would never do this in DC. It's a very landlord-friendly red state. I'm in a college town with an abysmal rental market for professionals, with a small house in a very desirable neighborhood/good school district.

Y'all are scaring me

No. And I’m a landlord in DC.

The most important thing is to screen your tenants thoroughly. Meet them and require an application (including income and rental history) and a small fee (shows interest/they’re not wasting your time). Full background checks, credit checks, require first month’s rent and deposit, etc etc. Look at the law in your state on what you may request and consider; every state/city is different.

Make updates/small improvements to your place BEFORE a tenant moves in. These are things like touch up painting, replacing light bulbs, considering replacing any appliance that seems like it’ll go soon, etc. It is easier to do all that without working around a tenant. And don’t cheap out; it’s better to do these things now instead of getting a call at 11pm that the fridge broke.

Know that stuff will break and that’s okay. Don’t get too attached. It’s a rental now. But treat it and your tenants with respect— fix things ASAP, keep big ticket items serviced regularly, and keep in touch with the tenants (but not too much). Don’t assume tenants (esp if they’re younger) to know anything about home maintenance. If you expect some, discuss and put it in the lease. Some tenants literally will not figure out how to replace a lightbulb even if one is provided for them, so have a plan for things like that in advance. This includes things like gutters etc. Deferred maintenance can lead to big problems like leaks so don’t just “forget” about your rental. Have someone on standby who you can call and send over about little and big home maintenance issues.

Price your place appropriately. Look at comps in the area and try to match them. In a good market, you should get interest within a few weeks; if you’re not, it’s either a dead time (what that means depends on the place, but generally mid-summer or mid-winter) or it’s too pricey.

Also, I’ve never found a property manager I like, fwiw. Some people really rely on them. But often they take quite a bit off the top and don’t earn it.

A fee is a sign of a seriously sketchy landlord... you may not be one, but you're just asking for trouble w/that... the kind of people you're going to attract are not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP: really that bad? We are NOT in DC - I would never do this in DC. It's a very landlord-friendly red state. I'm in a college town with an abysmal rental market for professionals, with a small house in a very desirable neighborhood/good school district.

Y'all are scaring me

No. And I’m a landlord in DC.

The most important thing is to screen your tenants thoroughly. Meet them and require an application (including income and rental history) and a small fee (shows interest/they’re not wasting your time). Full background checks, credit checks, require first month’s rent and deposit, etc etc. Look at the law in your state on what you may request and consider; every state/city is different.

Make updates/small improvements to your place BEFORE a tenant moves in. These are things like touch up painting, replacing light bulbs, considering replacing any appliance that seems like it’ll go soon, etc. It is easier to do all that without working around a tenant. And don’t cheap out; it’s better to do these things now instead of getting a call at 11pm that the fridge broke.

Know that stuff will break and that’s okay. Don’t get too attached. It’s a rental now. But treat it and your tenants with respect— fix things ASAP, keep big ticket items serviced regularly, and keep in touch with the tenants (but not too much). Don’t assume tenants (esp if they’re younger) to know anything about home maintenance. If you expect some, discuss and put it in the lease. Some tenants literally will not figure out how to replace a lightbulb even if one is provided for them, so have a plan for things like that in advance. This includes things like gutters etc. Deferred maintenance can lead to big problems like leaks so don’t just “forget” about your rental. Have someone on standby who you can call and send over about little and big home maintenance issues.

Price your place appropriately. Look at comps in the area and try to match them. In a good market, you should get interest within a few weeks; if you’re not, it’s either a dead time (what that means depends on the place, but generally mid-summer or mid-winter) or it’s too pricey.

Also, I’ve never found a property manager I like, fwiw. Some people really rely on them. But often they take quite a bit off the top and don’t earn it.

A fee is a sign of a seriously sketchy landlord... you may not be one, but you're just asking for trouble w/that... the kind of people you're going to attract are not good.

Always the armchair idiots chiming in with uselessness.

As a fellow highly successful landlord definitely have the fee. 1) it cuts back on BS applications and 2) it costs about $60-$150 to pay to run a background + credit check on tenants.

[Anonymous]

Conduct in person bi-annual inspections (with photos). Some tenants won’t tell you about problems either because they don’t know what to look for or are afraid of getting a rent increase for being “difficult.” Pay particular attention to any signs of water damage or leaks and pest issues. You also want to ensure the tenant is maintaining the place (cleanliness) and not making unapproved modifications. It shows you are serious about protecting your investment. Get a solid lease from real estate professionals in your city. A lot of leases leave important things out that you wouldn’t think of without having a bad experience. I would consider hiring a property mgr to start (I also agree most are terrible) but there is a learning curve. Maybe hire them for 2-3 years until you fee confident self managing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP: really that bad? We are NOT in DC - I would never do this in DC. It's a very landlord-friendly red state. I'm in a college town with an abysmal rental market for professionals, with a small house in a very desirable neighborhood/good school district.

Y'all are scaring me

No. And I’m a landlord in DC.

The most important thing is to screen your tenants thoroughly. Meet them and require an application (including income and rental history) and a small fee (shows interest/they’re not wasting your time). Full background checks, credit checks, require first month’s rent and deposit, etc etc. Look at the law in your state on what you may request and consider; every state/city is different.

Make updates/small improvements to your place BEFORE a tenant moves in. These are things like touch up painting, replacing light bulbs, considering replacing any appliance that seems like it’ll go soon, etc. It is easier to do all that without working around a tenant. And don’t cheap out; it’s better to do these things now instead of getting a call at 11pm that the fridge broke.

Know that stuff will break and that’s okay. Don’t get too attached. It’s a rental now. But treat it and your tenants with respect— fix things ASAP, keep big ticket items serviced regularly, and keep in touch with the tenants (but not too much). Don’t assume tenants (esp if they’re younger) to know anything about home maintenance. If you expect some, discuss and put it in the lease. Some tenants literally will not figure out how to replace a lightbulb even if one is provided for them, so have a plan for things like that in advance. This includes things like gutters etc. Deferred maintenance can lead to big problems like leaks so don’t just “forget” about your rental. Have someone on standby who you can call and send over about little and big home maintenance issues.

Price your place appropriately. Look at comps in the area and try to match them. In a good market, you should get interest within a few weeks; if you’re not, it’s either a dead time (what that means depends on the place, but generally mid-summer or mid-winter) or it’s too pricey.

Also, I’ve never found a property manager I like, fwiw. Some people really rely on them. But often they take quite a bit off the top and don’t earn it.

A fee is a sign of a seriously sketchy landlord... you may not be one, but you're just asking for trouble w/that... the kind of people you're going to attract are not good.

Nope. The opposite. Which is why the vast majority of any kind of landlord (small or corporate) requires a small application fee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I do,
1) Advertising on Zillow with very good pictures and $50 a month less than my competitors.
2) Have an open house on Saturday for interested tenants.
3) Narrow down the best potential tenants based on their profile on Zillow income, credit etc…
4) Invite potential tenants for Credit and income verification on SmartMove.com and sign the lease.
5) Collect monthly rent on Apartments.com
6) Text communications with tenants.
7) Understand that once the squatters take over, you might as well move on to a new property.

I'm sorry, I really struggle with the idea of #7. WHy invest at all if that's the case?

I didn't put #7
someone put it in.

[Anonymous]

Ugh... good luck. never again for me.