Rental Property Quotes

Life itself is so extraordinary and unique that the only thing keeping people ordinary is themselves.

There was one, a Mr. Omuro, who had bought control of a great area of rental property in downtown San Francisco, and who for a time had been Frank’s landlord. There was a bad apple, he thought. A shark who had never made repairs, had partitioned rooms smaller and smaller, raised rents

Don't wait to buy real estate. Buy real estate and wait

Having goals is great--but it's not enough! You need action, too! You will need to get off your butt and change the world yourself, because no one else will do it for you.

Where is the motorcycle?” “I ditched it. Someone will find it sooner or later and return it to the rental company.” “Not in the U.S.” “We're not in the U.S., in case you haven't noticed. People don't steal lost property, they return it.” “How did you get this car?” “I stole it.

whatever it desired to do would benefit property-owners by increasing rental values, and help the poor by lowering rents.

A goal without a plan is just a wish.” —ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY

Don't buy things you can't afford with money you don't have to impress people you don't like it.

More than half of the properties I have purchased were off-market deals.

Building a custom website for your property or properties is a great way to showcase your listing or your entire investment portfolio.

Let me share with you one of my all-time favorite quotes. Michael Jordan (yes, that Michael Jordan) once said, “Some people want it to happen. Some wish it would happen. Others make it happen.

Cicero himself had large amounts of money invested in low-grade property and once joked, more out of superiority than embarrassment, that even the rats had packed up and left one of his crumbling rental blocks.

Most of the crime-ridden minority neighborhoods in New York City, especially areas like East New York, where many of the characters in Eric Garner’s story grew up, had been artificially created by a series of criminal real estate scams. One of the most infamous had involved a company called the Eastern Service Corporation, which in the sixties ran a huge predatory lending operation all over the city, but particularly in Brooklyn. Scam artists like ESC would first clear white residents out of certain neighborhoods with scare campaigns. They’d slip leaflets through mail slots warning of an incoming black plague, with messages like, “Don’t wait until it’s too late!” Investors would then come in and buy their houses at depressed rates. Once this “blockbusting” technique cleared the properties, a company like ESC would bring in a new set of homeowners, often minorities, and often with bad credit and shaky job profiles. They bribed officials in the FHA to approve mortgages for anyone and everyone. Appraisals would be inflated. Loans would be approved for repairs, but repairs would never be done. The typical target homeowner in the con was a black family moving to New York to escape racism in the South. The family would be shown a house in a place like East New York that in reality was only worth about $15,000. But the appraisal would be faked and a loan would be approved for $17,000. The family would move in and instantly find themselves in a house worth $2,000 less than its purchase price, and maybe with faulty toilets, lighting, heat, and (ironically) broken windows besides. Meanwhile, the government-backed loan created by a lender like Eastern Service by then had been sold off to some sucker on the secondary market: a savings bank, a pension fund, or perhaps to Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage corporation. Before long, the family would default and be foreclosed upon. Investors would swoop in and buy the property at a distressed price one more time. Next, the one-family home would be converted into a three- or four-family rental property, which would of course quickly fall into even greater disrepair. This process created ghettos almost instantly. Racial blockbusting is how East New York went from 90 percent white in 1960 to 80 percent black and Hispanic in 1966.

Gross rental income (including utilities fee) –  Mortgage payment (including principal, interest, taxes, and insurance) – Cost of utilities –  Vacancy allowance (10 percent of gross rents) –  Maintenance and CapEx (estimated at 1 percent of the property’s value, divided by 12 for monthly cost) –  Property management (10 percent of gross rents) Cash flow

It was an old tradition: landlords barring children from their properties. In the competitive postwar housing market of the late 1940s, landlords regularly turned away families with children and evicted tenants who got pregnant.3 This was evident in letters mothers wrote when applying for public housing. “At present,” one wrote, “I am living in an unheated attic room with a one-year-old baby….Everywhere I go the landlords don’t want children. I also have a ten-year-old boy….I can’t keep him with me because the landlady objects to children. Is there any way that you can help me to get an unfurnished room, apartment, or even an old barn?…I can’t go on living like this because I am on the verge of doing something desperate.” Another mother wrote, “My children are now sick and losing weight….I have tried, begged, and pleaded for a place but [it’s] always ‘too late’ or ‘sorry, no children.’ ” Another wrote, “The lady where I am rooming put two of my children out about three weeks ago and don’t want me to let them come back….If I could get a garage I would take it.”4 When Congress passed the Fair Housing Act in 1968, it did not consider families with children a protected class, allowing landlords to continue openly turning them away or evicting them. Some placed costly restrictions on large families, charging “children-damage deposits” in addition to standard rental fees. One Washington, DC, development required tenants with no children to put down a $150 security deposit but charged families with children a $450 deposit plus a monthly surcharge of $50 per child.5 In 1980, HUD commissioned a nationwide study to assess the magnitude of the problem and found that only 1 in 4 rental units was available to families without restrictions.6 Eight years later, Congress finally outlawed housing discrimination against children and families, but as Pam found out, the practice remained widespread.7 Families with children were turned away in as many as 7 in 10 housing searches.8

For most people moving is a tiring experience. When on the verge of moving out to a new home or into a new office, it's only natural to focus on your new place and forget about the one you’re leaving. Actually, the last thing you would even think about is embarking on a heavy duty move out clean. However, you can be certain that agents, landlords and all the potential renters or buyers of your old home will most definitely notice if it's being cleaned, therefore getting the place cleaned up is something that you need to consider. The process of cleaning will basically depend to things; how dirty your property and the size of the home. If you leave the property in good condition, you'll have a higher the chance of getting back your bond deposit or if you're selling, attracting a potential buyer. Below are the steps you need to consider before moving out. You should start with cleaning. Remove all screws and nails from the walls and the ceilings, fill up all holes and dust all ledges. Large holes should be patched and the entire wall checked the major marks. Remove all the cobwebs from the walls and ceilings, taking care to wash or vacuum the vents. They can get quite dusty. Clean all doors and door knobs, wipe down all the switches, electrical outlets, vacuum/wipe down the drapes, clean the blinds and remove all the light covers from light fixtures and clean them thoroughly as they may contain dead insects. Also, replace all the burnt out light bulbs and empty all cupboards when you clean them. Clean all windows, window sills and tracks. Vacuum all carpets or get them professionally cleaned which quite often is stipulated in the rental agreement. After you've finished the general cleaning, you can now embark on the more specific areas. When cleaning the bathroom, wash off the soap scum and remove mould (if any) from the bathroom tiles. This can be done by pre-spraying the tile grout with bleach and letting it sit for at least half an hour. Clean all the inside drawers and vanity units thoroughly. Clean the toilet/sink, vanity unit and replace anything that you've damaged. Wash all shower curtains and shower doors plus all other enclosures. Polish the mirrors and make sure the exhaust fan is free of dust. You can generally vacuum these quite easily. Finally, clean the bathroom floors by vacuuming and mopping. In the kitchen, clean all the cabinets and liners and wash the cupboards inside out. Clean the counter-tops and shine the facet and sink. If the fridge is staying give it a good clean. You can do this by removing all shelves and wash them individually. Thoroughly degrease the oven inside and out. It's best to use and oven cleaner from your supermarket, just take care to use gloves and a mask as they can be quite toxic. Clean the kitchen floor well by giving it a good vacuum and mop . Sometimes the kitchen floor may need to be degreased. Dust the bedrooms and living room, vacuum throughout then mop. If you have a garage give it a good sweep. Also cut the grass, pull out all weeds and remove all items that may be lying or hanging around. Remember to put your garbage bins out for collection even if collection is a week away as in our experience the bins will be full to the brim from all the rubbish during the moving process. If this all looks too hard then you can always hire a bond cleaner to tackle the job for you or if you're on a tight budget you can download an end of lease cleaning checklist or have one sent to you from your local agent. Just make sure you give yourself at least a day or to take on the job. Its best not to rush through the job, just make sure everything is cleaned thoroughly, so it passes the inspection in order for you to get your bond back in full.

The Biggest Property Rental In Amsterdam Amsterdam has been ranked as the 13th best town to live in the globe according to Mercer contacting annual Good quality of Living Review, a place it's occupied given that 2006. Which means that the city involving Amsterdam is among the most livable spots you can be centered. Amsterdam apartments are equally quite highly sought after and it can regularly be advisable to enable a housing agency use their internet connections with the amsterdam parkinghousing network to help you look for a suitable apartment for rent Amsterdam. Amsterdam features rated larger in the past, yet continuing plan of disruptive and wide spread construction projects - like the problematic North-South town you live line- has intended a small scores decline. Amsterdam after rated inside the top 10 Carolien Gehrels (Tradition) told Dutch news company ANP that the metropolis is happy together with the thirteenth place. "Of course you want is actually the first place position, however shows that Amsterdam is a fairly place to live. Well-known places to rent in Amsterdam Your Jordaan. An old employees quarter popularised amang other things with the sentimental tunes of a quantity of local vocalists. These music painted an attractive image of the location. Local cafes continue to attribute live vocalists like Arthur Jordaan and Tante Leeni. The Jordaan is a network of alleyways and narrow canals. The section was proven in the Seventeenth century, while Amsterdam desperately needed to expand. The region was created along the design of the routes and ditches which already existed. The Jordaan is known for the weekly biological Nordermaarkt on Saturdays. Amsterdam is famous for that open air market segments. In Oud-zuid there is a ranging Jordan Cuypmarkt open year long. This part of town is a very popular spot for expats to find Expat Amsterdam flats due in part to vicinity of the Vondelpark. Among the largest community areas A hundred and twenty acres) inside Amsterdam, Netherlands. It can be located in the stadsdeel Amsterdam Oud-Zuid, western side from the Leidseplein as well as the Museumplein. The playground was exposed in 1865 as well as originally named the "Nieuwe Park", but later re-named to "Vondelpark", after the 17th one hundred year author Joost lorrie den Vondel. Every year, the recreation area has around 10 million guests. In the park can be a film art gallery, an open air flow theatre, any playground, and different cafe's and restaurants.

Over the next few years, the number of African Americans seeking jobs and homes in and near Palo Alto grew, but no developer who depended on federal government loan insurance would sell to them, and no California state-licensed real estate agent would show them houses. But then, in 1954, one resident of a whites-only area in East Palo Alto, across a highway from the Stanford campus, sold his house to a black family. Almost immediately Floyd Lowe, president of the California Real Estate Association, set up an office in East Palo Alto to panic white families into listing their homes for sale, a practice known as blockbusting. He and other agents warned that a 'Negro invasion' was imminent and that it would result in collapsing property values. Soon, growing numbers of white owners succumbed to the scaremongering and sold at discounted prices to the agents and their speculators. The agents, including Lowe himself, then designed display ads with banner headlines-"Colored Buyers!"-which they ran in San Francisco newspapers. African Americans desperate for housing, purchased the homes at inflated prices. Within a three-month period, one agent alone sold sixty previously white-owned properties to African Americans. The California real estate commissioner refused to take any action, asserting that while regulations prohibited licensed agents from engaging in 'unethical practices,' the exploitation of racial fear was not within the real estate commission's jurisdiction. Although the local real estate board would ordinarily 'blackball' any agent who sold to a nonwhite buyer in the city's white neighborhoods (thereby denying the agent access to the multiple listing service upon which his or her business depended), once wholesale blockbusting began, the board was unconcerned, even supportive. At the time, the Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Administration not only refused to insure mortgages for African Americans in designated white neighborhoods like Ladera; they also would not insure mortgages for whites in a neighborhood where African Americans were present. So once East Palo Alto was integrated, whites wanting to move into the area could no longer obtain government-insured mortgages. State-regulated insurance companies, like the Equitable Life Insurance Company and the Prudential Life Insurance Company, also declared that their policy was not to issue mortgages to whites in integrated neighborhoods. State insurance regulators had no objection to this stance. The Bank of America and other leading California banks had similar policies, also with the consent of federal banking regulators. Within six years the population of East Palo Alto was 82 percent black. Conditions deteriorated as African Americans who had been excluded from other neighborhoods doubled up in single-family homes. Their East Palo Alto houses had been priced so much higher than similar properties for whites that the owners had difficulty making payments without additional rental income. Federal and state hosing policy had created a slum in East Palo Alto. With the increased density of the area, the school district could no longer accommodate all Palo Alto students, so in 1958 it proposed to create a second high school to accommodate teh expanding student population. The district decided to construct the new school in the heart of what had become the East Palo Alto ghetto, so black students in Palo Alto's existing integrated building would have to withdraw, creating a segregated African American school in the eastern section and a white one to the west. the board ignored pleas of African American and liberal white activists that it draw an east-west school boundary to establish two integrated secondary schools. In ways like these, federal, state, and local governments purposely created segregation in every metropolitan area of the nation.

Case #6 Sandy and Bob Bob is a successful dentist in his community. In the 15 years since he established his own practice, he has established a reliable base of patients and has built a thriving business in a great location. A couple years ago, he brought his wife, Sandy, a business expert with an MBA, on board to help him oversee the business end of the dental practice. She had recently left her job at a financial services firm, and Bob knew that Sandy’s business acumen would be helpful in getting his administrative house in order. She brought on new employees, developed effective new processes, and enhanced the office’s marketing efforts. Within a few months, Sandy’s improvements had managed to make the dental practice a well-oiled machine. Now she could turn her attention to their real estate portfolio. Bob and Sandy owned three small apartment buildings around town, as well as one small commercial center that was home to a nail salon, a chiropractor’s office, a coffee house and a wine shop. Fortunately, Bob’s dental practice was a success and their investments earned a nice passive income for them. Unfortunately, because Bob earned on average $250,000 per year, the couple couldn’t use passive loss, which in their case came to about $100,000, from their investments to offset his high earned income. Eventually, they would be earning sheltered profits—when the mortgages on their properties were paid off and the rentals made pure profit, or if they were to sell a property. When those things eventually happened, they could use their losses to shelter those profits. But until that time, the losses were going unused. Sandy made an appointment with their CPA to discuss the situation and see how they might improve their tax situation. The CPA asked, “What about becoming a real estate professional?” He explained to Sandy that if she spent 750 hours per year, or about 15 hours a week, on the couple’s real estate investments, she would be considered a real estate professional by the IRS. This would enable the couple to write off 100 percent of their passive losses against Bob’s high income, which would bring his taxable income down to $100,000. This $100,000 deduction brought Bob and Sandy into a lower tax bracket, saving them roughly $31,000 in taxes. Sandy already devoted a large percentage of her time to overseeing their investments, and when she saw the tax advantages, her decision became clear: She would file the Section 469(c)(7) and become a real estate professional.

There’s a special tax provision called Section 179 that lets business owners deduct 100 percent of the cost of personal property (such as desks and computers) in the year it was bought instead of having to depreciate it over time. In the past, rental property owners weren’t allowed to use this provision for personal property (such as appliances, carpets, and furniture) in their rental units. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) removed that restriction, and now landlords can take full advantage of Section 179 deductions, up to a total of $1 million (but the deduction can’t create a net loss).

The TCJA created a tax treasure for pass-through business owners, such as landlords set up as sole proprietorships, LLCs, and partnerships. Any profits earned through the rental properties get “passed through” to your personal income tax return. If your rental properties qualify as a business for tax purposes—and they almost always do when you actively participate in the business—the new tax law lets you deduct 20 percent of your net rental income from your taxable income. That can translate into huge tax savings, freeing up more money so you can beef up your investments or pay down some debt.

Landlords need to keep track of ongoing rental income and expenses along with anything that changes the cost basis of their property. The easiest way to do that: QuickBooks. It’s simple to set up and use, and provides all the information your accountant (or your tax software) will need at the end of the year.

Unlike the house you live in, practically every expense attached to your rental property counts as a deductible business expense for tax purposes. Expenses to deduct include: • Mortgage interest • Property taxes • Insurance • Homeowners association dues • Advertising (to fill a vacancy) • Utilities • Repairs and maintenance • Pest control • Landscaping • Trash pickup • Depreciation What doesn’t count as an expense? Any major repairs or renovations you perform count as capital expenditures that get added to the cost basis of the property, effectively reducing your taxable income when you eventually sell.

Depreciation gets special IRS attention, and requires Form 4562. To fill out this form (whether you’re doing it with DIY software or providing info to your accountant), you’ll need to know the basis of your rental property. The basis for depreciation is different than the overall basis because land does not get depreciated, and may change over time if you make improvements to the property. To get started you’ll need to know: • The original purchase price of the property • The list of closing costs (most closing costs get added to the basis) • Land value, which you can find on the most recent property tax assessment paperwork • Additions or improvements you made that will add value for more than one year (think replaced roof, not repainted rooms) • The date the property was “placed in service,” meaning made available for rent The

When you’re ready to sell your rental property, you may be in for a very large windfall. That could produce a substantial tax bill, unless you take some steps to reduce that tax burden. There are three main ways to do that with rental properties: • Sell off some losing assets (like stocks that have plummeted) to offset the gain • Structure a special deal called a 1031 exchange • Turn the property into your primary residence for a couple of years before you sell

For example, let’s say you bought a rental house five years ago for $300,000 and rented it for three years. When your tenant moved out, you and your spouse moved in and stayed there for two years. You just sold the house for $400,000, a $100,000 capital gain. You can exclude two-fifths of that gain ($40,000) from taxes.

The basic premise of 1031 exchanges is the asset swap: you’re essentially trading one asset for another. To qualify here, the assets have to be real estate and be “like-kind.” Here are some examples of real estate assets that you could swap and benefit from the 1031 rules: • Single-family rental property • Multi-family rental property • Apartment building • Office building • Strip mall • Self-storage facility • Hotel • Raw land

Morgan Clarke Properties Ltd of Walsall can sell your house fast even for cash with fixed fee and no fee options. Ask for details. They also offer property lettings and management for Landlords that want to let a property in Walsall where Morgan Clarke manage your rental properties and get reliable tenants.

If you qualify for one of these exceptions (and most landlords can), you’ll be able to deduct at least a portion of your rental property losses against all of your other income. The two exceptions cover landlords who “actively participate” and real estate professionals. Both of those come with some strict IRS definitions, so make sure you really qualify (your CPA will be able to help if you’re not sure) before you take the deduction.

If you “actively participate” with your rental properties, you may be able to deduct $25,000 of rental real estate losses against your other income.

If you qualify as a real estate professional under IRS rules, there’s no limit on the amount of rental losses you can use to offset other income. As you’d expect, this exception

When Robin thinks about the properties people pay vast amounts of money to stay in: hotels, Airbnbs, overpriced cottages by the sea, she can’t help thinking about all the other hundreds of strangers who have slept in the same bedsheets, drunk from the same cups, or shat in the same toilet before. All those people, using the same access codes every changeover day—different hands slipping the same keys into different pockets once a week. Locks are rarely changed, even when the keys to rental properties get lost, so who knows how many people might really have a copy. Anyone who has ever stayed there could come back at any time and let themselves in.

intrigued

Talk to your agent, other local investors, and residents to get a firm grasp on the area (demographics, selling prices, average rents, historical property appreciation rates, rental vacancy ratios, and the percentage of rentals in the neighborhood).

What about real estate? In general, it holds its real value and yields rental income, but owning property isn’t so much an investment as it is a job. If you like fixing toilets and dealing with drug-addled, gun-toting deadbeat tenants, be my guest.

Welcome to First St. Maarten Real Estate, where Dieter Schaede, the visionary director, presents an unparalleled opportunity to own a piece of paradise! Their agency offers extensive property opportunities, ranging from stunning condos and luxurious villas for sale to captivating vacation rentals and long-term accommodations on the breathtaking island of St. Maarten. Reach out and let Dieter Schaede's First St. Maarten Real Estate be your guide as you unlock the beauty and splendor of island living.

The professionals at Mini Binz are devoted to quality for your dumpster rental requirements for residential and commercial property projects.

Dig your well before you’re thirsty.” —CHINESE PROVERB

It’s better to dig a well before you are thirsty.

When I first started, I remember asking my wife to read Rich Dad Poor Dad, because it changed my thinking in such a profound way.

The total return of a property that can be rented can easily beat any other investment type. The combined rate of return of capital appreciation and rental income is substantially better.

Some people want it to happen. Some wish it would happen. Others make it happen.

Examples of like-kind exchanges cited by the Money Income Tax Handbook (Sections 26.711-26.715) include the following: • An office building for an apartment building. • A rental building for land on which a rental building is constructed within 180 days. • Business automobile for a business computer. • Real property you own for a real estate lease with a term of 30 years or more. • Used business truck for a new business truck. • Oil leasehold for a ranch. • A remainder interest for a complete ownership interest.

On average, property management will cost about 10 percent of gross rental income.

Tax benefits will never make a bad deal good, but they can make a good deal even better.

Being able to pay all cash allows people to be soft on the math and pay too much for a property because writing a check is much easier than finding a great deal.

The “velocity” of our money makes a very big difference in the overall wealth-building game.

First, be different. Offer something other rentals on the market don’t; you can differentiate, for example, by allowing a different lease term (like six months), allowing pets, or even offering better management and communication; all three are covered throughout the book.

Investment firms are buying up more vacation homes, aiming to cash in on growing demand from tourists and remote workers. Most vacation rental homes are owned by small-time owners who list their properties on websites such as Airbnb Inc., but the number of financial firms investing in the sector is growing. New York-based investment firm Saluda Grade is launching a venture with short-term- rental operator AvantStay Inc. to buy about $500 million of homes, the companies said Tuesday. Saluda Grade said it is also looking to raise debt by selling mortgage bonds backed by its homes to investors, the first vacation-rental mortgage securitization, according to the company. Andes STR, a startup that buys and manages short-term rental homes on behalf of investors, also recently signed a deal with Chilean investment firm WEG Capital to buy roughly $80 million of properties in the U.S., Andes said. These investors are betting they can get higher returns if they rent out homes by the night instead of by the year. Low-interest rates have made it more attractive to borrow and Buy Traditional Rental Homes, inflating property prices and making it harder for new buyers to turn a profit. That has prompted some institutions and wealthy families to look in more obscure corners of the property market where competition is smaller, investment advisers say. Some are turning to investments in vacation homes, where demand has surged in many places during the pandemic as more people choose to work from remote locations and leisure travel heated up last year. “There’s a lot more yield available in the short-term market,” said Saluda Grade’s chief executive, Ryan Craft. It is the latest sign of how the pandemic is changing the way people work and live, and how real-estate investors are angling to find new ways to profit from these shifts. Saluda Grade is targeting homes within driving distance of major population centers, Mr. Craft said. His company will buy the homes and AvantStay will manage them for a fee. But while vacation-rental homes can offer higher returns, they also pose challenges to investors. Mortgages are usually more expensive and harder to get for short-term rentals than for owner-occupied homes, said Giri Devanur, CEO of reAlpha Tech Corp., a startup that wants to pool money from small-time investors to buy short-term-rental homes.

Success isn’t found in avoiding anything that could go wrong. It’s found in harnessing your strengths to make them work for you and creating systems that mitigate risk and enhance efficiency.

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” —MAYA ANGELOU

gross monthly income must equal approximately three times or more the monthly rent -Applicants must be employed -Applicants musth have good references concerning rental payment, housekeeping, and property maintenance from all previous Landlords. -The number of occupants is limited to a max of two per bedroom or less

The number one reason given is because their landlord wouldn’t respond to maintenance issues. How silly for a landlord to avoid fixing a $200 issue when the cost of a turnover could cost thousands.

always right. However, treating tenants with respect, clarity, and promptness goes a long way.

1.  Be respectful. Your tenants are people, just like you. Treat them how you would want to be treated, no matter how you personally feel about them. 2.  Be responsive. Don’t be difficult to get in touch with, and don’t make the tenant wait too long before you take action or communicate what action is being taken. Do what you say you are going to do, when you say you are going to do it, and keep them in the loop.

By simply following these two principles, you’ll hold onto your tenants longer, and keep your property running at maximum efficiency and profitability.

we recommend actually finding the official landlord-tenant laws for your state, printing them out, and reading them, highlighter in hand. Yes, they might be long—but so are lawsuits. If you want to run a serious business, then take the laws seriously and read (and follow) your landlord-tenant laws.

As famed business leader Jim Rohn says, “You are the average of the five people you associate with the most.

Even more, if that LLC or asset protection entity was not set up with 100 percent accuracy or has not been maintained following 100 percent of the rules, a judge could “pierce through the corporate veil” and go after your personal assets anyway. Don’t think that by going online and opening an LLC you are safe. It’s never that easy.

Full replacement coverage will cover the entire cost of rebuilding your property should something drastic happen, whereas actual cash value will likely give you just enough to cover your loan in a bad situation.

We would also recommend that those accounts be business accounts, not personal accounts.

An Estoppel Agreement is a simple, one-page form that the tenant fills out letting you know the terms of their lease to the best of their knowledge. If the seller of the property will not let you speak with the tenants and get Estoppel Agreements, you might be dealing with a seller who is trying to hide something.

To keep your vacancy time as short as possible, you will want to make sure your rental stands out among all the others in your market.

Of all the precautions a landlord can take, requiring a security deposit is one of the most important—besides adequately screening tenants.

Avoid this situation altogether by simply requiring all move-in funds be made with a money order or cashier’s check.

Always require that the security deposit be paid in full along with the rent prior to the tenant obtaining occupancy. Allowing a tenant to pay their security deposit in installments after they have gained occupancy is never a good idea for a few reasons: 1.  Any financially responsible person should be able to afford the move-in amount required for the property. If they can’t afford the security deposit, you may want to reconsider your screening criteria. 2.  It sets a bad precedent from the very beginning that you are the type of landlord who is wishy-washy and will negotiate on important matters. Don’t negotiate on important matters!

A deposit is refundable, and a fee is not.

he would need to have the policy apply to all residents, meaning no one was to be allowed on the lawn—not just the children.1

When you rent a unit to a person with a disability, the Fair Housing Act requires that you accommodate reasonable requests for changes in rules, policies, practices, or services, and that you accommodate the tenant should they have a reasonable request to modify the dwelling or common areas—at their expense—to better suit their needs. Should the tenant choose to make modifications to the rental, they are legally obligated, when reasonable, to return the unit to it’s previous condition once they have vacated.

Sorry, but our company policy does not allow for pets.” The policy becomes the bad guy, not you.

We recommend building a relationship with several of the neighbors around your property.

Can I pay my deposit in installments?” The landlord should always collect all of the move-in funds in full prior to letting the tenant obtain occupancy. If they can’t afford the security deposit, they probably aren’t very good at handling their money. This is a good indication you’ll have trouble later. Early in our career, we used to allow tenants to do this until we realized that it never worked, not even once. Unless you enjoy chasing down security deposit payments on your weekends and evenings, simply respond to this question with a firm, “Our policy states the security deposit must be paid in full prior to getting the keys.

Can my due date be the 15th?” “No.” Trust us on this one. It might be fine on your first unit or two, but as you gain experience and build your portfolio, you will quickly regret your decision to allow your tenants to have different due dates. Having the rent due on the first is standard in the rental industry. Again, this question may indicate they are not good at handling their money. It’s not necessarily a deal-killer, but it’s definitely a sign that they live paycheck to paycheck (as many tenants do).

we’ve had issues accepting tenants on programs with the understanding that it was guaranteed income, only to discover how quickly and easily a tenant can lose the funding.

Are you the owner?” you may simply want to respond with, “I am the property manager for this home” and leave it at that. It’s not a lie, simply an omission of all the facts, which they have no business knowing.

Anyone over the age of 18 living in the home must fill out an application, meet our screening requirements, and be on the lease.

This is also where the BiggerPockets Forums come in extremely handy. Post a question now, and within a few hours, you’ll have potentially dozens of experienced landlords chiming in to help.

Tenants sometimes like to pick and choose which questions to answer, or conveniently miss a question or two that they think will affect them negatively.

applicants know that incomplete applications will not be processed. If there are blank spaces on an application, simply give it back to them and let them know it will be processed when it is complete.

Never take the rental off the market and turn away would-be renters until you have an approved applicant and a deposit to hold the property in hand.

someone older who has been “living with family and friends,” as living with family and friends usually means something else is going on.

Excellent credit: 781-850 • Good credit: 661-780 • Fair credit: 601-660 • Poor credit: 501-600 • Bad credit: Below 500 In

Excellent credit: 781-850 • Good credit: 661-780 • Fair credit: 601-660 • Poor credit: 501-600 • Bad credit: Below 500

If you do plan to rent to someone who has a bankruptcy, it would be wise to require a double security deposit for added protection. And, of course, they better meet every other one of the qualification standards.

As we discussed briefly in Chapter 4, federal law currently prohibits landlords from discriminating against prospective tenants who have had a felony conviction for drug use (as drug abuse is seen as a disability and is therefore covered under Fair Housing Laws), but not drug sales or manufacturing.

as technically you cannot refuse to rent based on someone’s previous drug abuse–related felony.

found that Section 8 tenants cause more damage to the property, and often allow more garbage and junk to pile up than our other tenants.

According to the Fair Housing Act, a tenant with a disability may make changes to the unit to accommodate their disability at their own expense;

you will want to take into account 1) how long the potential tenant has been in their current position, and 2) whether the position is considered seasonal or temporary.

They are fairly easy to get on—and equally as easy to lose if the tenant doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain by continuing to meet the program requirements. The requirements are usually fairly simply, such as attending periodic meetings or doctor’s appointments, or turning in periodic paperwork, but from our experience, tenants on these programs seem to have a difficult time completing them, resulting in their being dropped from the program and leaving us without a paying tenant. 2.  If the tenant does manage to stay on the program, it won’t last forever. Most if not all of these programs have a time limit and

will run out, once again leaving the landlord without a paying tenant. 3. Since these assistance programs are for low-income tenants, these applicants automatically don’t meet the income requirement of bringing in at least three times the monthly rent, putting the landlord at a lot of risk when the tenant is dropped from the program or it runs out. Once again, this leaves the landlord without a paying tenant.

A bad reference from a past landlord is a huge red flag.

whereas a current landlord may not want to lose a good tenant or may be overly excited to get rid of a bad one.

This falls under the same category as requiring good references from past landlords. Obviously, an eviction equals a bad reference. A very bad reference. An eviction on a tenant’s record is the equivalent to committing murder in a landlord’s eyes.

Lesson learned: People seldom change. Now if a tenant has an eviction, we just say “no.

person’s credit score is evidence of their willingness and ability to pay their bills.

The biggest drawback to a sign is instant notification of a vacant house to any would-be criminals.

What kind of tenant do you want? Simple: a great one.

Most landlords require that a tenant’s (documentable) income equal at least three times the monthly rent.

Contrary to popular opinion, screening doesn’t begin with a background check or an application; it begins with the initial contact. This is known as pre-screening