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The Tenants
and the Toilets
What about all of those tenant
issues? Isn’t it so much of your time? I
already have a full time job!
I know some of you are thinking,
this sounds too easy….”what about all of
the tenant issues?” Well, there are a
few key things that must be done to make
sure the rental “works.” First of all,
you must do a complete and thorough
background check of the tenants when
they move in. This means a credit,
criminal and unlawful detainer
background check. Secondly, you get one
month’s rent as a deposit paid to you
before the tenants move in. The tenant
will pay me $1,500 for first month’s
rent, and then another $1,500 for the
security deposit.
As far as my time “managing” the
units, I set up all mortgages on “auto
pay” from my checking. I have all
tenants deposit the rent directly in my
checking account each month. There’s no
sending of the checks, no PO Box. I go
online once a month to see if the rent
was paid, and the mortgages deducted
from my checking, and that’s it.
As far as repairs around the rental
house, find a handyman you like working
with. I always tell my tenants, if it’s
a small item that needs repair $50 or
less, they pay for it on their own. If
it’s a larger item, call me and I’ll get
my “handyman friend” over to fix it.
However, on a month to month basis, I
spend almost next to no time at all with
the rental properties. Maybe a drive by
once a month, that’s it.
You’re also probably saying….why
would someone pay $1500 a month to rent
a house? It may be hard to imagine, but
there are a lot of really good people
who rent. Either they can’t afford to
buy a home, don’t have the credit, think
they can’t buy a home…..you name it,
there are many reasons. Both Section 8
(government assistance) and non Section
8 renters are out there in full force.
You just have to advertise and find
them. I will show you how.
Well, how about rental demand? Isn’t
the Twin Cities market hurting? Yes,
certain types of units are hurting,
especially the 1-2 bedroom rentals. I’ll
show you how buying a 3-4 bedroom house
makes sense, how the rental demand is
still very, very strong for this type of
property. It’s all in the location.
Rental demand may be very slow in one
area, but it may be extremely strong in
another. I will show you what areas to
target. It should also be mentioned that
you want the rental property to be
within 30 minutes of your house.
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