Posted by Scarlett on October 25, 2005 at 06:26:10:
Be sure you get a SIGNED permission for the background check to be done (for legal purposes). I would never run one without it! Our first step is getting a signature for the background check and $25 and we go from there.
Best of luck again,
Scarlett
How do you rent? - Posted by Mary G
Posted by Mary G on October 20, 2005 at 13:28:24:
I am a new investor and have just bought my first rental. I have advertised it on the internet for almost 25 days and have received 2 calls. Is there a better way to advertise? How do I get this place rented? I am starting to think I made a big mistake doing this…
Re: How do you rent? - Posted by Scarlett
Posted by Scarlett on October 25, 2005 at 06:20:58:
Some great advice from dealmaker. My only addition would be; do a credit/background check on any potential renter! We charge $25.00 per application and we give them that back if we decide to use them as a renter. We have weeded out a couple of potentially bad renters using this service. (folks who had evictions or recent criminal history)
Its $25 and a few minutes of time but could save you greatly in the long run.
I also agree that a yard sign is the best advertisement. We also had business cards printed up saying that we had 2 rentals at this address and we put them out at businesses closes to our building. We had immediate calls from those. (go to Office Max, they print them them up and cut them for around $10-$15 bucks) In fact, I think they were more affective than the newspaper.
Best of luck to you!
Scarlett
Re: How do you rent? - Posted by Sailor
Posted by Sailor on October 22, 2005 at 22:07:47:
I hand deliver flyers to all the RE office receptionists, & give them nice gift certificates when they find me a tenant + gifts @ Christmas & candy on Valentine’s Day. I post flyers w/pics & tear-off phone # on all the local bulletin boards & check them regularly to make sure someone hasn’t taken them down. I have a reward system for tenants who refer new tenants. I advertise in our weekly county newspaper for $4 per week, & most important of all, whenever I have a vacancy I tell EVERYONE I see. Good luck!
Tye
Re: How do you rent? - Posted by dealmaker
Posted by dealmaker on October 20, 2005 at 15:23:52:
The BEST (IMO) way to rent a place is a SIGN IN THE YARD, second best is ad in local paper. With the sign you’re getting people who’ve already “pre-qualified” the neighborhood.
Since you seem pretty amatuerish so far (no offense meant, we were all new once) here’s some other things that I’ve found to be successful for me over the past 30 years as a landlord:
Do not use a “store bought” lease, ask a friendly Realtor for a copy of theirs. It was written by LAWYERS to be somewhat “pro-landlord” who is generally the RE agent’s client.
Do not make your security deposit the same amount as a month’s rent. If the rent is $900/month, make the security deposit $1000 or $1050.
Do not EVER let anyone move in until you have received ONE MONTH’S RENT AND THE SECURITY DEPOSIT. Check IDs on all tenants, get SSANs for all tenants, get license plate numbers for all cars to be parked on property.
To sum it up, let me repeat that someone said either here or on another RE site, the two basic rules of landlording:
Rule ONE, the LANDLORD is in charge
Rule TWO, the TNENANT is not in charge
Good luck.
dealmaker