Archive for the ‘for rent’ Category

5 Steps to Get Your House Ready to Rent by Terry Sprouse

Tuesday, November 13th, 2012

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”

Helen Keller

If you are following my suggestion and turning your old home into a rental house, or if you are just purchasing an investment fixer upper house, use these 5 steps to prepare your house to rent out.

 Step 1:  Remove Furniture

Move all of your furniture and personal belongings out of your old house. The absence of these items makes the house look bigger and the home is more inviting if it is not cluttered up with beds, chairs, food supplies, and toys. It also makes it easier to do a thorough job of cleaning the house.

This only applies to the first time you rent out your new rental house. After tenants leave in the future, they will take most of their things with them. Of course, some tenants do not follow the normal procedure, and they may leave in the middle of the night to avoid paying their last rent check.

(Occasions like this make it tempting to slip a magnetized GPS tracking device under the fender of the renter’s car.)

An incident like this happened to me a couple of years ago. Not only did the tenant leave a pile of clothing, bottles and boxes of cleaning supplies, cupboards of food, and a sofa, but also left behind a car that didn’t work. (So much for the GPS idea.)

Renters like this one are the exception. Tenants normally take all their things with them when they leave, making it easy for me to prepare the property for the next tenant, and without much effort, present an appealing yet empty house.

Step 2:  Clean Up

 Thoroughly clean the house. This includes painting walls (a fresh coat of paint makes the place look and smell good), washing floors, cleaning appliances (especially the oven), shampooing carpets, washing the windows, cleaning the bathrooms and checking the roof.

 Step 3:  Make Repairs

 Take care of all repair work. Leave nothing to chance and make all repairs before tenants move in. Change broken outlets and switches, patch holes, remove stains, replace cracked and broken glass, repair dripping faucets, replace missing shingles, and fix roof leaks.

The old saying that “Left to themselves, things always go from bad to worse,” is especially true with rental houses. It’s tempting to assume that that small leak in the bathtub, or a toilet that flushes most of the time, won’t bother anyone. But trust me, you will get that call to repair the bathtub or toilet at the most inopportune time.

This doesn’t mean that everything in the house has to be new, but everything should be in working order.

It is a rental house after all, and not Buckingham Palace.

For example, bedroom doors do not have to be replaced every time they have a crack or a hole in them. I rehabilitate the door with wood putty, and a fresh coat of paint. The guy in the “Easy Repair of Hollow Core Door” video below uses drywall mud to fill the hole, with equally good results.

 Buy used construction materials

Missing or broken light switches, outlets, covers can be replaced inexpensively with quality used ones. I have also purchased reliable doors, cabinets, stove tops, dishwashers, and toilets at stores that recycle construction materials, for pennies on the dollar. The Habitat for Humanity Store is one such place that I frequent for good used materials. There are 825 Habitat Restores in the United States and Canada. You can locate a store near you at www.habitat.org

Buy new or used appliances?

 If broken clothes washers or dryers cannot be easily repaired, our policy is to replace them with a quality used one, or with lower end new appliances (like the Kenmore brand from Sears).

 Buy bargain appliances before you need them

 Craigslist and yard sales are great places to find good used appliances at bargain prices. If I see a nice working appliance for a good price, I will purchase it, even though I don’t have any immediate need for it. I’ll just store it in our shed until I need it.

I bought a like-new furnace at a yard sale for only $40 and installed it into a rental house and it has worked great. For furnaces, there are very few moving parts to worry about, and the wiring is relatively simple. As long as the motor works, you’re home free.

I once literally picked up a clothes dryer from the side of the road that had a “Free Dryer” sign taped to it. I gave it a new home and it has been working

Low maintenance yard (in the southwest)

reliably for over 10 years now. The only repair, about five years ago, was that I had to change the on/off switch on the door.

Step 4:  Simplify Landscaping

The front yard of your rental houses must look great. Curb appeal gives the potential tenants a good first impression. Simple and neat landscaping gives the client  comfort that the yard is low maintenance and ecologically and economically low in water consumption saving the tenants money on water and saving you time later not having to replace a yard of dead plants.

This yard went too low maintenance!

I personally like to utilize decorative rocks on our rental yards, and plants that don’t require any watering, like Mesquite and Palo Verde trees, which have long roots that tap into the aquifer.

 Step 5:  Re-key the Locks

 One other thing that I like to do before a new tenant moves in is to re-key all the locks. This is cheaper than buying new doorknobs, and it provides security for our tenants. This protects you and your tenants in case a previous tenant has surreptitiously kept an extra copy of a house key.

 

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The 5 Rules on How to Lose Money and Get Your Rental Property Trashed by Tenants

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The 5 Rules on How to Lose Money and Get Your Rental Property Trashed by Tenants

Friday, August 10th, 2012

The Arizona Network of Real Estate invited me to give a presentation to their group about my book “Fix em Up Rent em Out.”

I thought the video might be available to the general public but it looks as though that’s not going to happen.

However, so that no one feels left out, I am going to provide  a summary of the key points that I hit during the presentation. As someone who was regularly picked last for teams in gym class, I’m sensitive to people feeling left out. Casting modesty to the wind, I am also including exclusive photos of the event.

So here are:

The 5 Rules on How to Lose Money and Get Your Rental Property Trashed by Tenants (based on an article by Andrew Stefanczyk)

1. Choose the Worst Possible Area

Location will determine the kinds of tenants you will attract, and how much rent you can fairly charge.

Do you want these bearded wonders as tenants?

The best approach is to identify target areas in your city where you would like to focus your purchases. I like to focus on “transition zones” (where there is a mixture of housing types) which are good for investors because we can purchase properties at lower prices, and there is high demand to live in these areas.

2. Put in the very best of things when fixing up  an investment property

Use new and expensive sinks, doors, refrigerators, light fixtures, etc. Never shop at stores that recycle construction supplies. Spare no  expense.

Of course, the problem is that tenants will not take care of our properties as well as we would,

Habitat Store

so we end up with many broken or worn out items. The better alternative is to shop at used building supply stores, and to purchase good, inexpensive, supplies for our rental houses. One such store is the Habitat for Humanity store.

3. Make sure you have absolutely no experience in make basic repairs

Not knowing how to change electrical outlets, unclog drains & toilets, and replace broken windows will cost quite a bit down the road.

The better way is to:

A. Learn as you go, and comply with EPA regulations

B. Take construction classes at junior college

C. Learn from handymen and contractors

D. Take the Zen approach to  house repair learn to do everything yourself

5. Utilize fix-up books, investing books, & YouTube to find answers on how to make house repairs

4. Do not screen your tenants

Being as uninformed as possible about who you rent to may be the best way to lose money as a landlord. Do not ask for or check references. Do not call previous landlords and ask questions like, did they pay rent on time? How was the condition of the house or apartment when they left? Did they ever disturb neighbors with loud music or shouting matches? How often would you have to make special trips for repairs? Being as uninformed as possible about whom you rent to will make a huge difference and will increase the chances that you will get tenants that will trash your property and refuse to pay rent.

However, the better way is to:

A. Use a checklist for tenants. Decide what kind of tenant that you want ahead of time.

B. Look at their paycheck to verify income.

C. Check county records to see what illegal activities they’ve been up to.

D. Know the Fair Housing Act. Never select tenants based strictly on “race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap (disability).”

E. To find new tenants, use Craiglist, put up arrow signs, and host an “open house.”

5. Make sure you have not learned about your rights as a landlord

Be completely unfamiliar with the eviction process to guarantee long, drawn out disputes with tenants. Don’t keep up to date financial records or copies of correspondence with tenants. Most states provide online information about tenant and landlord rights so avoid reading these.

The better way is:

A. Get an authoritative legal guide like  “The Arizona Landlord Deskbook” by Carlton Cassler.

B.  Copy forms and letters from your legal book to send to tenants.

C. Comply with legal ways to deal with bad tenants.

D. Use memos to communicate with tenants so you have a record of correspondence.

E. Use a month to month lease instead of long-term lease to more easily scrape off bad tenants like barnacles.

F. Reward tenants for paying on time by discounting their rent $25.  

G. Send good tenants Target  gift cards for Xmas.

In Conclusion

Share Your Knowledge

“Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”

–Albert Schweitzer

Carve Out Your Niche Update

My award-winning book on self-publishing, Carve Out Your Niche, is now available in Kindle format.

The Midwest Book Review called Carve Out Your Niche,

“Invaluable for anyone seeking to successfully write, publish, and market their own work.”

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Background Checks for Tenants

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

This is your way to verify that the impressions you have of your applicants are true. Everyone who wants to rent my house has to fill out an application form. I will select usually the top one or two candidates, based on the processes mentioned above, and then call all the references and former landlords listed on the application form.

Always try to verify the references by telephone. You wouldn’t be the first landlord to be given a fake reference, and people will often give more candid opinions when you speak to them.

I don’t run credit checks, but I do like to see copies of their paychecks. I do a criminal background check by searching county court house records, and I check the sex offender’s registry list.

A high priority for me is that they make enough money to pay the rent. Don’t go by what they say; go by what their paycheck says.

They may say, “So anyway, my wife/girlfriend is going to get a job in a couple of weeks, and we operate a successful E-bay business, so the rental payments won’t be a problem.” Weeks turn into years and all the while they will have trouble making their monthly payments. Someone who has a stable, good paying job is an ideal tenant.

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Increase profits by improving your rental property

Saturday, July 9th, 2011

I’d like to share with you an email that received from an insightful real estate investor who, I think, uses a great way to increase his rental profits.

Hi Terry;

I have been the landlord of a triplex for just over 5 years. For most of that time, I simply maintained the property that I owned after making a couple of bigger renovations (windows and insulation). The biggest challenge I had was that my existing tenants paid way below market rent and rent control would not allow me to increase rents beyond 0.7%-2.2% each year. I felt stuck.

Recently, one of those tenants moved out. I managed to gut and redo the one bedroom unit and once it was finished I rented it out for almost double what I was getting before! This took the pressure off quite a bit but I realized I had to get my other “long term” renter out of her apartment. I ended up paying her to leave (2 months free rent) but it looks like it paid off. Her rent for a 2 bedroom was $474.77, but I have a lease now on the apartment for $799 a month. Surprisingly, I got this tenant because they saw pictures of the first unit I did and knew that I was finishing the second unit the same way. When they did the walk through the place was gutted and I didn’t even have the walls framed in yet!

I have looked at some other systems out there, but it seems to me that the only one that really works is finding a run down property with below market rents in a good area, fixing it up, and rerenting to higher classed tenants. If I knew a few years back what I know now, I would get the old tenants out ASAP even if I need to use my “cash for keys” program.

Right now I work full time so I rely on a dependable contractor that I feel I can trust. I hope to start renovating my own houses down the road, but I think I might need to get rid of my job to free up the time. Currently, I just do a walk through each day to see what work has been done and simply manage the renovation. Once the triplex is completely turned around next month I figure I will start looking for another project; I just need to convince my wife who still has fresh memories of my less stellar tenants.

Anyway, wishing you all the best!

Jim Thrower

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Avoid Perfectionism with Fixer Upper Houses

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.
–Lao Tzu

A key to fixing up a house is to know when to stop fixing up. You want the house to look good, yet you know that people are not going to care for your house the same way that you would. For rental properties, I don’t purchase the most costly, or even new, materials. I do a lot of my shopping at stores that recycle construction materials, like Habitat for Humanity’s Re-stores. You can get bargain basement prices on things like doors, kitchen cabinets, hinges, toilets, paint.

Need I say more? It’s a fixer-upper person’s paradise.

If I know that I am going to sell the house I may install higher grade of materials, especially where it really counts, like the kitchens and bathrooms. As Lawrence Dworin says in Profits in Buying & Renovating Homes:

“It’s easy to get carried away on renovation projects – wasting time and money on repairs that buyers won’t pay extra for. I assume you like to do good work. We all do. And we’d like every finished project to be a showplace. But you can’t make money that way. Your buyers have a limit on what they’re willing to pay. That’s why you’ve got to limit repair costs. In this business, you concentrate on fixing code violations and creating a clean, safe, livable house.”

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How to Find Tenants

Thursday, April 8th, 2010


Here is a recent email that I received from someone who is taking my 7-Week email course, and my response:

Dear Terry,

We bought one fixer upper but are having trouble renting it — any ideas of good places to advertise for a tenant?

Thanks in advance,

Jean xxxx

Hi Jean,

Let me suggest a few techniques that that have worked for me:

1. Place several small For Rent signs on all nearby streets, especially the major intersections. If you get a sign with an arrow on it, you can point the arrow in the direction of your house. I buy the signs at Home Depot or Lowe’s.
2. Hold an “open house” on Saturday and Sunday. People driving by can come in and look around.
3. Contact companies that help people find rental properties. Some will list your property for free. These companies usually contact me.
4. Run an ad on craigslist.org. You can upload photos and describe the qualities of your rental property. The ads are free & I usually get a great response.

I hope you find a tenant soon.

Let me know if you come up with a good technique that I haven’t thought of.

Good luck!

Best regards,

Terry Sprouse

Location, Location, …

One thing I didn’t mention in the letter, but which is perhaps the most important consideration of all in attracting good tenants, is the location of your property. Properties located where people really like to rent are called “opportunity zones” (or “transition zones”).  Just as Baskin-Robbins must offer the flavors of ice cream that the public likes, so you must offer rental properties in the areas of town where people want to live.

If your property is located in an area where people don’t like to rent, you will always have trouble finding tenants. For more information about my philosophy on where to invest, check out my EzineArticles.com article The Secret to Increasing Cash Flow – Invest in Opportunity Zones .

Landlording Help

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

Landlording is a tough job, not for the faint of heart. Yet, its worth the time it takes to be a good landlord for the long-term profit we gain.

A pretty good webpage to learn about landlording is mrlandlord.com. They offer both free information as well as services that you can pay for, such as specialized documents, forms, newsletters and credit & background checks. I’ve read the newsletters and they are informative, with good tips on landlording. I bought a sampler pack of 12 back issues for $12. They also have a free page where rental owners ask landlording questions and get answers and tips from other landlords, and a searchable database of discussions on a plethora of topics.

Mr.Landlord advertises instant credit checks for $9.95, but when you get into the application process, it turns out that smaller rental property owners must also pay an annual fee of $59. Another way to get information on potential tenants is through the county courts webpage. In Tucson, you can search by a person’s name to find out any civil or criminal action has been taken against them.

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Generate Cash Flow from Low-End Investments – Bryan Wittenmyer

Monday, September 10th, 2007

For those of us in the fixer upper rental house business I like to share interesting books that I happen to be reading.

I am presently reading Bryan Wittenmyer’s book Perpetual Income: How to Generate Cash Flow from Low-End House Investment. The author writes a book that truly gets down to the nuts of bolts of all aspects of finding, buying and renting low-income properties. A lot of real estate books are 90% fluff and 10% substance. This book is 100% substance.

The key, as Wittenmyer explains it, is to buy low-end (and not slum) housing because it is cheaper to buy, pays a pretty good monthly rent, and can be paid off quickly. This book has an enormous amount of really practical suggestions that apply to both low-end housing as well as middle-end properties.

I particularly enjoyed his section on what to repair, in recognition of the fact that the tenants will not take care of the property anyway. I like his practical advise on how to repair typical rental problems, but by spending the absolute least amount of money in the process. One suggestion was to mix leftover paints together in a five gallon paint bucket, and use the resulting grey paint to paint attics, or other areas where the color doesn’t matter. He also suggests not washing a wall before painting (unless heavy dirt exists) because paint can do a great job of covering the fingerprints and odors. Wittenmyer says, “why waste time cleaning when you can paint over it?”

I couldn’t agree more.

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