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Wow, is this not one of the most frustrating things to happen as a landlord?
You get a good tenant placed or signed on for a lease renewal, giving you the feeling of security and ability to relax a bit. But noooooo, the tenant contacts you to say that they need to end their lease, either for professional or personal reasons.
You know it’s not easy for your tenant to give you bad news and know that, depending on the circumstance, you should be compassionate or show support for this change they are experiencing.
We are here to guide you on the legal reasons why a tenant is allowed to terminate their lease, how to handle non-legal reasons, and even what to do if you, as the landlord, needs to end a tenant’s lease early.
Lots of juicy advice in this episode! So, tune in and if you love it, would you do us a favor and leave a kind comment? We are really trying to reach all those DIY landlords and all these podcast platforms really like it when listeners share their experience! I know we tend to check out reviews to help us decide if something is a good fit for us, help us do this for other podcast listeners.
LINKS
National Domestic Violence Hotline
A website that informs you about what abuse is, how to get help, plan for safety, and is loaded with resources for those who need help.
15% OFF any Fair Housing Institute course! Use code: YLR2023
TurboTenant Landlord Software
TurboTenant is a great option for landlords with just a few doors or for those who may be new to using rental property software.
For the most part, TurboTenant’s software is free to use so they are perfect for those on a tight budget.
With a very minimal monthly fee, landlords can upgrade to have such items as all landlord forms, leases, and addendums included as well as accelerated marketing, rent deposits, and customer service assistance on TurboTenant.
At EZLandlordForms, the goal is to make it EZ for anyone to be a great Landlord, get the most out of their investment, and get the most out of their experience as a Landlord. Whether you’re a large Landlord with 200 units or a mom-and-pop Landlord with 2 units, they’ve got the tools to make your life EZier.
Because their team is made up of real estate investors and Landlords, we know that a Landlord’s work isn’t over once you sign a Lease Agreement. That’s why we have over 400 property management forms covering every phase of the Landlord lifecycle, including over 200 Free Landlord Forms.
Make your life as a Landlord EZier today by Creating a Free Account to access our free tools or becoming a Pro Member to access our state-specific Lease Agreements and our entire library of Property Management forms for Landlords.
Cost for pro membership is $12 per month or $75 for the annual account. They now offer a lifetime pro membership for $399! That’s a killer deal!
With a rating of 4.8 from over 5,000 reviews, EZLandlord Forms is the perfect source for landlords!
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This is a very important episode! It is packed with a lot of technical information so when you listen, try to be in a space where you can focus on what we are saying. We cover EVERYTHING we know about creating and operating an LLC.
There are a lot of pros and cons included in this episode and we give you a list of points to consider when thinking about whether an LLC is a good idea for you to hold your rental property investments in.
From what goes into the creation and maintenance of an LLC to the location of your LLC should be when you own out of state property, as well as how an LLC can even benefit your heirs, we really did try to discuss all the points that one would need to know before making the decision.
We hope this, as with all our episodes, gives you something to think about when creating a professional and streamlined rental property business.
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Welcome to the second part of our two-part series all about creating your rental property team. If you missed last week where we chat about our maintenance contacts and who we depend on in our field operations, please give episode 14 a listen!
This episode discusses our business contacts who we depend on in our office operations.
Both Kevin and I have business degrees, but they don’t mean anything if we try to DIY it all and don’t realize when its best to hand business operations off to the professionals.
We rely on a few professionals that have walked us through THE MOST IMPORTANT aspects of our business.
We are sure you can guess our CPA and our attorney but give it a listen to find out who else is essential to our team and building our success as rental property owners!
Lastly, we briefly discuss the software we rely on and a few we are looking into to continue to streamline our business practices.
LINKS:
TurboTenant is a great option for landlords with just a few doors or for those who may be new to using rental property software.
For the most part, TurboTenant’s software is free to use so they are perfect for those on a tight budget.
With a very minimal monthly fee, landlords can upgrade to have such items as all landlord forms, leases, and addendums included as well as accelerated marketing, rent deposits, and customer service assistance on TurboTenant.
Hemlane is a software that is built to grow with your needs as a landlord.
For a minimal amount, you get a really good basic package but what we love is that you can upgrade to add 24/7 maintenance management on to your package. Your tenants then have a contact number to reach out to and Hemlane will then contact YOUR maintenance people specified and get the job done.
It gets better! If you reach a place where you are ready to hand off management to a property manager, Hemlane has that too under their “Complete” option.
Doorloop is relatively new to the landlord software space but they are global and can handle any property in any country and with any currency.
Where their features are similar to the others, from a tech standpoint, Doorloop is top notch.
It’s extremely modern and intuitive.
There are help pop-ups all through the dashboard if needed, it’s fully customizable, there are reporting templates, and they are optimized for mobile devices and tablets.
Doorloop has thousands of apps which can be integrated with their software like google docs, accounting software, etc. so that you don’t have to perform double entries. One of them being Quickbooks which was a huge plus for us!
Quickbooks is our go to software for accounting and bookkeeping. Using QuickBooks allows us to do a deeper dive into analysis and evaluate income and expenses.
We can segment these income and expenses by property and even down to the unit which is really nice OR we can see an overall picture of how we are doing with all properties combined.
We especially like that Quickbooks has a mobile app for us to accept payments on the go. This makes taking in person application fees and security deposits VERY convenient.
Bigger Pockets is a great free resource for real estate investors. They have created a huge community and their site is filled with educational forums, blogs, and podcasts all about the investing side of rental property investments. Click HERE to learn more.
AAOA: Every rental property owner needs a landlord association. At American Apartment Owners Association (AAOA), their mission is to serve the interests of landlords, real estate brokers, property managers, real estate owners and apartment building owners nationally for FREE.
Rental property management can be very demanding. Their job is to make this day-to-day property management process smoother. We take pride in offering comprehensive landlord help so you can attain your goals.
For a fee, the American Apartment Owners Association provides a range of features from tenant screening services and tenant background checks to landlord rental application forms and apartment financing.
They also provide full access to over 120,000 local contractors nationwide. These resources and more, including tenant background check, tenant eviction reports, and debt collection services, are provided to landlords, property managers, and investors.
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Welcome to part one of a two-part series all about creating your rental property team. This episode discusses our maintenance contacts that we lean on in our field operations and the importance of a rental property maintenance team.
We are pretty handy when it comes to maintenance, but at some point, we had to learn how to hand projects off to those who can do it most efficiently. There does come a time where, even as a DIY landlord, you have to set aside your pride and desires to “do it all” and let the professionals handle things. Remembering that time is money but letting others shine is important too.
Because we have a multitude of people we work with in our business, we did focus only on the primary points of contact we make. So, we talk a bit about each and every team member we use on a regular basis and then some we don’t use as often, but still play a crucial role in our rental property maintence team and business as a whole.
Next week we will release part two, Developing Your Office Operations and Business Team which explores all those, including software, that contribute to our efficiency on the business side of managing our rental properties.
LINKS:
How To Place Your Ideal Tenant Guide
Our FREE 10-Page comprehensive landlord guide on setting property policies, marketing your unit, how to vet a tenant, pointers on how to set up your lease, and processing the move in walkthrough.
From Marketing Your Unit to Vetting the (Prospective) Tenant, this wide ranging guide is an important reference to have in your landlording arsenal! Includes lease tips plus advice on the tenant move-in procedure.
Use a property manager? These tips and guidance are ones you should be making sure your PM is executing on for you.
You should have basic knowledge on how to market your rental property and place the best tenant in it! You own the property, so you are ultimately responsible for all actions performed on your behalf.
Knowing these fundamentals can help you confirm you’ve got the best PM running your properties OR help you realize it’s time to look for someone new.
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We know that ten different kinds of repairs sounds a bit scary, but as rental property owners you may get called for a variety of maintenance calls.
This episode goes over our most common rental repairs we have to do as landlords. Some are requests from our tenants but most are found during our inspections we do every 6 months.
We discuss the issues, what causes them, how to remedy them, and if possible, what can be done to prevent them from happening in the first place.
We include a lot of personal stories in this episode. Hopefully you’ll find some humor in them, but at the very least, you’ll find you are not alone on this journey of being a landlord!
LINKS:
Our Garbage Disposal “Fix It” Video on YouTube demonstrates what the disposal key or wrench is and how to use it. It has been very helpful for tenants to self remedy a jammed garbage disposal. It saves YOU time and potentially money, plus gives the tenant confidence that they solved a problem on their own!
This Garbage Disposal Wrench/Key usually comes with a new disposal, but in case it has been misplaced, you can purchase one for just a few dollars. Use blue tape to stick it on the inside of the base cabinet where your disposal is located so when you send the video above to your tenant, they are ready to solve the problem!
Kidde Interconnected Smoke Detector With 10 Year Battery is the only smoke detectors we will use. They may cost more, but the early detection they offer by sounding off ALL smoke detectors in the home at once can save lives and further fire damage to the home. Smoke detectors are not where you want to skimp on quality.
We include 3M Claw Picture Hangers with every welcome basket. They are the product we prefer our tenants use when hanging their personal items on the walls. They do not require tools and make such small holes in the drywall, patching at turnover is a breeze.
Our 6-Page Comprehensive Inspection Checklist is made for DIY landlords.
If you got anything from this podcast, please let it be that inspections are important! This is how you know if your tenant is following lease terms and if any unreported maintenance is needed.
Our single family home inspection checklist is very thorough and includes space for notations if an area is satisfactory, needs attention, or is damaged.
We cover all areas of your rental unit, up to four bedrooms and four bathrooms: Interior (up to second story), exterior, garage, basement, attic, etc.
It also includes inspections of appliances, smoke/carbon detectors, fire extinguishers, air filters, and HVAC.
Don’t forget places to complete the tenant information and places for them to sign off on the inspection results!
Purchase our checklist once and use over and over again!
All forms are moderately priced and can be used by purchaser as many times it is needed! Forms fall under copywrite laws, reproduction and sharing are not permitted.
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Over the last few years, we have been focused on our retirement accounts or should I say, focused on growing our retirement funds to allow us to enjoy the same level of living we do today.
This focus is a constant evaluation of IRA funds, properties owned, income requirements, and desired spending we plan to need. It’s all centered around how much growth we can obtain over the next 10-40 years.
As our investment properties ARE an integral part and large portion of our retirement plans, it makes sense they are at the top of the list when it comes to scaling and growth of them. In order to grow and scale, we need to use tactics that allow us to dodge and avoid capital gains taxes whenever possible.
We are attempting to create a legacy of properties for our children to either continue to grow and scale for their own retirement income or provide a large windfall of inheritance for them to do what they please with. The last thing we want to do is create a situation where they have to pay enormous taxes on our legacy.
So, Kevin had a large portion of farmland that was gifted to him by his grandmother. At the time of the gift, the land was not worth a whole lot but as investors know, appreciation is a wonderful thing! After he looked into the value of the land today, Kevin was pleasantly surprised at the value. What he was not pleasantly surprised at was the amount of capital gains taxes he would have to pay if he sold the property outright.
What option did Kevin have to avoid these taxes? A 1031 exchange! So, we did a lot of research and started the process of selling the farmland and purchasing a multifamily 4-plex worth more than double the value of the land.
A 1031 exchange is only as complicated as the timelines and can prove to be a very stressful process should those timelines become tight, which is what happened to us.
Would we do a 1031 exchange again? You’ll have to listen to our story on this podcast and find out!
LINKS:
Bigger Pockets is a great resource for real estate investors. They have created a huge community and their site is filled with educational forums, blogs, and podcasts all about the investing side of rental property investments. Click HERE to learn more.
Want the podcast link emailed to you weekly? Subscribe to our FREE newsletter, Landlord Weekly!
▪️Landlord Tips ▪️ Early Access to Our Blogs ▪️ Landlord Specific Articles by Other Industry Pro’s ▪️Podcast Links
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As we are landlords who promote professionalism and a business mindset, this episode is a prime example of how to embrace these outlooks.
Too many landlords take the hands-off approach, thinking their tenants don’t want to be bothered. That the less contact they have with the tenant, the better. Maybe they won’t move out, maybe they won’t ask us for any improvements, maybe they won’t complain. Guess what? By avoiding the tenants, you’re ignoring your biggest asset, your rental property.