Rental houses

[Chevy]

I have a question for ya'll with rental property. We have a house we are remodeling, it is a 2 bedroom 2 bath. (closes to gutted) In ya'll options should we add another bedroom to make it 3 bedroom or leave it 2 bedroom. We have been tossing the idea around. The house is in town could rent to anybody. How do you avoid bad renters? ( Not sure I worded that politically correct.)

 

[ARS]

The more bedrooms the better! Avoiding bad renters is nearly impossible, but my advice would be to make your contract as detailed as possible and have everything in writing. Then vet the heck out of them. I search them on Facebook, get their credit checked, background check, call references etc. Be kind, but don't be a pushover. People will give you every story under the sun, but at the end of the day, that is YOUR property, not theirs. Good luck!

 

[greybeard]

Well, kids more often than not are the cause of most home damage and the more kids in the house the worse the damage is. That 3rd bedroom will likely attract a renter with more than 1-2 curtain climbin linoleum lizards.
An extra bedroom IS a plus for attracting a good tenant, but could be a minus if the tenant has a bunch of uncontrolled young'uns bent on destruction.
As ARS said, vet the heck of any prospective renter and don't be shy about laying down the law regarding what your expectations of their care of your property is.

 

[Ky hills]

To me it depends on what is the most practical. 3 bedrooms should be worth more rent wise, but then that translates to more people living in the house.
@ARS has some good suggestions. Finding good renters is kind of like winning the lottery. We have had some real good ones and some that we really regret renting to. You have vet them and read between the lines. They can talk good and then turn out to be a mess in more ways than you can imagine. I would recommend getting a deposit, and someone advised us to ask to see a pay stub to make sure that they can afford the rent. They said that the income should be around 3 times the amount of the rent. Current utility bill, to see whether or not they are current on those. There were probably half of the folks we met with that lived in apartments in which the utilities were included in their rent, so just have to use your own judgement in those cases. Ask for current landlords number. That one concerns me because anybody could play that part if they were not in good terms with their landlord.
It's a hard job for us we met with several families that we thought would probably be good people to rent to, and then there were some that we definitely felt were not reliable.

 

[Brute 23]

Well, kids more often than not are the cause of most home damage and the more kids in the house the worse the damage is. That 3rd bedroom will likely attract a renter with more than 1-2 curtain climbin linoleum lizards.
An extra bedroom IS a plus for attracting a good tenant, but could be a minus if the tenant has a bunch of uncontrolled young'uns bent on destruction.
As ARS said, vet the heck of any prospective renter and don't be shy about laying down the law regarding what your expectations of their care of your property is.

Where there are kids... there are pets...

 

[D2Cat]

Have a rental application for them to fill out. That will eliminate about 1/3 of inquiries because they don't return them. You can also ask for an application fee for a background check.

If the first question they ask is, "What's the rent?" I act like I never heard it. I ask are you calling for yourself or someone else? If it's for them I ask how big the family is, especially right after they as how many bedrooms. I basically never answer their questions in the beginning of this conversation. I find out if they are married, or have additional companions of any orientation, married, divorced, number of kids, where they work, how long they been there. Where are they living now, how long been there, why relocating?

On the application there is space for 3 referrals. I tell them the writing has to be clear so I can read it. The people whose names they gave me need to know I will be calling and if they don't answer the phone after couple of tries I'm not going to keep wasting time, and the numbers need to be current. I always contact their employer and confirm how long they been there, if they show up on time and are considered good workers. After a couple of minutes with the employer I end the conversation by asking if he had a rental property would he consider renting to this person/family.

I don't do it, but I've seen folks state the credit score required to rent, and if pets are part of the family the credit score is like 100 pt. higher!

Believe it or not you get better renters with the maximum rent for that property in your area.

I would not add the 3rd BR. Just adding expense and inviting more wear and tear.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

I've always done month to month, easier to get them out if needed.

But with covid and our slobbering idiot governor you don't have to pay rent and can't be evicted.

I know of one house near me that 12 months rent was collected at move in. The kids were tickled to pay it , not much available.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Believe it or not you get better renters with the maximum rent for that property in your area.

Bingo! High rent with high security. Usually keeps the trash out.

 

[skyhightree1]

Have a rental application for them to fill out. That will eliminate about 1/3 of inquiries because they don't return them. You can also ask for an application fee for a background check.

If the first question they ask is, "What's the rent?" I act like I never heard it. I ask are you calling for yourself or someone else? If it's for them I ask how big the family is, especially right after they as how many bedrooms. I basically never answer their questions in the beginning of this conversation. I find out if they are married, or have additional companions of any orientation, married, divorced, number of kids, where they work, how long they been there. Where are they living now, how long been there, why relocating?

On the application there is space for 3 referrals. I tell them the writing has to be clear so I can read it. The people whose names they gave me need to know I will be calling and if they don't answer the phone after couple of tries I'm not going to keep wasting time, and the numbers need to be current. I always contact their employer and confirm how long they been there, if they show up on time and are considered good workers. After a couple of minutes with the employer I end the conversation by asking if he had a rental property would he consider renting to this person/family.

I don't do it, but I've seen folks state the credit score required to rent, and if pets are part of the family the credit score is like 100 pt. higher!

Believe it or not you get better renters with the maximum rent for that property in your area.

I would not add the 3rd BR. Just adding expense and inviting more wear and tear.

In a perfect world that would work hasn't been my experience. Renters generally don't treat others stuff well.

 

[skyhightree1]

I have a question for ya'll with rental property. We have a house we are remodeling, it is a 2 bedroom 2 bath. (closes to gutted) In ya'll options should we add another bedroom to make it 3 bedroom or leave it 2 bedroom. We have been tossing the idea around. The house is in town could rent to anybody. How do you avoid bad renters? ( Not sure I worded that politically correct.)

Let me know how to avoid bad tenants when you find out. Me personally I bought houses that were cheap livable because I knew people were subject to tearing things up so I make it livable... Not my standards but livable with least input in it. I did not renew my leases when that whole you can stay not pay and it's ok crap was going on. The real estate market is on fire so I sold off most headaches and kept 1 place so if kids ever need a place they go there . I wish you luck.

 

[Richnm]

I have a question for ya'll with rental property. We have a house we are remodeling, it is a 2 bedroom 2 bath. (closes to gutted) In ya'll options should we add another bedroom to make it 3 bedroom or leave it 2 bedroom. We have been tossing the idea around. The house is in town could rent to anybody. How do you avoid bad renters? ( Not sure I worded that politically correct.)

Air B and B it. My cousin is making a killing. I am looking for a house to Air B and B

 

[Ky hills]

Air B and B it. My cousin is making a killing. I am looking for a house to Air B and B

We started one back in the winter, been slow until now, hoping the summer and fall months will continue to be productive. In theory it should yield significantly more revenue than a traditional rental property.

 

[Richnm]

I didn't really believe him. So he showed me his books. $1,800 mortgage and 60% - 70% occupancy (I think is what he said) and he was making $4000 a month profit.

 

[4hfarms]

I have one rented living space, the other 4 are just land. They moved into shed type, tiny houses that they bought, moved, applied utilities at they're expense on empty property we own. They basicly pay me lot rent. I dont care if they tear up the stuff they brought the the property. I dont allow trash outside of the building.

I had one bad one in the rental and it took less than 6 months for a family of 3 to invite 5 more to live with them. They presented them self as church going loving couple. She was dating 3 guys, he was a trucker never home. Daughter became preg. Holes in the wall from one of the guys spying on her through the closets. Ran up all the bills, power cut off, drugs etc. . Found a hole in the floor, broken window and back door, burn marks in the sinks and countertops in a non smoking unit. Raised pitbuls in one of the 3 bedrooms. Nasty people. Cut them off and threw them out. Took us 2 months to repair and market it again. Yes, we checked them out, job, credit, social media, references ( had to be fake) People are real good at hiding things they don't want anyone to know.

We rented it to a single lady with a boyfriend a few years back and now she lives there alone. We got lucky with this one! Keep her rent reasonable so she will stay. It's worth not getting top $ to keep her in there so we don't have to remove/repair another nightmare.

People don't respect anyone else's property.

 

[Richnm]

We started one back in the winter, been slow until now, hoping the summer and fall months will continue to be productive. In theory it should yield significantly more revenue than a traditional rental property.

If I didn't have cows and tractors I could afford to buy one lmao.

 

[Son of Butch]

I would not add the 3rd BR. Just adding expense and inviting more wear and tear.

2 thumbs up on that

 

[Son of Butch]

To avoid unnecessary turnover, rent to those who can afford it.
rule of thumb: rent should not be more than 1/3 of income
ie
income $3,000 month = $1,000 month rent

1,500 rent on 3,000 income = you are setting them up to fail

p.s
always take a couple dozen pictures or video documenting condition of the house and property before they move in to avoid the, it was like that when we moved in.

 

[Chevy]

Hey wow thanks for all the input. Much appreciated!

 

[shaz]

I prefer not to know the renters personally. Turn it over to a property manager

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I prefer not to know the renters personally. Turn it over to a property manager

Smartest thing said here.