Life happened, and now as a tenant you want to get out of a lease. It's important to remember that your lease is a legally binding document. Most landlords will enforce the lease and the state law. There are two steps you need to know to learn how to get out of a lease. First, evaluate your options based on the lease and state law. To evaluate your options the first thing you will need to do is read your lease and pull up your local state … [Read more...]
9 Commonly Asked Questions Regarding the 2016 BAH Rates
Today, as with every mid-December, the 2016 BAH rates were released. If you have not checked your rates for next year you can find the calculator here. For some this is great news, but for others it may not be so great news. It all depends on if your rates have increased or decreased. Today, as I was noticing tons of comments and questions about the 2016 BAH rates, I realized there were a lot of common misconceptions and questions. Over the … [Read more...]
10 Tips for the House Hunting Tenant
I remember when we were house hunting for our first rental home. I was a newly married woman of only six months. The only times I had looked for a place I was either with my dad or my husband. In true military wife style, at the ripe age of 22 I was looking for a place while the husband was off at training. Luckily, we were only moving an hour away. Still, I was overwhelmed and honestly had no idea what I was doing. Fast forward five years and … [Read more...]
18 Places To Search for the Perfect Home
Hunting for the perfect home, can be stressful, crazy, and honestly, tiring. When we first got started five years ago, the only place I knew to look for our next home was Craigslist. The truth is there are TONS of places to look for your next perfect home and as a landlord I have found that the more places you list your house, the bigger the audience you will reach. This is even more true as a potential tenant especially if you are in a very … [Read more...]
Are These Insurance Mistakes Costing You Thousands?
We have learned the hard way over the years to think twice before we make an insurance claim. In the long run, it could cost you more in headaches and expenses than you expect. Health insurance is the only insurance that expects you to make claims and actively use them. Unfortunately, Auto Insurance, Homeowner's Insurance, Renter's Insurance, Umbrella Insurance, and many more can penalize you if you make a claim. It is supposed to be used in … [Read more...]
Your Complete Guide to the VA Loan
The Veteran's Assistance loan or the VA Loan as it is generally called, is an amazing loan. We bought our first and fourth house using the VA loan (using the same loan). Over the years I have seen a lot of myths perpetuated and questions asked regarding this loan. As a self-proclaimed empire builder, who is also a mortgage nerd who struggles to understand this awesome but complicated loan, I put together this guide. I hope this helps you not … [Read more...]
6 Ways to Make Your House a Home
Before I married my husband, I had only moved once in 18 years and only changed school systems twice. My old childhood room was still intact and my husband and I slep with the same decor from our high school. Then I became a Navy spouse, which was a really different experience. Since then we have moved almost once every year and with moving comes challenges. As a frugal wife, the biggest challenge for me over the years has been turning every … [Read more...]
24 Things Every Tenant Should Consider Before Signing a Lease
As a tenant, you should never sign a lease when you are not comfortable with every word. Even as a jaded, but experienced landlord, I would never sign a lease I wasn't comfortable with. In the beginning, this was something that was stressed to me over and over as a new landlord. Over the years I have learned what to put in my Lease to protect my investment. Surprisingly enough, the thing I am noticing is that the same thing is not stressed to … [Read more...]
How Tenants Can Give Notice Under The Service Member Civil Relief Act
The Service Member Civil Relief Act serves two goals: 1. It protects military tenant from last minute PCS, deployment orders, and in some states, the ability to move on base. 2. It also provides clear guidelines for the landlord on how to enforce it. This creates a very black and white policy for enforcement. As discussed in 3 ways to break a lease with the SCRA, the SCRA can be used more than just PCS orders. Over the past couple of … [Read more...]
9 Things to Consider When Deciding to Live On or Off Base
Do you buy or move on base? I had a question the other day from someone regarding the buy or base housing question. They were looking at orders to a small remote military town (aren't many of them) and wanted to know what they should do. She knew many people there who were having trouble with their rentals. So the question was really were their issues because of the lack of great systems (lease, deductible, reverse military clause, and not … [Read more...]