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8 Tips to Establishing Rental Price

September 8, 2014 by Elizabeth Bennett Colegrove 4 Comments

8 Tips to Establishing Rental Price

8 Tips to Establishing Rental Price Establish the Number of Houses Available - Look on Zillow, Craigslist, and Trulia to see what other house are currently available. # of Houses Available to Rent - Look at all the houses available, the highest for rent and the lowest. Determine your Comps (Comparables) - Look at houses with similar numbers of bedrooms, bathrooms, and square footage. It is important to note that single family houses … [Read more...]

Filed Under: I am a Reluctant Landlord, I am a Small Time Landlord, I am an Empire Builder, Self Management

Why a Rent Increase is a GOOD Thing!

September 8, 2014 by Elizabeth Bennett Colegrove Leave a Comment

rent increase

It's Official: I am that horrible landlord that does a rent increase on great, long-term tenants at renewal time. Contrary to public opinion, it's not because I am a money-grabbing landlord. The market is very fickle and it's always planning for your demise through expenses and market caps. Landlord's Expenses: 1. Increased Mortgage Payment While the actual mortgage that a landlord pays (principle/interest) never changes. The escrow fees, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: I am a Reluctant Landlord, I am a Small Time Landlord, I am an Empire Builder, Self Management

Landlords: 5 Ways to Simplify Your Rental Paperwork

September 8, 2014 by Elizabeth Bennett Colegrove Leave a Comment

Rental Paperwork

I don't know about you, but I am all about the simple, easy path that doesn't come back to bite you in the butt later! Since my rental books tend to be some of the most complicated things since my day job as a Financial Analyst, I like to make things as easy as possible for myself. How to Simplify Your Rental Paperwork 1. Collect Receipts. Put all of your receipts in a folder. I make a folder on my computer and I have one in my office. I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: I am a Reluctant Landlord, I am a Small Time Landlord, I am an Empire Builder, Self Management Tagged With: paperwork

Why Your Neighborhood’s School Ratings Are Important

September 8, 2014 by Elizabeth Bennett Colegrove Leave a Comment

School Ratings

I don't know about you, but when I'm looking at houses, the school ratings are number one my priority list! The funny thing about that is that kids aren't even part of our life yet! No matter where you are in life, looking at the school ratings are important for two reasons: 1. Market Appreciation The areas with the best schools appreciate the best as this is the area people want to live. Most districts have a limited amount of space … [Read more...]

Filed Under: I am a Reluctant Landlord, I am a Small Time Landlord, I am an Empire Builder, Self Management Tagged With: School, school ratings

How Wall Paint Color Almost Made Me Cry

September 8, 2014 by Elizabeth Bennett Colegrove Leave a Comment

Paint Color

Our first house had amazing structure, was in a fabulous neighborhood and it was zoned for the second best elementary school in Virginia Beach. It was located 15 minutes from NAS Oceania with an awesome location out of the landing pattern. What could be wrong right? Wrong! The inside of the house was just awful. The House had: No closet systems. A non-functioning master bathtub and shower. Missing cabinets in the guest … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Self Management Tagged With: paint

How to Prepare Your Home to Become a Rental

September 8, 2014 by Elizabeth Bennett Colegrove 2 Comments

Prepare Your home

Are you looking to turn your home into rental? Preparing your home to become a rental is easy as long as you are trying to sell your house in its current state. I have had a lot of people tell me about all these "projects" they want to get done before their home can become a rental. The key is not to upgrade your home, but to make it a nice, livable house. Not sure what needs to be done before your home is ready? Below is a list of things to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: I am a Reluctant Landlord, I am a Small Time Landlord, I am an Empire Builder, Military & Real Estate, Self Management

Why You Should Screen Your Tenants and How You Should do it

July 22, 2014 by Elizabeth Bennett Colegrove 10 Comments

Screen Your Tenants

Evictions are very expensive and costly in both time and money. That's why screening a tenant is one of the most important things you can do. Tenant-friendly states drastically increase the importance of screening a tenant so make sure you have a plan to take care of this! The steps that I take to screen a tenant are very important to my process. I require that a background and credit check be run by myself instead of the tenant providing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: I am a Reluctant Landlord, I am a Small Time Landlord, I am an Empire Builder, Self Management Tagged With: tenants

How to Establish a Sight Unseen Lease

July 22, 2014 by Elizabeth Bennett Colegrove 2 Comments

sight unseen lease

My husband and I love being landlords, and our newest niche is allowing leases from tenants who are willing to rent sight unseen. Even though we are willing to allow it, I found out from calling around that most companies will not allow these type of leases. For us, it is another way to serve our customer base as 5 out of 8 of our leases over the past two years have been from renters willing to sign a lease on our house sight unseen. Since my … [Read more...]

Filed Under: I am a Reluctant Landlord, I am a Small Time Landlord, I am an Empire Builder, Self Management

How to Rent Your House in One Showing

July 20, 2014 by Elizabeth Bennett Colegrove 2 Comments

How to Rent Your House in One Showing

Renting your house out is the most stressful part of being a landlord. I've learned a lot in my time as a landlord and I want to share my tips with you. Here are 5 tips to get your house rented fast at market price. How to Rent Your House With These 5 Easy Tips: 1. Price the House Right: If your house is over-priced by even $50.-$75. then your showing numbers will be greatly reduced and the prospective tenants will not be as serious. 2. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: I am a Reluctant Landlord, I am a Small Time Landlord, I am an Empire Builder, Self Management

How to Choose the Best Lease Term

July 20, 2014 by Elizabeth Bennett Colegrove 2 Comments

Lease Term

There are many different types of lease terms and they have different pros and cons. Here are a few examples... Three Lease Terms to Choose From: 1. Month To Month (M-to-M):  Pros: A short term lease allows either party to break the lease with 30 or 60 days notice depending on the lease.  Cons: Tenants can break the lease at any time with proper notice. This is a problem if there are definite moving seasons in your areas.  Ask … [Read more...]

Filed Under: How to Hire a Property Manager, I am a Reluctant Landlord, I am a Small Time Landlord, I am an Empire Builder, Self Management

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I love my family, my country and real estate. My goal is to retire early through frugal living and real estate investment. I am making great strides and want to share the information I've learned through the process. Read More...

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