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Florida! Here I am!
If you have been following my journey for a while now, you know that I am a sun chaser always looking to escape the cold weather for the next beautiful beach. Last winter, my husband and I lived in his home country, the Dominican Republic where we own property.
But this year, I decided to change it up!
Of course, I still spent the holidays with my in-laws down in DR, but within a few days of returning to NY, I said enough is enough. I booked a one way ticket to Florida and haven't looked back yet!
Now you might be saying to yourself, "But Becky, how are you going to manage your properties? Did you hire a property manager" And the answer is no.
With the right systems in place, you can manage your properties from anywhere in the World!
Even before I found Real Estate Investing, I always dreamt of traveling more and spending months at a time in various countries. My problem was trying to figure out how to afford that lifestyle. Once I bought my first duplex, I knew that REI was the solution to my woes! But, I always heard the complaints of time intensive management issues and maintenance issues.
So from the every beginning of my investing journey, I looked into systems that I could put into place to get my landlording biz on autopilot. The more systems I could implement, the more free time I would have to enjoy that cash flow!
Here are a few of my favorite systems that you can implement too!
1. Advertising:
For me, I have the best success with Facebook Marketplace and Zillow Manager, even though they are very different. With FB Marketplace, I get a ton of hits that need to be vetted, but it is free which is nice. Zillow does charge a few bucks for the listing, but I tend to get more serious renters from the site. I use both when I am looking to fill a vacancy fast.
2. Pre-Screening:
Since both of the places I advertise allow for canned responses, (Anyone else tired of the "Is this still available?" messages on FB?? 🙄) So I do the same thing right back and start sorting out my applicants using a Pre-Screening Questionnaire. For me, Google Forms is a simple and free tool that I can use. It collects all the information I need and let's me know if I should move forward with an applicant.
3. Application:
Now that I was able to just communicate with those that passed my pre-screening, I know that I have a greater chance in finding a qualified tenant when we dive deeper in the application process. I love using Naborly for my tenant screening. It is free for me to use and charges the applicant a fee. (They even give Lady Landlords using this link a discount to make it more affordable.) The information I get back shows me clearly if I should accept the tenant or reject them. I recently interviewed the founder of Naborly about his proprietary software for tenant screenings so take a listen to the episode on the Lady Landlords podcast here.
4. Lease Signing:
Once I select my tenant, I want to make sure I lock them in for the rental asap. I always have my lease ready to go from EzLandlord Forms. They make sure that my lease is up to date on all applicable Federal and State laws so I can feel confident that I am protected and in compliance. I also get my move in checklist here too to ensure a smooth transition for my newest tenant! Learn more about EzLandlord Forms here on a recent podcast!
5. Rent Collection:
So now that we have a qualified tenant placed in their new home, the last thing for me to do is to collect rent! I clearly am not going door to door for this! We have so many options for electronic payments that make rent collection easy, simple and fast for both you and your tenant. My favorite rent collection site is PayRent. They allow tenants to pay my credit card if they want, send reminders, report to credit bureaus and even will give a tenant an advance if they are short on money that month, all to ensure that you still get paid on time! And the best part? They have an option that is free for you to use the site! Make sure to subscribe to the Lady Landlords Podcast as I have an upcoming episode with the founder of PayRent coming out soon!
Want to learn more about implementing this and more Tenant Management Systems? Become a Certified Lady Landlord with our Tenant Management program today!
Now back to running my Real Estate Empire with a phone in one hand and a Pina Colada in the other!