The post Can Tenants Leave Items Behind When Moving Out? appeared first on Avail.
]]>
There is always a chance tenants may leave belongings behind when moving out of your rental property. When that happens, it’s important to be aware of what the best course of action is to remove abandoned personal property in your rental and what to avoid.
We share everything you need to know about handling abandoned property in your rental property.
What Happens If Tenants Leave Furniture in an Apartment?
While it may be tempting to discard leftover property, states have landlord-tenant laws that require landlords to leave or safely store the belongings for a certain period before discarding them. For that reason, landlords must take precautions when handling a tenant’s abandoned personal belongings during the moving process.
Each state has different laws and regulations on abandoned personal belongings, so check your local landlord-tenant laws to determine what your next steps should be. Illinois landlord-tenant laws require landlords to store the property for seven days before removing it from the property, while California landlords can discard abandoned property if they have substantial evidence the tenant has moved out of the property.
What to Do If Tenants Left Stuff Behind When Moving Out
The process of removing abandoned property varies by state, but here are four steps you can take to properly remove a tenant’s leftover belongings.
1. Research Your Local Landlord-Tenant Laws
Being well-informed on how to handle the process according to local regulations can reduce the chances of landing in a legal situation, which is why you’ll want to research your local landlord-tenant laws to thoroughly understand what you can (and can’t do) as the landlord.
Researching local laws can help you know what documentation needs to be provided to the tenant and under what circumstances you’re legally allowed to remove unclaimed property.
2. Provide a Notice to Pick Up Personal Property
There may be instances where a tenant is unaware they left items in the rental property during the moving process, which is why it’s important to provide a Notice to Pick Up Personal Property to tenants.
A Notice to Pick Up Personal Property informs tenants of personal belongings they’ve left behind and what will happen to them if they’re unclaimed by the stated time frame. Most landlords send the notice via certified mail or email to establish a paper trail during the process and request a return receipt to confirm the tenant has received the notice.
3. Document the Situation With Photos
Take photos of all personal belongings in the rental that need to be claimed before moving them to another location. Photos can serve as proof on what items the tenant left behind and the condition they were left in.
4. Notify the Tenant Once Belongings Have Been Moved
If the tenant still hasn’t redeemed their belongings after the stated period in the notice, you may want to inform them of where they’ve been relocated to, whether it be a storage unit or thrift store. Even if the tenant is not planning on claiming their belongings, communicate each step to them in case they change their mind.
What If the Tenant Does Not Claim the Property?
If the tenant has not claimed their belongings once receiving the Notice to Pick Up Personal Property, then most states allow you to dispose of the property or sell it. But before doing either option, check with local ordinances before moving anything
Connect With Landlords Through the Avail Community Forum
Tenants occasionally leave abandoned property in a rental after moving out, which needs to be handled carefully by landlords. In addition to researching local landlord-tenant laws to establish a process, you can also connect with other landlords through the Avail Community Forum to see what they’ve done in similar situations and get tips and tricks from landlords across the country.
Create an account with Avail landlord software to make renting easier for you and your tenants.
The post Can Tenants Leave Items Behind When Moving Out? appeared first on Avail.
]]>The post What We Learned From a Successful Real Estate Investor appeared first on Avail.
]]>
The concept of full-time real estate investing was sparked for Kendra Barnes during a game of Cashflow — a board game that uses components from real estate investing to teach you how to build wealth. After that game, she bought her first investment property, quit her government job in Washington, D.C., bought more investment properties, and founded The Key Resource to help other beginning investors carve their own paths.
We spoke with Kendra about how she made a profitable career out of real estate investing, what she’s learned along the way, and how the industry has been changed by COVID and a new wave of investors.
How Did You Transition From a 9-to-5 Job to a Full-Time Real Estate Investor?
“We never imagined investing in real estate,” recalls Barnes, who owned a house in Washington, D.C. with her husband and worked as an international economist for the U.S. government. “It wasn’t that we didn’t think we could do it, but we had literally never thought about it.”
The board game Cashflow opened up the idea of passive income for Barnes — and made her realize working a nine-to-five job until retirement age wasn’t the only option. She and her husband played the game on a Saturday night, and by Monday, they were already looking at investment properties.
Because they didn’t have enough money for the down payment on the D.C. property they wanted, they took a loan out from their retirement funds (Barnes recommends consulting a financial advisor before taking similar steps).
Once Barnes started seeing a return on their first investment property, she and her husband were eager to buy another — which they did through house hacking, or living in one unit of the multi-family property they had purchased while renting out the other three units.
“We started using money from one rental to fund the next,” said Barnes. “People ask me all the time how many rental properties they need to retire or be financially free, but there is no magic number. It depends on where you’re at and the financial goals of each individual investor.”
Pro Tip: There are different types of real estate investments, so it’s important to determine which is best for you.
What Were the Biggest Challenges You Faced When Starting Out in Real Estate?
“Lack of knowledge, followed by lack of funding,” said Barnes, which was part of the reason she wanted to bridge the gap in knowledge and share what she had learned (and the mistakes she made) in her own investing journey.
“One of my friends jokingly said, ‘Did you have to rob a bank?’” Barnes recalls after sharing the news of her newly-purchased four-unit building on Facebook. “I realized there was a gap in information. People wanted to do this, but they really didn’t understand how to start.”
Barnes notes that buy-in from family and friends can also be a major obstacle, especially if investing in real estate isn’t common within a social circle.
“In the Black community, conversations about wealth, in my mind, were lacking,” said Barnes. “We weren’t talking about it in our families, we weren’t talking about it among our friend groups, and I know people often need to see themselves represented in a story. So I started the Key Resource to bridge that gap and be the representation that I wish I had when I started.”
Have You Seen a Shift in the Kind of Investors That Are Getting Into Real Estate?
“One hundred percent,” said Barnes. “I would say 95% of my students and coaching clients are single Black women. There’s a misconception that you have to be wealthy first, or that you can’t do it on a single income, but that’s not true.”
In Barnes’ new book, “Acres,” she highlights the stories of 25 Black investors that built their wealth from the ground up — some of them overcoming homelessness or six-figure debt to build million-dollar portfolios.
“The face of real estate investing is changing and people are realizing that wealth is not a prerequisite, but a byproduct of investing.”
How Do You Think the Industry Has Changed From COVID?
Barnes has seen a mixed bag of reactions to real estate investing brought on by the pandemic. On one hand, people have realized the importance of multiple streams of income when traditional jobs can be taken away at the moment’s notice. On the other, she acknowledges the fear many investors have experienced over tenants not paying rent.
The pandemic has also helped widen the opportunity for long-distance real estate investing. “People are jumping on the remote investing train because they realize that if they live in a high cost of living area, they get a bigger bang for their buck shopping in the lower cost of living areas,” Barnes said.
But overall, Barnes thinks COVID has taught investors to better prepare for all outcomes and be aware that things can quickly change.
“People often find a property and think of one use for it, and those are the only numbers they run,” said Barnes. “But what happens if it doesn’t work out? What happens if something changes, like the county puts restrictions on short-term rentals? When you’re identifying a property, you have to make sure that you’re putting yourself in a position to pivot and still be profitable.”
How Can Real Estate Investors Connect and Learn From One Another?
Barnes’ favorite networking tool has been Instagram, where she connected with almost every investor featured in “Acres” and has been sharing stories of other successful real estate investors through her account for years.
“I’ve met some of my lifelong friends through Instagram, just for the love of investing,” she said.
She also points to Facebook groups, local real estate investing meetups, and networking through social media, with an emphasis on listening to other investor stories and learning from their successes.
“My story is cool, it’s unique, but there’s so many other people out there doing things differently than me that can help someone in a different way.”
Connect, Learn, and Network
You can read more about “Acres” and connect with other real estate investors on the Avail Community Forum, search for real estate investing topics in our library of educational content, or sign up for our newsletter below to receive tips, news, and educational resources right to your inbox.
The post What We Learned From a Successful Real Estate Investor appeared first on Avail.
]]>The post Success Stories: Highlighting Outcomes From Federally-Backed Emergency Rental Assistance Programs appeared first on Avail.
]]>
Over the past few months, a lot has been written about problems with federally-backed Emergency Rental Assistance programs. The programs are suffering from a lack of awareness and also from difficult-to-navigate application processes. As we wrote earlier this year, without additional help, 31% of landlords were being forced to consider selling their units. With eviction moratoriums across the country expiring soon, it’s more important than ever that we get funds to those who need them.
While the Emergency Rental Assistance programs aren’t perfect, we’ve recently heard about several situations where these programs are working as planned. When programs work, it’s important to highlight the successes.
Below, you’ll read stories of landlords and renters who’ve applied for and received assistance. The funds they’ve received have helped renters remain housed and landlords have been able to afford their mortgages, utilities, and have funds needed for necessary repairs.
By sharing these stories, we hope that more landlords and renters who are struggling right now will consider applying for assistance. Remember that you can visit our COVID-19 page for the latest information and resources for landlords and renters on emergency rental assistance programs.
Spotlight 1: Sam, a landlord in Illinois
Sam applied for rental assistance for tenants in two of his units. One tenant owed $1,800 in arrears and another owed $7,500 in arrears. In both cases, Sam and his tenants received assistance to cover the entirety of the outstanding balance, as well as three months of future rent for each tenant. In total, they received $17,100 of assistance through the IHDA rental assistance program.
The funding made a huge difference for Sam. In both cases, the funds allowed him to rebuild reserves that had been depleted during the pandemic, ease strained relationships with his tenants, and reinvest in projects that improved property values, provided work opportunities for contractors, and raised the quality of life for residents in his building. One of Sam’s buildings received an updated laundry room and the other a functional garage. Sam would not have felt comfortable doing any of this work without the rental assistance grant from the IHDA.
Spotlight 2: Kim, a retired landlord in Illinois
Kim’s renter expected to miss future rent payments and asked Kim to apply for assistance. Kim is retired, and the assistance she received helped her pay the rental’s property tax, insurance, and maintenance.
Spotlight 3: Sade, a landlord in Louisiana
The rental assistance funding has allowed Sade to receive 100% of rents from all tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic. One tenant received half a month’s worth of rent, which allowed him some relief considering he lost his transportation contract for a company that shut their doors. The funding Sade received was used to pay utility bills.
Sade’s other tenant is an elementary teacher that decided to become a Junior High PE coach. Making this change at the end of the school year affected her summer pay. The rental assistance program covered three months of rent, which allowed her new job’s check to kick in and build up. Because of this assistance program, Sade was able to avoid having to pay the mortgage from reserves. Sade is very grateful for the assistance provided during these times!
Spotlight 4: Amgad, a landlord in Ohio
Amgad’s tenants lost their jobs due to COVID-19 and they applied for the Franklin County Ohio IMPACT program. Three of his tenants applied for and received help, and without this help, he would have fallen short on paying the mortgage.
Spotlight 5: Jeremy, a landlord in Indiana
Jeremy’s tenant was more than three months behind and losing ground. They were willing to apply for assistance and Jeremy helped them file the paperwork.
The funding helped Jeremy to continue building projects that were ongoing prior to COVID. Jeremy has a multi-unit building he purchased and is working to renovate. Without the rental assistance he received, he would not be able to apply resources to the project as planned. Although Jeremy didn’t apply for or receive a large amount of assistance, he is working on a tight budget and, therefore, the assistance was very helpful.
Spotlight 6: Nick, a landlord in Illinois
Nick had two tenants that had fallen behind on their rent as far back as March 2020. With the assistance he received, Nick was able to pay the mortgage, pay down some short-term financing, move forward with maintenance projects, and complete some interior enhancements in units.
Author’s Note: we will continue updating this post with more Emergency Rental Assistance success stories, or as more details of the above situations become available.
If you’d like to share your own story, or if you have any questions, please contact us.
The post Success Stories: Highlighting Outcomes From Federally-Backed Emergency Rental Assistance Programs appeared first on Avail.
]]>The post Housing Experts to Address Rental Market Challenges appeared first on Avail.
]]>
After a difficult year for the rental market brought on by COVID-19, industry leaders are drawing on lessons learned from the pandemic to address localized rental market challenges. Through a collaborative online webinar hosted by Avail, rental market, housing, and public policy experts will address some of the rental industry’s biggest pain points to inform how technology and a better use of data can help the rental and housing market going forward.
Register to join the Build Back Better webinar.
Building Rental Housing Security Through Technology Infrastructure and Community Partnerships
Avail has been an industry leader in providing much-needed rental market data and insights during the pandemic, partnering with housing organizations to focus primarily on understanding the challenges of independent landlords and their renters.
The Build Back Better online webinar will outline some of these findings on the rental market’s biggest challenges in housing security, establish areas of immediate need, and educate policymakers, government officials, and other housing stakeholders on how the continued use of data and technology can help address those needs.
The webinar’s panel will consist of experts from across the rental, housing, and public policy sectors, including:
- Ruby Bolaria Shifrin, Director of Housing Affordability at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
- Elijah de la Campa, Senior Research Associate in Economics and Urban Analytics at the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative
- Stockton Williams, Executive Director of the National Council of State Housing Agencies
- Ingrid Gould Ellen, Professor at NYU and Director of NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy
- Laurie Goodman, Founder of the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute
- Ryan Coon, Co-founder of DIY Rental Service Avail
Register for the Build Back Better webinar to listen to experts address housing challenges.
Avail Surveying and Partnerships to Expand Rental Market Data
Avail regularly gathers data and insights from its customers of independent landlords and renters across the U.S. to help inform rental market trends. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Avail focused its surveying efforts on understanding how the pandemic was impacting rent payments, rental properties, and the use of rent relief funds.
Avail has partnered with a variety of leading organizations, including the Urban Institute, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and others to expand its data and research, educate policymakers, and help implement rent relief in communities.
Read more about Avail data and partnerships:
- Local Rental Owners Collaborative Launches in South Los Angeles to Preserve Housing and Prevent Tenant Displacement
- Avail + LISC Partner to Help California Landlords and Renters Access COVID-19 Rent Relief Funds
- Avail and Urban Institute Collaborate to Expand Research on the Noninstitutional Half of the Rental Market
- Going Into 2021, Renters and Landlords Are Still Hurting From COVID Consequences
The post Housing Experts to Address Rental Market Challenges appeared first on Avail.
]]>The post Change for Housing: Avail Launches Initiative to Support Local Nonprofits appeared first on Avail.
]]>
Homelessness is a pervasive issue in the United States, with nearly 43.1 million people living at or below the poverty line and nearly 549,000 people confronting homelessness on a daily basis. The number of homeless individuals across the country is expected to increase as current renters face future waves of evictions due to COVID-19. A recent Avail survey found that nearly 31% of renters were not able to pay their full rent in August 2020.
In conjunction with Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week, Avail is excited to announce the launch of Change For Housing, an initiative designed to raise awareness and money for organizations helping people experiencing homelessness across the United States. The Change for Housing program aims to support local nonprofits focused on preventing homelessness with the goal of helping those who need it the most.
For those unfamiliar, Avail is an online platform that’s used by 600,000 landlords and renters across the country. Through the Change for Housing program, we will educate Avail landlords and renters about the many great organizations delivering comprehensive homelessness prevention services in their local communities. Landlords and renters will also be able to financially support these organizations by donating to their local organization from inside their Avail account.
La Casa Norte, a Chicago-based nonprofit that addresses youth and family homelessness in Cook County, is the first organization to benefit from the Change for Housing program. To date this year, La Casa Norte has served more than 10,000 individuals in 2020 and provided temporary housing solutions to over 4,500 families and youth in 2019. Through this partnership, Avail will raise money on behalf of La Casa Norte, as well as other organizations that join the Change for Housing initiative in the future.
The Change for Housing initiative is part of our company-wide mission to improve not just the rental process, but to have a positive impact on the broader U.S. housing market. Other collaborations with nonprofit organizations include our work with the Urban Institute, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit that conducts public policy research to “open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions.”
To learn more about the Change for Housing program, or to talk about working together to combat homelessness in your community, please email us at changeforhousing@avail.co.
The post Change for Housing: Avail Launches Initiative to Support Local Nonprofits appeared first on Avail.
]]>The post Independent Landlords: The Small Business Every Community Needs appeared first on Avail.
]]>
In honor of SBA’s National Small Business Week, Avail is recognizing one sector of small business that often gets overlooked: independent landlords.
While smaller scale, independent landlords tend to be a more fragmented sector of the economy and aren’t always easy to group or track down, nearly eight million of these DIY landlords exist across the country. They’re vital to local communities and a staple to many neighborhoods, providing a necessary housing alternative to larger, institutionalized rental companies.
As this year’s small business week highlights businesses that are contributing to a stronger U.S. economy, here are three ways independent DIY landlords contribute to their communities and strengthen the housing market.
1. Independent Landlords Reinvest Their Earnings
Avail found that the majority of independent landlords live within 15 miles of their rental properties — meaning they are much more likely to invest in their local communities. Whether it’s local spending, tax dollars, or reinvestment into their rentals, smaller DIY landlords who live in the community are able to contribute and reinvest on a more localized level.
2. Independent Landlords Are More Likely to Work With Tenants on a Personal Level
A major difference between larger, institutionalized property management companies and smaller scale, independent landlords is the relationship they have with their tenants. Because many independent landlords only own a few properties, they’re more likely to know their tenants on a personal level — and more likely to work with them when problems arise.
Whether it be accepting a tenant that larger management companies would reject based on their paper application or working with a tenant to quickly resolve maintenance issues, independent landlords tend to be more invested in their properties and available to help.
While independent landlords have been the hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Avail found that many of these same landlords are the most willing to work with their tenants to keep them in their properties. Between formulating payment plans or waiving a month’s rent, the more personal connection between smaller landlords and their tenants has been apparent during the pandemic.
3. Independent Landlords Employ Other Local Small Businesses
DIY landlords typically perform their own maintenance on their rentals, but when they don’t, they hire local companies or independent contractors to it for them. Online landlord platforms and landlord groups often pass along local business and contractor referrals to their fellow landlords, and are more likely to utilize these local businesses than larger property management companies might be, keeping their money within the community.
Local Landlords Are a Staple in Every Community
Even as the rental market continues to face unique economic challenges, independent landlords remain a pillar of small business within their communities, reinvesting their rental income and providing a housing alternative in neighborhoods across the country. Avail celebrates the work of all independent landlords who continue to work respectfully with their tenants and make their communities a better place to live.
For rental market news, legal updates, and information that all landlords need to know, sign up for our newsletter below.
The post Independent Landlords: The Small Business Every Community Needs appeared first on Avail.
]]>The post Pay Rent, Win Prizes appeared first on Avail.
]]>
What if you could win prizes just by paying your rent?
We’re kicking off the first-ever Pay Rent, Win Prizes giveaway, and you’re invited.
Here’s How It Works:
1. Anyone can enter to win by signing up below and clicking “Daily Bonus Entry.” You can enter for a chance to win once a day, every day until the end of the giveaway.
2. Click “Schedule Rent” to start paying contactless rent through Avail.
3. Click “Share on Facebook or Pinterest” to invite your friends. When your friends sign up, you earn more entries to win.
4. Last but not least, click “Check out CreditBoost” to learn how to improve your credit by reporting on-time rent payments.
Here’s What’s up for Grabs:
- KitchenAid Mixer (1)
- Oculus Rift (1)
- Beats by Dre Headphones (1)
- $100 Netflix (1)
- $50 Target (2)
- $25 Dominos (4)
Signing up to win takes just a few clicks. Simplify the way you pay rent, start using contactless payments, and stop worrying about paying on time.
Enter to Win Now:
Double Your Winnings
Want to double your prize? It’s simple — just set up Autopay in your Avail account. Autopay puts your rent payments on cruise control so you never have to worry about scheduling or making a payment, and you can forever avoid late rent fees.
If you’re chosen as the winner and you have Autopay activated in your account, your prize will be automatically doubled!
Boost Your Credit by Paying Rent
Did you know you can help boost your credit by paying your rent on time each month? Avail offers renters the ability to build their credit by reporting rent payments through CreditBoost.
Avail will report your on-time rent payments to TransUnion every month to help you improve your credit score. You can choose to report future on-time payments made through Avail, or up to 24 months of past payments, regardless of how you paid*.
Learn more about CreditBoost and start getting something in return for your rent payments.
*CreditBoost results may vary by individual.
The post Pay Rent, Win Prizes appeared first on Avail.
]]>The post Avail Community Spotlight: Q&A With Customer Sam Spitz appeared first on Avail.
]]>
Tell us about yourself.
I’m a Chicago kid, through and through. I was born and raised up north near Welles Park during the Michael Jordan era and have lived in the city for 23 of my 29yrs on earth. Right now, I sell cloud-based business applications to large corporations for a publicly-traded software company called Workday, coach youth basketball for the Demons AAU program, mentor young people, and serve on the Board of Directors for Chicago Votes, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that is building a more inclusive democracy in Chicago by empowering young people. I also own four small multi-family buildings – 11 apartments in West Woodlawn (one of which I live in) and 3 apartments in South Shore – and those real estate projects are a pretty big part of my life, too.
What led you to become a real estate investor?
My path to real estate investing didn’t start with building ownership. It started with a passion for history and fair housing in Chicago.
I went to Michelle Obama’s alma mater – Whitney Young Magnet High School – and the diversity there opened the borders of a segregated city for me. At that time, I was more focused on becoming a Big Ten college football player (I played fullback for the University of Wisconsin Badgers), but having friends and teammates on the South and West Sides of the city made me aware of issues I’d never had to think of before. After an injury led me to transfer to Colgate University, I became more interested in the world around me – and in figuring out who I was without football.
I studied history at Colgate, and threw myself into politics. I slept on the streets of New York City as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement, but my experience the next summer in Mexico really got me focused on housing. I lived with an indigenous rebel army in the jungle of Chiapas and an urban social movement in Mexico City, and was inspired by the way both movements used autonomous control over housing and land to create power for their constituents. Seeing people organize around housing in Mexico made me more interested in understanding how housing shaped the city I grew up in – and so much of my lived experience.
After I returned to Chicago, I had a chance encounter in a barbershop that led me to make a documentary film project about the dismantling of Chicago’s Cabrini Green Public Housing Project. The film used residents’ memory of the neighborhood to raise questions about race, place and identity amidst the changing landscape of urban America. The film did well. My co-producer from Cabrini Green and I traveled to universities across the U.S. and London for paid speaking engagements and CNN featured our story as part of the Chicagoland series in 2014. I ultimately went on after college to write a master’s dissertation on the subject of housing in Chicago at the University of Oxford in England (yes, that’s ironic – I know). But the relationships I made in Cabrini Green transcended the film, and ultimately led me away from academia, towards a more practical application of housing: real estate investing.
I came to believe that I could make an impact in Chicago by reinvesting in the most disinvested communities of our city, and by doing what I could to create jobs in the neighborhoods. There’s a huge shortage of high-quality affordable housing in safe neighborhoods in Chicago, so right now I transform vacant multifamily buildings into high-quality housing for good people and keep as much money in the neighborhood as possible (ex. local labor, local suppliers, etc. wherever and whenever possible). It’s not easy to source locally and it amounts to a drop in the bucket, but keeping a community-first approach to spend is important to me. It’s a core value of mine that I’d like to help scale.
My ultimate goal is to build a venture capital fund that reinvests cashflow from my growing portfolio into other local businesses, entrepreneurs, and neighborhood real estate investors, who also live on the South Side, too). I’m at the very beginning of my real estate journey and my vision is certainly far from perfect, but my hope is that by working together with my neighbors we can offer a more equitable and inclusive vision for urban development in Chicago.
It’s a pipe dream for sure, but I feel like it’s worth a try.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced as you were getting started?
History taught me that control over housing in America begins and ends with capital, so I came to a rude awakening at Oxford when I realized that I had none. I graduated $20,000 in debt with no job and no credit, and while I had big dreams to reinvest in Chicago (and still do), I knew that nothing would come to fruition without money. Being broke was challenge #1, so I needed to find a career that would allow me to maximize my earning potential before I even think about buying property – enter software sales.
Challenge #2 was that I didn’t come from an immediate family that knew much about money, let alone multifamily real estate investing. I had to teach myself financial literacy so that I could build enough credit to act on my dreams. Even though I made a comfortable living selling software in my mid-20s, I still lived at home for more than two years, so that I could keep my expenses low, pay bills on time, and save money towards the purchase of my first multifamily building.
Still, a little savings and decent credit score don’t guarantee success in real estate. You need an investment thesis and a solid financial model, so challenge #3 was not knowing anything about finance, let alone real estate for that matter. Fortunately, I’ve never shied away from networking, and all that time I spent studying history made me a good internet researcher. I used the internet and social media to find other people with common interests, and they pointed me to great resources like Biggerpockets.com. I learned about low downpayment programs like FHA loans and the Home Possible Program for first-time homeowners, and realized that if I could owner-occupy a building that would allow me to avoid paying rent (and save that money every month instead), then I’d be able to owner occupy another building (#2) as soon as I was eligible to move again … and so and so forth. It was an ‘aha’ moment.
The problem for someone with a demanding career though is that I knew being a landlord takes time – and that was challenge #4. My ability to realize my longterm vision depended (and still depends) on rapid accumulation of capital, and even with four buildings (as well as investors now), my biggest source of income is still far and away my career in tech. If I have to step away from my job to manage buildings at this point, then I’m moving further away from my goals. That’s why finding the right technology partner was so critical for me.
What challenges are you currently facing? And what problems has Avail helped you to solve?
Avail makes being a DIY landlord possible for someone with a demanding career. I can’t imagine working my full-time job, and still having time to post listings to dozens of apartment search sites, check each site for inbound leads, aggregate prospective into excel, schedule showings, create rental applications, send and receive background checks, call references, draft Chicago leases, send leases for signature, create move-in checklists for tenants, set up payments, send payment reminders, knock on doors for checks, etc. … And thankfully, I don’t have to. Avail automates all of that!
Avail removes the most time-intensive parts of being a DIY landlord, so that I can focus my free time on keeping tenants happy and growing my business.
What would you say to those who are interested in REI but maybe don’t know where to start?
Google “house hacking” and start your real estate journey by figuring out how to eliminate your biggest expense: housing. And if you can’t find a mentor in your neighborhood or network, feel free to text my google voice number: 224-818-6095.
I’m always happy to pass on what I’ve learned.
The post Avail Community Spotlight: Q&A With Customer Sam Spitz appeared first on Avail.
]]>The post Top 10 Online Communities for Landlords appeared first on Avail.
]]>
Whether you’re having rental property issues and need some answers or you just want an easy way to stay up to date with rental market news, an online community for landlords is the best way to do it.
These are 10 of the best landlord communities online — offering everything from house hacking strategies to apartment building syndication success stories — so you can find the information you need to get the most out of your investment property.
BiggerPockets.com
BiggerPockets is probably the most well-known community on this list. They have one of the most popular podcasts in the world, which brings together landlords and real estate investors from all over to their community forum.
Property Management Mastermind
Made for property managers, DIY landlords, vendors and investors, Property Management Mastermind was created for conversations about all areas of property management. Discussing everything from insurance to conferences to new products, this online community is a great space for furthering your property management education.
REI Marketing Nerds
REI Marketing Nerds is a Facebook group targeted at real estate investors and wholesalers. Focused heavily on marketing, the forum provides tips and tactics to help members grow their businesses and advance their marketing skills.
BiggerPockets Facebook Group
For those familiar with BiggerPockets, they also have a dedicated Facebook group set up by and for fans who want to engage, ask questions, and learn from others in the REI space. This is also a great group for connecting with some of those more senior influencers, real estate investors, portfolio holders, and potential partners.
Real Estate and Millennial Investing
Made for both real estate veterans and those new to the industry, Real Estate and Millennial Investing focuses on all things investing. Robbie Leonard, a podcaster and experienced real estate investor, shares his experience plus the investing experiences and stories of others.
Real Estate Investors Group
Real Estate Investors Group is a platform for professionals, investors, and anyone interested in real estate to share ideas, news, tips, and events in the real estate space. The community hosts posts from landlords, handymen, realtors, and anyone else in the industry who has something relevant to share.
Landlord Round Table
Landlord Round Table is dedicated to helping landlords learn and succeed. Members share tips and experiences, and the community is focused on education and tools for creating better landlords. As the saying goes, anything that can happen will happen in real estate. Landlord Round Table gets dozens of posts daily from investors working through rental challenges and celebrating wins in their business.
Best Ever Show Community
The Best Ever Show Community page offers quite a bit, including advice from experienced investors, opportunity to engage with Podcast guests, a space to network with industry professionals (ie, lawyer, accountant, bookkeeper, property manager, virtual assistants, lenders, and more), and lastly, success stories and pitfalls to avoid.
DIY Home Improvement
While the group is a bit strict on self-promotion, the DIY Home Improvement group on Facebook is one of the most engaged with 30,000+ members and tons of daily posts. Here you can actively share ideas, photos, advice about DIY home improvement projects, renovation ideas, and more.
Avail Community Forum
Avail provides tools, support, and education to make renting easier for responsible DIY landlords and their tenants. The Avail Community Forum provides customers and other landlords with a space to share ideas and ask each other questions. Continue your work as a responsible landlord (or tenant) by joining the conversation!
Know of another great online landlord community that didn’t make the list? Comment below and let us know what it is.
The post Top 10 Online Communities for Landlords appeared first on Avail.
]]>