How To Email A Rental Application

We have made the procces of emailing a rental application very simple.  You don’t need to cut and copy and attach.

Here is what you do need to do.
Need to registered. (registration is free and simple) If you are not a registered member, go to www.rentingauthority.com and click on Free Rental Application (under Rule 1).  In the white box click on email rental application.  Follow the step by step instructions to register and customize your rental application.
Already registered: If you are a member, go to www.toolbox.rentingauthority.com and log in.  Click on email application under the heading Screen Applicant.
Fill in the applicants email address, Click send.  You and the applicant both receive a copy of the email.
The applicant clicks on a link inside the email and fills out the application.  The applicant also pays a $24.95 processing fee which covers your costs of running a background and credit check.
The Results:  You receive a rental application, background and credit reports on an applicant.  The reports and application are stored for you online at www.toolbox.rentingauthority.com.   You can review them and then accept or deny the applicant.
Emailing the application really is simple.  If you ever need any assistance, call or get our online support.
Thanks,
Troy

Should I charge an application fee?

Several landlords have asked, “Should I charge an application fee?” My answer astonishes some. It is simply YES.

Three reasons why:

1.     Application fees start the filtering process
If an applicant is unwilling to pay an application fee, you may have a difficult time collecting rent.  You are in charge, it is your asset, and you make the rules.
2.     Covers your costs
Screening prospective tenants cost you time and money.  Recover as much money as possible.  If you have to screen 4 tenants to find the right one, it will cost about $100.  Don’t go in the hole $100.  Collect the application fee upfront.
3.     Being consistent on application fees reduces discrimination lawsuits
Charging differing prices and not charging at all on some applicants, opens you up for a lawsuit.  Charge a consistent fee.  Even if you feel sorry for someone. Please don’t misunderstand me.  I am not being cold hearted.  Attorneys look for inconsistencies like this to create a discrimination lawsuit.
If you have any questions or comments, please email me.
Sincerely,
Troy Boldt
Renting Authority
888-674-9181
tboldt@RentingAuthority.com
www.RentingAuthority.com

Customer Support

Thank you for your timely response and explanation of the difference!
As new Landlords, we were excited about finding this site. The electronic application process was wonderful as it allowed us to simply enter the applicant’s name & email address then sit back and wait to view the three reports (Employment, Background & Credit). The applicant paid the fees and your service handled the consent forms & other authorizations.
The contract was nice too but we did run into some glitches:
First, it doesn’t have option to pull any information from rental application. We tried to find the applicant’s address & phone numbers to get started but they were not viewable so we had to call them.
Once entered we were moving along well but it didn’t pull any information set up originally with applicant such as Pet Deposits, Non smoking, state variances, etc.
Once finished, we purchased the contract download. The download could not be saved. We even tried copying it into MS Word and had difficulty saving the soft copy. There were several typos, spacing issues and grammatical & punctuation errors.
We had to add property description, correct verbiage to state house rather than apartment, insert missing paragraph on Inspections (copied from sample), delete repeated paragraph, etc.
Overall, I believe the terms of the contract will serve as protection to us but I thought you might like the feedback.
We have already told several people about your site (Realators, Investment Bankers, Insurance Agents and other acquaintances).
Thank you again!
Eugene
Kellyville, OK

Prank Call to a Landlord

Assignment of Contract

Usually when people start talking about making money with real estate they go straight to flipping. Flipping is buying and selling a house at a profit. We see lots of different tv shows on the topic and it makes it look so easy. Let’s look at a number of different strategies and see how people can make money with real estate.
Short Term Strategies: Assignment of Contract. Many people have limited options but still want to make money at real estate. One of the more common and easier strategies to employ is to use the assignment of contract. This is where a person gets a property under contract and then turns around and sells that contract to someone else at a profit. This isn’t where people make the most money but it works in situations where investors have little or no money to put down. Here’s an example: You see a home for sale in your area and know that the owner really needs to sell the house. In an Assignment of contract situation you will want to offer a bit lower on the property. If the house is listed at 300k and is worth 300k then you can offer 280 on the house. If you get the home under contract at 280 you are then able to turn around and sell that contract to someone else for a certain fee. For me I was able to make around a thousand dollars a couple times using this strategy.

Buy and Hold Coming to an End Soon

I’ve talked to several people lately about different real estate strategies to use and the one that has been the most popular among smart real estate investors has been the buy and hold. NOT THE FLIP. People flip homes when the market is moving at a pace that allows them to get a house quickly and turn it for a profit. But the investors that are absolutely cleaning up right now are the ones who are buying homes and holding them. Why is that?
First, the interest rates have been low enough for so long that if people have money to put down they can get these low rates on properties. A man I work with in Las Vegas has been buying up plenty of 100k houses and getting them rented while having extremely low payments on those houses. Why is this a good idea? Plainly, even if the interest rates go up in the area he is in a spot where renters will always be able to afford his payment and if the area goes up in value with the economy then he is sure to really increase the equity in each property. It’s a win across the board for him now.
Second, interest rates have started to go back up. When interest rates go back up something interesting will happen that the country isn’t prepared for at the moment. The housing values will have to stay still or even drop. I say this because the average person owns a 3 bed/2 bath house in our country and if they can’t afford an average payment at a 6% interest rate or higher then the market will have to adjust so they can. By getting these homes now at low rates you are setting yourself up for the best long term success because you can afford the payment at the low rate and it isn’t going to adjust on you like it did during the serious downswing we had a couple years ago.
Real estate is a great way to make long term wealth. Each day I deal with great owners of homes or apartments and they really see things for how they are when it comes to our market. I get great advice from them daily and I love to pass it on to you.

Renting Authority Thanks You

When Renting Authority was started we had some great ideas on what we could do to really help people with rental properties. We think that over the years we have really been able to do a lot of those things and much of that success is attributed to the great people that we get to work with every day. In some cases we work with individuals who have one property and in others it is those with thousands of units that need to be taken care of and we always find a way to get those situations taken care and providing a stress free service for lots of amazing people.

So today the blog will be short and sweet. We love what we do and we love to interact with you on so many different levels. We are here to help and provide a needed service to anyone interested. Thank you.
Troy Boldt

The Top 10 Apartment Resident Complaint

March 28th, 2014

When experiencing an uptick in vacancies, most property managers ask themselves what could be causing their resident to leave. Without asking former tenants directly (or waiting for a bad review) how can you discover the reason for their discontent? Thankfully, J Turner Research, a marketing research firm serving the multifamily industry has done just that. They surveyed 10,000 U.S. apartment residents regarding their satisfaction, and have published their results by ranking the top 10 apartment resident complaints:
1. Rental rates
2. Poor grounds / common area upkeep
3. Disorganized staff / lack of communication with staff
4. Quality of response to maintenance requests
5. Overall customer service of management staff
6. Quality of parking / parking availability
7. Concerns over security / safety / lighting
8. Lack of upgraded amenities
9. Pets not on leash / poor pet waste removal
10. General lack of preventative maintenance
According to their findings, apartment residents across the nation have been more unhappy about rental rates than any other issue. In fact, residents mentioned the cost of rent more than twice as often as concerns about pet waste, which has been a big source of dissatisfaction in the past. Rent prices were nearly three times more likely to be cited by disgruntled tenants than noise, which surprisingly didn’t crack the top ten. This could be proof of a softening in rent fundamentals, which have been experiencing somewhat of a rebound since the country began to recover from the recession.
Aside from rental rates, residents are most often unsatisfied with on-site customer service from management professionals and members of the maintenance staff, which factored into three of the top five complaints.
How You Can Use This Information
While there are a number of complaints that would be worth addressing, it seems the best opportunity to improve resident satisfaction levels is by resolving any issues with the onsite staff’s response to resident concerns. And, because the relations between residents and community staff have such an impact on the community’s reputation and online ratings, this should definitely be one of the key focus areas for multifamily properties moving forward.
Another way property managers can improve customer satisfaction is by completing any deferred maintenance, upgrading appliances, or updating amenities and common-areas. This is particularly important when a community’s curb appeal factors into online ratings and reviews.
Analysts go on to suggest that “communities with the highest levels of customer satisfaction also benefit from the best online ratings and reviews.” Therefore, as property managers continue efforts to maintain a positive reputation, it remains crucial to measure customer satisfaction—and dissatisfaction, and asses how well efforts to improve these issues are actually working.
Sara Thompson writes about property management in partnership with Zenith Properties NW, LLC in Vancouver, Washington. For more tips and advice, visit http://www.zenithpro.com/blog/.
By Sara Thompson in BusinessPropertyManager.com a Service of AppFolio

5 Questions with Multifamily Plumbing Expert, Stephen Poff

Rental Housing Journal sat down with Stephen Poff of STOP, Inc. Here’s what Stephen had to say about plumbing for the apartment and rental housing industries.

Rental Housing Journal: What are the 2 or 3 most common plumbing issues you run in to while servicing apartments?

Stephen Poff: The most common issue we encounter servicing apartment complexes would be plugged kitchen sinks. These are problematic because they can cause multiple sinks on a single stack to back-up, and possibly flood out a lower unit. Another very common issue would be main water line breaks between the water meter and the building. Most of the time a plumber is able to make a temporary repair to slow the leak down, or stop it completely. By doing this we can give the apartment manager the 24 hour notice needed to shut down the water and make a final repair.

RHJ: When it comes to plumbing, what is the biggest concern that property managers and owners should have in the Puget Sound region?

SP: In the Puget Sound area, we seldom have long or deep freezes like a lot of other parts of the country. This can be a problem, because every couple years, when it does happen, people are often unprepared. It’s always a good idea to insulate any exposed piping from the elements, even if you have never had a problem.

RHJ: Do you have any simple tips for landlords in regards to preventing plumbing issues at their properties?

SP: Removing garbage disposals from kitchens can save a lot of headache by avoiding back-ups. Disposals can be a great convenience, but are often abused and used to send large quantities of food and debris down the line that would otherwise be discarded in the trash.

RHJ: What’s the craziest situation you’ve ever come across while working at an apartment?

SP: One of the most costly and messy jobs I’ve encountered at a complex was in the Tacoma area. A large building at an apartment complex had a main sewer line break in the crawl space. This break went un-noticed until 5 footings in the crawl space had completely filled with sewage. It was to the point where sewage was overflowing at an access in a tenant’s closet. We had to remove upwards of 100,000 gallons of raw sewage using vacuum trucks just to access the crawl space to make a repair on the sewer line.

RHJ: What advice do you have for apartment managers or rental owners when choosing a plumbing company?

SP: I would recommend a company that has a fair hourly rate and truck/travel charge. Check to see if they charge any port-to-port fees, and if they charge by the hour, half hour, quarter hour. Also, stay away from flat rate companies. Flat rates are typically used to hide high hourly rates, and will often be in the favor of the company. Flat rates are nice to be able to know the cost upfront, but any hourly rate company can give you a bid with a not to exceed clause before starting the work.

About STOP: STOP Inc was formed with Multi-Family and rental owners and managers in mind. They specialize in reliable service at any time or day. STOP’s company goal is to help maintain clients properties in the most efficient manner, based both on costs and longevity. STOP Inc was formed in 2009, and has grown from a one man shop to a 15 employee company covering from Centralia to Bellingham. Everyone on our staff is very familiar and experienced with the types of service required by Multi-Family housing. Stop, Inc can be reached at 877-380-7904