When it comes to filling your properties, not all tenants are created equal. The best-case scenario for investors? Finding tenants who are looking for a long-term home, not just a place to stay for a few months or a year.Long-term tenants provide consistent income that you just won’t find if you …
Read More
How to Effectively Screen Tenants for Your Rental Property (While Protecting Yourself)
There’s no way around it: the success and profitability of your properties are directly related to getting quality tenants. And the key to getting quality tenants is proper tenant screening.Tenant screening is the only way to ensure the people who rent your properties are responsible and pay their …
Read More
Collecting Unpaid Rent From a Former Tenant in Texas
Unpaid rent happens — but it doesn’t have to happen often.Collecting unpaid rent from a former tenant is never fun, and it’s often avoidable. Sure, sometimes people skip out on rent during their lease term or for that last month before their contract ends. But at LEAP we’ve kept our delinquency rate …
Read More
How Texas Landlords Can Protect Themselves From Fair Housing Complaints
There were 28,181 reported fair housing complaints last year — and 91.5% of those happened in rental transactions. Sounds like a lot, right? But these are just the reported cases. The National Fair Housing Alliance estimates 4 million instances of discrimination happen each year in the rental market …
Read More
Real Estate Risk Management: What to Look for and How to Protect Yourself
Have you ever been called a “control freak”? We don’t always use this as a term of endearment, but with investments, it may pay off.No investment is risk-free, but real estate gives you an element of control that others don’t. You not only choose the specific house, but you also decide the location, …
Read More
How to Identify Problem Tenants Before You Sign That Lease
The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent — or maybe not so innocent — but we’ll keep them anonymous!Last year, we met Bill. He came to us and said, “I want you to manage my property, but I’ve already found the tenants. We’re not under lease …
Read More
The Stop-Doing List for Landlords: 5 Tasks to Give Up Right Away
Have you heard of the “Stop-Doing” list?Basically, the idea is that sometimes what you stop doing is just as important as the things you start doing. So instead of creating a to-do list, with an endless number of tasks you want to complete, you should focus on things you hate doing or things that …
Read More
5 Rental Problems Every Landlord Dreads (And 1 That Can Put You Out of Business)
Being a landlord isn’t for the faint of heart. It requires unfaltering dedication and quick decision-making. Sure, the payback is worthwhile if you make the right moves, but there can be some nightmares along the way: pipes bursting overnight, tenants lying on rental applications, or pets destroying …
Read More
4 Important Reasons You Should Leave Tenant Screening to The Pros
Of everything you do in the process of filling your properties, tenant screening is arguably the most important part.Properly screening tenants will ensure that you get responsible people in your units: people who are likely to care for your property, follow the rules outlined in your lease, and …
Read More
How to Craft a Rental Lease Agreement That Covers Your Assets
Have you ever tried to play a game without any rules? It probably didn’t work out so well.Part of playing a game that actually works is clearly laying out rules for everyone to follow. Without solid guidelines, someone gets mad, misunderstands, or violates some unspoken rule that the other person …
Read More
