Fifty Money-Saving Tips for Every Landlord A Practical Guide to Maintaining Short-Term Rental Properties Mike McLean

ISBN: 978-0-7570-0352-3 Length: 124 Pages Size: 6 X 9-inch Format: Quality Paperback Category: Real Estate/Finance Price: $16.95 US Availability: In Print Click below for: Synopsis • Contents Introduction • Reviews

Synopsis

Taking care of rental properties is no easy job, especially when you deal with short-term tenants. Repairing damage and replacing parts are all problems that landlords have to face. In Fifty Money-Saving Tips for Every Landlord, author Mike McLean, one of the most successful landlords in the Philadelphia area, shares his secrets for succeeding in this challenging business.

Mike McLean has been a landlord for over fifteen years with a focus on purchasing single-family homes and renting them to low-income tenants. A highly sought-after speaker, Mike is a regular guest lecturer at many Landlord Association meetings and shows.

Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Legal Protection
Tip 1. Insulate Yourself with a Great Lease
Tip 2. Take Photographs before Move-in Day
Tip 3. Video Record the Entire Property

Your Business
Tip 4. Consolidate Loans into a Blanket Mortgage
Tip 5. Stay Organized
Tip 6. Keep Showing Your Property
Tip 7. Remain Confident

Dealing with Tenants
Tip 8. Do Not Give Tenants Your Personal Phone Numbers
Tip 9. Just Say No
Tip 10. Don’t Spoil Good Tenants
Tip 11. Don’t Stress about Tenant Cleanliness
Safety, Safety, Safety
Tip 12. Keep the Doors Locked
Tip 13. Don’t Open the Door
Tip 14. Deny being the Landlord
Tip 15. Always have Someone Foot Your Ladder
Tip 16. Know Who You are Hiring
Tip 17. Perform a Background Check
Tip 18. Never Use a “For Rent” Sign
Tip 19. Never Hold an Open House

Interior Work
Tip 20. Quickly and Efficiently Clean Out Your Property
Tip 21. Change All of the Light Fixtures
Tip 22. Eliminate the Garbage Disposal
Tip 23. Remove All 220 Electrical Outlets
Tip 24. Remove the Dishwasher
Tip 25. Choose Stoves Carefully
Tip 26. Replace Wall-Mounted Sinks with Vanities
Tip 27. Stick to Single-Handle Faucets
Tip 28. Always Use Caulk
Tip 29. Hang Shower Curtains
Tip 30. If the Flooring is Okay, Leave it Alone
Tip 31. Think Long and Hard before Installing Carpet
Tip 32. Replace Outlets and Switches
Tip 33. Use Thick Sleeves to Paint
Tip 34. Do Not Let Your Tenants Paint
Tip 35. Make Sure the Interior Doors are Solid
Tip 36. Use Structo-Lite to Repair Basement Walls
Tip 37. Install Dropped Ceilings
Tip 38. Limit Damage caused by Leaks and Floods
Tip 39. Prevent Roaches without an Exterminator
Tip 40. Purchase these Life-Saving Tools

Exterior Work
Tip 41. Do Not Grant Tenants Access to the Garage
Tip 42. Cover Windows with Plywood and Siding
Tip 43. Replace Remaining Basement Window with a Hopper
Tip 44. Cover the Porch Ceiling with Vinyl Siding
Tip 45. Do Not Install or Repair Screens
Tip 46. Choose Rubber over Tar Roofs
Tip 47. Remove All Shrubbery
Tip 48. Protect Yourself if you have Oil Heaters
Tip 49. Switch to Cheaper Plywood
Tip 50. Patch Concrete Sidewalks before Inspection
Conclusion

Index

Introduction

First of all, I want to thank you for purchasing my book with your hard-earned money. Secondly, you’ll be glad to know that you did not waste a cent of it! I know you work hard for your money, so if there is one thing I want you to know about me, it is that I will work even harder trying to help you save it. In fact, I’m going to save you so much cash before your Tenant even walks through the door that you’re going to wish you had made this purchase a lot sooner.

Let me begin by telling you a little bit about myself. I have been a full-time Landlord in the Philadelphia area for the past fourteen years. During my first five years in the business, I acquired, renovated, and leased out over 300 homes. However, it was not all peaches and cream. I started out in this business just like everybody else. I purchased an inexpensive home, fixed it up, rented it out, and thought I was going to be the next Donald Trump. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way.

I started making mistakes right out of the gate. And when you make a mistake in this business, it will cost you either time or money--two things I hate to lose! Let me tell you this, though. Whenever you jump into any line of work with no experience, you are going to make mistakes. As Oscar Wilde once said, “Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes,” and for the first couple of years, I made a ton of them.

Whether it was collecting rent, installing products into my rental properties, or eliminating items from my property before my Tenants took possession of it, I made mistakes! Oh, and did I mention that the majority of my properties were rented out to Section 8 Tenants? Section 8 Tenants are those that are issued government vouchers to cover their rent payments, and they are notorious for being the hardest Tenants to deal with. If being a bottom feeder is good for one thing in the world of Landlording, though, it’s experience!

Fortunately, I’m not the kind of guy who makes a mistake and then throws his hands up in the air and quits. What I am is a thinker, and I refuse to make the same mistake twice. I thrive on coming up with inventive ways to make sure a mistake never repeats itself. Some people like to call it thinking outside the box, but I like to refer to it as very preventive maintenance.

Throughout my years as a Landlord I’ve had a lot of things happen to me. I’ve been attacked by pit bulls; I’ve had a guy try to fist fight me for not renting him one of my properties; I’ve had a Tenant run a laundromat in the basement of a property, and another run a gym from the garage. And guess what, I learned how to prevent all of these scenarios from ever happening again!

That’s what this book is all about. I am going to teach you how not to make the same mistakes that I made. Mark Twain once said, “A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.” Well, you will never have to grab that cat by the tail because I have carried it for you! For fourteen years I have carried that cat around by the tail and taken every scratch and bite that he could dish out. I’m a better Landlord for it, and soon, you will be, too! You’re getting fourteen years of my blood, sweat, and tears for twenty bucks. How’s that for a bargain?

The way this book works is simple. I’m going to give you fifty tips that will be very beneficial to you. These are the tips that I wish I would have known when I started out in this business. They are the tips that would have saved me the most time, and of course, the most money. I will tell you the reason or story behind each tip, and in most cases, how to put my advice into action. So, without further ado, let’s get started!

Reviews

to come

BACK TO TOP OF PAGE