That’s an absolute. We have several rental houses and since we’re in the business of remodeling homes, our houses are always being updated. Sometimes full remodels. This helps keep maintenance to a minimum and allows us to get maximum rent. Rules are very simple:
-Have good to very good credit
-Two months security (no last month bullshit)
-No short term leases (minimum 1 year but try to get at least 2 year commitments)
-No pets
-Tenant responsible for all utilities
-Tenant responsible for yard maintenance and if they don’t want to, then they get charged another $120 a month and we will provide landscape service
-All properties are in my town which allows for quick service if a problem arises

Also everyone has to have a background check and houses need to be inspected once a year. This is Elk Grove Village rules. They do the inspections and background checks. We have had pretty good luck with tenants but that’s probably because when they have a lot of skin in the game they respect the property and actually sometimes improve it on their own. Some of our tenants have been renting from us for over 20 years.

We do accept dogs sometimes but requires another month security. Absolutely no cats though

Yes landscape costs $30 a week. No up charge from me

The village does the background check through the police dept. so I can’t answer that question. My realtor does the screening for us as part of his fee when finding tenants. He won’t show our properties if they don’t fit our requirements listed above.

Does that apply to all rentals? I can’t remember the exact laws in Illinois off hand, but I believe that the interest bearing accts apply to buildings with 25 tenants or more. All our rentals are single family homes.
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/illinois-security-deposits-36207.html

Tough situation. I’d rather have a vacant house than trying to chase rent every month cause technically it’s almost the same thing. You’re not getting rent when it’s empty, and you’re not getting rent when there’s wear and tear being put on the property also. What’s the lease situation? Is there a written lease? You should always always always have a signed lease agreement. Doesn’t matter if it’s friends or family. If lease is almost up, don’t renew and ride it out. If there’s a lot of time left then I would tell them that you will be drawing up eviction paperwork. This is a business. Always try to be civil though and talk with them to explain your situation. You don’t need them ruining your house especially if they don’t have money to get back thru the court for damages. Like I said this is a business for you. They wouldn’t like it if their work didn’t pay them their check on time. And then on top of it delaying more and more each month. This is no different.

I understand they are paying, but it’s getting later and later. Soon they will be a month behind like you said. It’s starting to get out of hand. You know the saying, give them an inch and they will take a foot. In this case it will turn into a mile before you know what hit you. You have to look at it as a business and have to be tough. They have no skin in the game at all. Especially since there was no security. They have nothing to lose by pushing the limits with you. Stop the bleeding now.

The freaking out is also the exciting part. Congratulations. Is this your first rental property or first multi unit? There’s lots of good info in here if you haven’t read it all yet. I’d say good luck, but if you follow some of the advice here you won’t need luck.

It seems insane to me. Why do they need a property manager? Are they far from the property to need an extra set of eyes? Are they just inexperienced enough that they can’t find and call a pro to fix something if they can’t fix themselves? These are reasons that a property manager is maybe needed, but still a waste of money in my opinion. I would never ever trust someone else with MY money. I get paid, then the manager gets paid. No questions asked. It’s your property. This deal is bad bad bad.

Exactly why I said that I never trust anyone with my money. This guy is nothing more than someone who will help them either A: find a renter and take their calls if something comes up, or B: someone who handles any problem that would arise. Here’s the thing with B. The manager would still have to tell them the issue and get approval to set up the fixit person. Plus he wouldn’t be paying the bill. He has no money out of his pocket either. It’s not his house. He’s not paying the taxes and carry the insurance etc. Yourfamily gets the rent, the manger gets paid. Period. Any other way is putting a gun to your head

I don’t agree with this. They can pay the manager to do whatever they want him to do, ie find renters, find professionals for repairs etc, but they should collect the rent and put into their own acct or whatever. This is their business and they use money however they want. There’s no need for the manager to collect the rent and then deposit himself. The owners can then pay him for his job. Plus if he screws up or doesn’t do what he’s supposed to be doing they can cut him off with no issues.

I can understand that, but these days it’s very simple to make money transactions. Therefore I see absolutely no reason to add another cog to the system. We have 15 single family rental homes including one that was in another state. It’s very easy to accept rent.

1. Mailed or hand delivered check
2. Direct deposit into an acct
3. Hand deliver cash.

It’s rare that I’ll take cash but if I do, it gets documented into a ledger book and is signed by us and the tenant, and tenant gets a receipt. Always have a paper trail of some sort in case. This is reason why I don’t need a agent to take my money. Also, what if agent doesn’t deposit check? What if agent says they never got check but tenant says they paid them? It’s just more bullshit I don’t need. That’s just my two cents. Take it with a grain of salt I guess.

Now going back to the rental in another state, we absolutely had a property manager to keep an eye on the property. If there was a problem they look at it and then relayed an opinion on options to rectify. I already knew the problem though because the tenant already informed me. So now the agent is earning the money I pay them to assist in the task of fixing the problem. If I didn’t agree with the agents opinion I still got on a plane and went there. It’s the cost of business because that’s what this is. This is a lot of your money that you’re dealing with.

Btw, I agree that a property manager can be good and accept rent or whatever if your dealing with multiple properties or multi units. Curiousgeorge originally asked about his sisters house so I thought it was unnecessary for a manager being paid to learn how to do this. They need to learn themselves also. Plus I wouldn’t trust someone’s opinion who hasn’t been around the block so to speak with my money. Just trying to look out for their interests