I have said on more than one occasion that HGTV makes rental property ownership look glamorous and perfect. The reality is that it is boring and oftentimes fraught with problems. It is simple, but not easy and most landlords out there get themselves in a lot of trouble…mostly from inexperience.
There are a couple of mistakes made right off the bat which will set a landlord off on the wrong trajectory. The first is that they do not take a business approach. Many landlords end up moving and renting out their personal homes…enter emotion from stage right.
When you become a landlord, you are establishing a business. I always tell people that they must put their business hat on and handle the rental like one. Your home is most likely your largest asset, so you have to treat it as such and protect it, which leads to the second mistake.
Since people tend to be emotional, Joe Schmo comes along and wants to rent the house. Something doesn’t seem quite right, but you are desperate to get the house rented and you either do no background screening or an incomplete one. The credit report may come back with a few dings and credit is a little low. However, you feel bad turning the perspective tenant down so you proceed to rent your home to good ole’ Joe. There is more to this story for sure. You get the picture and it doesn’t end well.
As a homeowner and landlord, you are about to give the keys to your largest asset to a stranger. Think about that!! It is incredible how many times I see people do this with little to no due diligence!! Full disclosure…I have done this too in my past! I just did not have the knowledge.
Rich and I are so passionate about landlords protecting themselves. We have done a darn good job for our clients in Northern Virginia who contract with us to manage their homes. However, we wanted to do more for more people all over the US. We used our experience to start RentRisk.com. Partnering with Experian and Plaid, we developed a platform where other self-managing landlords, real estate agents, and small property managers could thoroughly vet potential tenants armed with the knowledge and guidance on how to do it properly and minimize risk.
The feedback we have received is amazing! Someone just told us yesterday how much better RentRisk tenant screening is compared to another very well-known company that I won’t mention! We just need more people to know about it.
RentRisk operates in all 50 states and US territories. The tenant screening feature is free to landlords, agents, and property managers. We even have an affiliate program for large partners. In addition to tenant screening, we have added a maintenance portal as well as ACH rental payments!
Bottom line, protect yourself from unnecessary risk when you set out on your landlord journey. Check out RentRisk.com. We have a couple of great videos on the site you can watch and also create a free account.
We believe we have something of real value that can help people. Moreover, Rich and I would be incredibly grateful if you could share RentRisk with your sphere.
Have questions? Feel free to reach out!
Angie McDaniel
Broker/Owner, Command Properties
Co-Owner, RentRisk
703-677-6902
Rich McDaniel
CAPT, US Navy (Ret)
CEO, RentRisk
904-525-3097
