First things first: we want to make it clear that even though this post is going to be covering property management accounting basics, we are NOT accounting. If you have any questions on property management accounting or how it relates to your investments, get in touch with a CPA in your …
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5 Traits of an Ethical Landlord (& Why They Matter for Your Business!)
In this day and age, pretty much anyone can buy a few properties and become a landlord.But being a landlord is about a lot more than owning property. You’re literally responsible for another person’s living situation; it’s your job to handle repairs and maintenance, to manage trust accounts, …
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The Essential Guide to Routine vs. Emergency Maintenance for Landlords
When it comes to property maintenance, as an owner, you have two main responsibilities. The first is to provide a safe place for your tenant to live at all times. And the second, which is an offshoot of the first, is to take care of any problems with your property in a reasonable amount of time …
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The 5 Biggest Lessons We’ve Learned While Growing LEAP
I started LEAP in February of 2012 with $7,000 in my account (on loan from my father). My first office space was in a spare room at a nearby church that was nice enough to give me their wifi password — since I clearly couldn’t afford luxuries like wireless internet on my own.I started with a single …
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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 …
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Become a Successful Real Estate Investor by Adopting These 5 Traits
Ever wondered why some people make it in real estate while others don’t? They just aren’t making as much money as they thought and seem perpetually stressed? Meanwhile, the best investors always seem to be ahead of the curve — knowing what properties will pay off and what’s not worth their time. And …
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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 …
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Rental Property Accounting: 9 Tips to Keep Your Finances in Order (and the Tax Man Happy)
As a real estate investor, there are a lot of things you need to stay on top of to ensure the success (and profitability) of your investments; you need to keep your properties well maintained, you need to find responsible and trustworthy tenants, and you need to hire the right property management …
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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 …
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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 …
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