Finding A Tenant Is Like Hiring A New Employee
Soon, the tenants in one of the apartments in our house will be leaving and I’ll be given the responsibility of helping my parents find new tenants again. After seeing how my father often goes about getting new tenants, I told him that there is a better way of doing it. His typical process is just:
- Post an advertisement in the Chinese newspaper.
- Shows the apartment and explains the rules of the house.
- Accept the first person who agrees with the rules and puts down a deposit.
As many homeowners of rental properties would agree, this is a very poor method of searching for tenants. The most important thing of renting out property is to protect oneself, legally. That’s why the hunt for new tenants should mimic the procedures of hiring a new employee for a business.
1. Application Process
Just like filling in a job application, potential tenants should be given a rental application to fill out. It is not considered inappropriate to ask for a resume, references, W-9 or 1099 forms, and references. Here, we are not reviewing the person’s education and ability to perform certain task but instead, we are reviewing the person’s credibility and ability to pay the rent.
2. Interview
The interview is the key step in hiring an employee and it is also the key step when taking in a new tenant. My parents often like to meet the potential tenants just to get to know their personality and character. Someone can put anything down on a piece of paper so the interview will finalize their decision.
3. Hired!
Before officially starting work, an employee would have to sign plenty of documents to make everything official. I have proposed to my parents that I write up some things on paper, such as terms of the lease and rules of the house, and have the tenants sign it. They normally do not do this because of their limited ability to communicate in English. I’ve even thought of making a mini handbook so that tenants know things such as how to contact us, recycling information, and the rules.
Taking Charge
A detailed process, once again, serves the purpose of protect oneself. Just in the case that there would be any problems with the tenant, we can say that we told you so. Because of the close resemblance that this process has with owning a business, I’ve asked to take over this entire ordeal and have my parents conduct the interview (along with making the final decision).
Photo credit: cincyproject
Guest Post At Moolanomy And Links
I had the honor of writing a guest post this week for Moolanomy. Head over there and check out 3 Great Board Games To Teach Kids About Finances. Remember to comment, digg, stumble and etc. you enjoy it. Also, take a look at Moolanomy Answers for informational open Q&A’s.
Realm of Prosperity received a mention in Annoying Weekend Edition of Personal Finance Links at Lazy Man And Money.
Here are a few articles from around the personal finance blogosphere that I found to be an interesting read:
- 10 Purchases That Can Harm Your Credit at Consumerism Commentary
- Setting Up An LLC the Easy Way at Accumulating Money
- Top 10 Most Annoying Ways to Lose A Little Money at Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck
Analyzing My Student Loan Repayment Plans
When I calculated how much debt I had accumulated after 4 years of college, I made the foolish mistake of forgetting that you always owe more than you borrowed when dealing with major loans.
Recently, the official mail came in from ACS Education services giving me the choice between two repayment plans so that I can get ready for paying back my loans. For each of my two school loans, there is a Graduated Repayment Plan and a Level Payment Plan. Both have a 10-year repayment period.
Subsidized Stafford Loan #1
- Borrowed $6,352 @ 6.441% APR
Subsidized Stafford Loan #2
- Borrowed $2,625 @ 1.880% APR
Which Repayment Plan?
The Level Payment Plan of course! If I chose the Graduated Repayment Plan for both loans, I would end up paying about $800 more in interest. Even with the Level Payment Plan for Loan #1, I’ll be paying $2,000 in interest over 10 years. There is no way that it is going to take me 10 years to repay both these loans.
Repayment Strategy
I still have about 5 months before I must start paying back the loans. In these coming months, I’ll attempt to pay off some part of Loan #1 (the one with the higher interest rate). Once December comes, I’ll be getting statements asking for a total of $121.94. If I happen to come across more money, I’ll be using the Debt Avalanche method of debt reduction.
3 Things To Stop Buying For Your Health And Your Wallet
What is worse than buying something that is unnecessary? Buying something that will damage your health and cost you even more money in the future. All the things on the following list are obvious to everyone buy I find that we must continuously advocate for the non-use of these things to get the point across.
To compound the situation, they’ve been increasingly accessible to the younger generations. Quit buying (or buy less) of these items and it will mean major savings in medical costs in the long run.
Cigarettes. Without a doubt, cigarettes is the #1 most useless thing you can buy. You’ve seen the TV campaigns and they really have had an impact on the tobacco industry. Shelling out upwards $5 per pack for something that does nothing but harms your body makes no sense. At a pack a day, it’ll cost $1,825 for a year of smoking. Don’t forget the higher insurance premiums, teeth bleaching, and the medical costs when all those chemicals have finally screwed up your health.
Coffee. Sorry to the Starbucks fanatics but it had to be said. Did you know regular coffee drinkers can suffer from withdrawal when they stop? That is a clear sign that coffee can take control of your body and mind. Whether you brew it yourself or you visit the local coffee house, many people with find that they spend hundreds of dollars on coffee. And, those coffee stained teeth are truly going to make your dentist happy when you go in to get them whitened. Cheaper and healthier alternatives are tea, ice or sparkling water, and juices.
Alcohol. Wow, this coming from a recent college graduate! I see firsthand what happens because of this magical liquid that makes everybody “more fun”. Hey, let’s spend $50 tonight on alcohol and barf my guts out 2 hours later ($50 down the toilet?). The long-term effects include liver and kidney damage and weakening of the heart. But the most costly effect of alcohol is the dangerous activities that one would engage in such as drunk driving which results in even more costs and harm to health.
This small list contains the typical must-have’s for the busy, corporate personnel in the high stress business world. They wake up and drink a cup of coffee, take a smoke during breaks, and end the day at happy hour.
The amazing thing is that everything listed above can be replaced by dihydrogen monoxide – WATER. Yes, $3.99 for 24 bottles of Poland Spring is healthier for you and your wallet than any beverage or drug you can buy.
Photo credit: devlon duthie
Should The Beneficiaries Of the Madoff Scandal Be Punished?
Without a doubt, Bernard Madoff’s investment scheme did financial and emotional damage to all of his victims and whether his sentence does justice to the people he hurt is still up for debate. Now we question whether the people who directly [and indirectly] reaped the benefits of his scandal should have any repercussions for being affiliated with Madoff.
Ruth Madoff
The recent media coverage of Ruth Madoff have forced her to be accountable, to a certain extent, with the assets that she is in possession of due to the funds that Bernard Madoff had illegally acquired. As of last Friday, June 26, she has dropped her claims to $80 million in assets. Even after doing so, she is still under pressure to give up a remainder of whatever is left.
Ashamed of her husband’s deceit, she seems to want to mend the situation as soon as possible. With the victims of the scandal seeking redemption, they’ve turned to condemn Ruth for Bernard’s action although she appears to be innocent and unaware of what was going on.
Even with her willing to drop claims to a majority of her assets, should she be entitled the keep the rest? The victims would deem her as a partner in crime because Ruth has a part of their money and they want it back. If your spouse fed the family through unlawful activity, should you and your children be responsible?
The Biggest Winner
As investigators dig deeper, they’ve found a long time investor who truly received benefits that exceeded those of Madoff’s. The Picowers family is the alleged biggest beneficiary of the Madoff scandal. Although there seems to have been fishy activity, the Picowers have made large charitable donations to foundations and institutions. Will there be a lawsuit against the museum or the education center because their funds can be traced to the scandal?
Certainly, those directly involved should have consequences and they should lose whatever money they obtained through any illegitimate method but the victims of the Madoff scandal are on a relentless pursuit of any money that could possibly be returned to them. Next we’ll have to ask, how can you fairly return the money to the many investors if doing so is even possible?
These many questions won’t have definite answers but this event is a thought-provoking situation and readers should take the positions of both parties to understand but not to judge.
Photo credit: clementine gallot and sabeth718
