The Successful Landlord Blog

In the past, when a person stopped making payments on their home, it generally took 3 months before they were foreclosed upon by the bank and evicted from the property.

These days, as any real estate agent will tell you, it could take the better part of a year for the process to come to a close. In the past I have made posts detailing some of the completely unprofessional behavior exhibited by the banks during the “short sale” process.

For the uninitiated, a “short sale” is when the bank agrees to discount the loan amount due on a property usually due to some financial hardship on the part of the borrower. Whereas, a foreclosure is when the bank takes possession of a property and evicts the previous owner with the intention of selling it at market price to re-coup its losses. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently I made a post directed at tenants about how NOT to inquire about a rental property. This post is sort of a follow-up to that one:

This SHOULD be a common-sense-type concept but from my recent experience fielding phone calls about one of our vacant rental houses, the point is obviously lost on many tenants seeking new accommodation.

People do not seem to understand that the rental application process starts at the first phone call. Along with looking good on paper (i.e. the actual rental application) you must be able to communicate effectively and somewhat professionally.

From a landlord’s perspective:

- If you cannot be reached by phone because you gave your friend’s number while inquiring about the property and your friend can’t be bothered to be courteous when I call…..you will not get approved. Read the rest of this entry »