The most common question that I get asked is “What do I do when my tenant doesn’t pay rent”? These solutions are only for tenants that have not paid rent, but are still living in the unit. These cases are handled at the landlord tenant court.

Finding a good investment property is half the battle. Once you have done that, the rest is all about consulting good professionals. There are four professionals you should consult before closing on a new investment property.

The last few days I have been writing about purchasing and preparing an investment property. Now, the best asset you can have is having an informed real estate agent that can really guide you through the process. With so many good real estate agents, how do you know if one is good to help you find an investment property? Is a real estate agent that is a good residential agent a good investment property agent?

What do you do if you want to invest in real estate, but don’t have time to manage it? The best solution is to hire a management company. Most companies will deal with everything from tenanting to legals to maintenance situations. You would never have to worry about your property and know that it is in good hands. The million-dollar question is, how do you know which management company to choose?

A well constructed lease is the holy grail in the landlord world. It can save you from costly court battles with a tenant and outlines the dual responsibiltities of a landlord and tenant which can reduce friction. A good lease outlines the responsibilities of both side. A lease should outline everything that you expect from the tenant and everything that the tenant can expect you to do. Legally, a lease is a contract between two people, but in reality you want everything to be laid out to avoid having to go to court with any of your tenants.

You have now chosen your property and are prepared it to start renting, how do you ensure that you get a good tenant? While I would like to say that I have a sure fire way to get the best tenants, no one does. There are a few tricks that I have learned that can help you avoid renting to a difficult tenant.

Congratulations! You have successful bought an investment property. Now what? There are so many things that you have to consider once you close. Do you have to make any repairs, do you need to find new tenants? What if you adopt bad tenants?

A lot of these answers depend on what kind of property you want to run. Do you want to spend more money making the property look nice and have a better quality tenant or do you want to save money, but potentially have more difficult tenants? Both are options depending on what you want.

Yesterday I wrote about calculating cap rate and I am sure I left you scratching your head as to why anyone would want to invest in real estate with those returns. What I will explain today is the different kinds of cap rates. Hopefully, that will explain why most people invest in real estate.

My post yesterday was discussing step one in calculating cap rate, calculating net income. That will tell you how much you are earning each year with your property. But, how do you tell if the property is a good investment?