Any successful Landlords on here??

My wife and I bought our 1st up and down duplex in 1970, we lived in it, and built a 3rd suite in the basement, living there, with people above,, vinyl flooring above our bedroom,, soon learned the value of Carpet on the floors where poss.

After about 6 yrs,, we had it reappraised for $35k more than into it,, re-mortgaged it, used money as down payment for the next house,, same thing,, raised the roof for a Master suite,, re-mortgaged, rented it, after 5 yrs same thing.. The rents coming close to all the mtgs,, We ended up owning 5 properties,, the 5th was essentially free.. REMEMBER,, the mortgage shoulld remain the same, but the rent goes up a reasonable amount every year .. CAVEAT,, if you get an ideal tenant,, do whatever to keep them..

I could tell a lot of horror stories, including me going over and breaking every window out of one house,with my 9 iron.. lol, had a judgement, but sherriff wouldn't kick them out because of kids etc 7mos.... they were gone the next day,, I had some explaining to the cops,, but never planned on making an insurance claim.. Then there was the "cat" people..

Anyway,, what we learned in looking for a good tenant..

View the unit and take applications from all that are interested, noting the candidates you think are good.

The ideal candidate has been employed at one place for several years,, more than five,, the partner works somewhere else for a length of time. Phone the employer and confirm,,

When they give you a reference from the previous landlord,, phone for his reference, then ask the "landlord" the address of the property he has rented,, if he doesn't know,, he's likely a friend or relative of your prospective tenant..

- Go to the place where they currently live,, look over the yard and general condition of where they live..

- If it looks good,, phone the person and tell them you're in the neighborhood, and they forgot to sign the "back".. (bogus), knock on the door and stick your head in their house,, smell, and look,, get their signature,, and tell them their high on the list,, and leave..

It took us a lot of heartache to finally find this very long and tiring proceedure..

EVERYTIME we got slack,, and said,, "Oh ,, they seem nice"" we burned in hell...

Do what ever repairs you can yourself,, and for "insurance reasons" (true) tell them you are going to,, and DO a walk thru every 3 mos.. no exception ( ask me how I know)..

For the new tenant moving in,, give them at least a $100? off the first months rent,, to do a final clean on the kitchen and bathroom areas,, cuz those areas can never be clean enuff for the folks moving in.. so you don't harass yourself if it's not perfect.. (worked for me)

Good luck,, as mentioned,, you got to remeber it's a rental.. a tool to make money..You have to detach yourself from it,, no emotion.. hard,, but true..

hope it helps