Navigating Tenant Screening: Costs, Criteria, and Legal Considerations

Screening tenants is a necessary but expensive part of real estate investing. In some cases, property managers charge as much as one month’s rent to place a tenant. What if there was a way to build a pool of high-quality tenants for free? In this episode, you’ll learn how to screen your own tenants (fairly and legally) and keep more of your cash flow!

Welcome back to another Rookie Reply! After showing you how to create your own backlog of potential tenants, we dive into house hacking—the rookie-friendly investing strategy that helps pay for your mortgage—and a creative way to squeeze even more monthly income from your property. Cash-out refinancing is a popular way to access your home equity and reinvest it. But is this a good idea with today’s high interest rates? Ashley and Tony will crunch the numbers and help you make the right decision. Finally, we discuss the ins and outs of eviction day and what you need to know before the sheriff arrives at your property.

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In This Episode We Cover:

How to build a pool of high-quality tenants for your rental property (for free!)

Mastering the tenant screening process without a property manager

Creative ways to maximize your cash flow with the house hacking strategy

When to do a cash-out refinance and roll your home equity into a new deal

What you NEED to know before evicting a tenant from your property

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Become a BiggerPockets PRO Member and Get RentRedi for $1

Join BiggerPockets for FREE

Buy “The Book on Managing Rental Properties”

Property Manager Finder

See Ashley and Tony at BPCON2024 in Cancun!

Real Estate Rookie - Episode 6: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Tenant Screening with Lucas Hall

(00:00) Intro

(00:54) Building Your Tenant Pool

(13:36) House Hacking from Your Garage?!

(20:13) Should I Do a Cash-Out Refi?

(25:58) Evicting a Tenant

(35:14) Send Us Your Question!

Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-442

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