Finding and Screening Tenants for Your Rental Property

By Dave Peniuk

Picture this: that property you bought isn't renting like you thought it would. You don't really know anything about renting property, so you decided to rent it out to the first person who showed you some money. You didn't check with their other landlords, or even follow through with a credit check. After all, most people are honest and what could possibly go wrong?

Plenty. We found ourselves in a situation where we rented to a girl who later threatened her roommate with a knife. We had to get the police involved to separate them. Obviously the roommate moved out immediately, but the troublemaker stayed and refused to pay any rent. We wanted her out, but it wound up taking three months before we could successfully evict her. Despite sending a collection agency after her, we never received any rent money that was owed to us.

As you can imagine, we've taken great pains to find good tenants ever since. Here's the overall process:

- Step 1: Prepare the unit for showing

- Step 2: Get your paperwork in order

- Step 3: Research the market rents and place your ad

- Step 4: Show your space

- Step 5: Choose your new tenant.

Step 1: Prepare the property for viewing by prospective tenants

Nice people like to live in nice places. A good renter can afford to be little choosy, so you want to make sure they choose yours by making it look as inviting as possible.

Easy fixes for your property include:

- repair any cracks or holes and apply a new coat of paint on all walls

- make sure all the little things like lights, appliances, doorknobs and sockets work the way they're supposed to

- create a checklist to use when the tenant moves in and out. Include details for everything in every room and the current condition- doors, windows, drapes/blinds/shutters, plugs and light switches, shelving, appliances etc.

- make sure the unit smells fresh. Open up the doors and windows to let fresh clean air in.

Step 2: Make sure you have your paperwork ready

To attract a good tenant, you will need to be a professional landlord and have the right paperwork on hand. Contact the local residential housing branch of your government or go online and do a search for landlord forms to find the following:

- application forms for tenants

- leases

- eviction notices and similar forms that you may need in the future. It's best to have them right away so you don't have to scramble to get them in the future if you really need them.

Remember to make sure you've got the forms that are legal for your area. Every state or province has it's own forms.

Step 3: Set your price and start advertising

Make sure the Price is Right!

The perfect price is actually one that is a little bit below market value. This will attract more prospective tenants, ensures your property rents faster, and you will have a much better chance of keeping tenants for a longer period of time. To find the "perfect price", research similar units in the newspapers and using online rental databases.

Get the word out! We've found tenants through all of these methods:

- e-mail all your friends and family and let them know about the property that you have that available to rent. They might know someone who knows someone who is looking for a new place to live

- use online advertising

- in a readily seen spot on the property (on the lawn or in a window) put up a sign with a phone number

- local newspapers can be a fairly inexpensive way to advertise. Ask the classifieds agent what day is the best for advertising to ensure that you have the most eyeballs seeing your ad

- advertise at local colleges and universities. They always have a bulletin board to post on.

Step 4: Showing your space

The tried and true method of showing your property is with the classic open house. You should plan times for two open houses in case the first open house doesn't produce a good prospective tenant. Open houses should usually last about two hours and be held in the evening or on a weekend. When someone wants to see the unit, tell them about the first open house and let them know that there might be a second open house.

Be dressed in business casual attire with tenant application forms on hand when you greet the prospective tenants.

Open houses are great, as they can create an atmosphere of demand. Knowing another person may want to rent the apartment makes others feel that they should want it too. Urge people to complete an application form before they leave so that you can write your impression about the prospective tenant right on their form.

Step 5: Choose your new tenant

- review the applications. Look for gaps where a place of residence is not indicated, or look for conflicting information

- run a credit check. Once you've found one or two people that you like and that have a good application, run a credit check. This is a critical piece. Many veteran landlords say they just trust their gut. Well, I trust my gut, and then verify it!

- reference checks. Be diligent when doing reference checks, asking questions like "Would you rent to them again?", "What is your current relationship with them?" and "How long have you known them?"

- listen to your gut. Do you have a good feeling about them? Despite everything else looking great for a tenant, you can usually trust your gut to indicate if you feel that something is wrong. If nothing feels wrong then you might have found your new tenant.

Now that you've chosen your new tenant and they have paid you, make all the other possible tenants aware that the unit is no longer for rent. If they ask you why they weren't selected, it's best to just say "the other tenant had a very strong application". Never say that they were not selected based on factors such as age, race, religion or whether or not they have pets or children. This will help avoid bad feelings (and possibly even a lawsuit). - 23162

About the Author:

Learn How to Retire with Real Estate with Dave's free Real Estate Investing Starter Tips Guide. Learn how to find money for real estate purchases, create financial freedom, positive income and massive wealth with tips like: How to find quality investment properties, find good tenants and keep them, and easy ways to make more money with real estate.

Becoming a Forex Trader

By Mark Abbots

Fluctuations faced in the financial market offers a great platform to make an extra buck. Forex systems are one such popular tool that has been a great attraction to the traders on account of the revenue it can generate, if played through the right way. Forex system offers the stage to buy and sell the foreign exchange currency 24 hours a day for more than five days a week. Online trading permits the exchange of Forex from any geographical location at any point of time.

Understanding the fundamentals that govern the Forex system is the basic information that is to be attained before making an entry into the live market. Today, there are many platforms in front of a beginner to earn a grip of the Forex system that can aid him in making immense profits. A book is one such way that is suitable to a self-learner to understand the basics of the Forex system.

The educative seminars, typically held free of cost, held by the seasoned players in the Forex market, are a great way to learn more about the Forex system. Their past experiences can act as a great guide in directing the future players through the right channel. Some of the seminar conductors offer the books based on their understanding of the Forex system, adding to the advantage.

Apart from the websites and books related to Forex systems, some experienced Forex traders conduct seminars on how to do business with Forex trading system and the traders can be benefited by attending these seminars. The seminar conductors also sell their books written by them on Forex system reviews and the trader can also be benefited by purchasing the acquiring knowledge from these books. Most of the seminars are conducted free of cost.

If you are a beginner and trying to learn about Forex systems it is better to open a demo account through a Forex broker, with the help of whom you can gain some knowledge regarding Forex markets. You can save yourself from the risk of facing loss due to inexperience by using a demo account in the beginning. With the help of the demo account you can test different currency pairs and find a currency pair with which you will be more convenient. Until you get confidence that you can trade in the real time market use the demo account for trading.

Once the trader has acquired good knowledge regarding the Forex systems he can start trading in the Forex trading market and start earning. The trader will be able to acquire profit once he gets good experience in the Forex market. The trader has to keep certain points in mind while trading in the Forex market. The main point is the diversification of money. Another important point to be kept in mind is that the trader should not get emotional. Most of the traders do mistakes and face loss in the Forex systems due to their emotions. There will always be fluctuation in all kinds of business if you get excited and emotional for every fluctuation in the market you will not be able to concentrate in the next transaction because of which you might face loss. So, be calm and earn good profits from Forex trading Systems. - 23162

About the Author:

Mark has written numerous articles about have a forex trading online and also about Forex Trading.

Are You A Futures Trader? (Part II)

By Ahmad Hassam

Trading E-mini futures has become popular with many individual investors. Apart from professional traders and speculators, futures trading is done by most of the people like you and me who are interested in making money in the markets. Buy low and sell high, is the basic premise in futures trading as it is in stocks.

What is different in futures trading from stock trading? The fact that you can trade futures with leverage on either long or the short positions introduces an additional element of risk not present in the stock market.

Another major difference that you need to know between futures trading and stock trading is that there is no uptick rule in futures trading. This means that you can easily enter into a position to capture a downward move in prices with no restriction unlike that in the stock market where you cannot short every stock. Thus, it is as easy to sell short as it is to buy long.

Even when you are not particularly good at it, how do you manage to survive at futures trading? The answer is simple. You should have the money first to open a margin account. Then you should have the ability to develop a trading plan that enables you to keep making money in the market long enough to capitalize your next big move. How do you become good at futures trading? By learning technical analysis!

So you wont last long in the market if you dont have a good trading plan. And you wont be able to trade futures if you dont have enough money. The chances are your money will quickly disappear if you start with a small trade size.

You must know this thing that only 5% of the futures traders succeed and 95% of the people trading futures lose money consistently. You need to have at least $25,000 in your account in order to start trading futures. However, $5,000 is the minimum with which you can start trading futures.

Make sure that you understand the risks involved and that you go into trading futures contracts with realistic expectations when you start trading futures. If you are not sure how to handle the risk involved in futures trading, you can take advantage of the managed futures accounts.

In short, you need money, patience, knowledge and technology to be able to trade futures contracts. Trading futures contracts is truly a hybrid that uses both fundamental and technical analysis.

The fundamental side of futures trading involves getting to know the industry in which you are making trades and the futures contract specifications and seasonal tendencies of the markets. You should also know the important report that you need to keep an eye on.

You should determine your trading style. Are you are scalper? Are you a day trader? Are you a swing trader or are you a position trader? You will need to develop your own trading style whether it is momentum trading, scalping, day trading or swing trading. Your personality will determine your trading style. Now, the technical side of futures trading tells you what the market will do in response to the fundamentals.

As I have said before: Learn technical analysis. Understanding candlestick charts and candlestick patterns can be a good tool in your technical analysis arsenal. Dont try to conquer every type of analysis at once. Instead, go step by step and focus on mastering one item at a time"maybe concentrating only on chart patterns such as the candlestick patterns for instance. Establish a trading plan for getting there, once you know your trading goals. - 23162

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading futures and currencies. Trade Dow Futures and S&P Futures!

Are Your Stock Charts Set Up Right

By Mike Swanson

Stock charts are extremely useful when you are stock trading on the open market. They allow you the opportunity to see the gradual progression of the stocks and they ensure that you are making a careful investment.

The first thing you need to do when you are using stock charts is be able to analyze the chart and adhere to the fluctuations that you see in different markets in order to be able to come to a justifiable conclusion about your investment.

Remember before you ever commence in trading on the open stock market, that there will be some underlying risks to every investment that you make. Simply because stocks are based off of company revenue they do have a reason to decrease as well as increase as they please.

The current economic recession that the world has been facing for the past few years has caused a lot of people to turn away from investing on the open market. The humorous thing is many of the people that made the decision to quit their investments that they had on the market, have since came back after they discovered that the main place to be able to make an income is on this open market.

Stock charts will be able to assist both the veteran as well as the beginner traders in learning how to make good decisions when it comes to the stock market. Many people still choose to utilize the same system that they always have, which is strike when the stock is low and hope that it rises over time.

However, the probability of a low stock rising is more or less a 50/50 shot. Many people have found that through using stock charts they are given the option to distinguish what they believe will be a good investment for them to make, therefore they are not missing out on any money through their investments.

Stock charts are beneficial to both traders starting out their investment careers as well as veteran traders. - 23162

About the Author:

If you want to learn more about technical analysis go to www.wallstreetwindow.com.

Earn Extra Cash With Forex Trading - Is It Possible?

By Steve Halladay

If you have stumbled onto this article then you are probably in one of two categories - either you have already dabbled in forex trading or are considering starting. We're confident that this article can be useful to people in both camps.

First off, let's quickly touch on what forex trading is. It is the trading of currencies in order to make a profit. In order to make money you need to be able to accurately predict fluctuations in various currencies in order to know when to buy and when to sell. It's a lot of fun, but it also be a big challenge to learn how to trade successfully!

There is tons of information on the internet and in bookstores about forex trading - it's easy to suffer from information overload! You can spend months - even years - trying to read about all the different trading strategies that have been proven to work. The trouble is that the strategies that work in the markets are constantly changing so it's quite possible that a strategy you read about today was written too long ago to still work. Unless you have a lot of time to dedicate it's extremely difficult to stay up to date "with the times".

Don't want to make forex trading your full time career? Let someone else do most of the work for you, and you'll still make a significant second income if you do things right. Trust the experts and look to their experience and knowledge about the markets.

The easiest way to effectively do forex trading is by using a forex robot. This software collects real time market data automatically, and has been programmed by professionals who know what they're doing. It can help you identify the trades that would be the most profitable, and spot signals of a good trade. For instance, this kind of software can tell you when to buy Yen and when to sell to get a profit.

Many people are skeptical to start with. After all, no one wants to put all their trust into a computer program. However, there are plenty of proven pieces of software out there, and their records speak for themselves. You need to look for a few specific features when you choose your forex software.

First, don't believe that just because a program is expensive, it's definitely better. There are programs out there that cost thousands of dollars and just don't work, and there are reliable pieces of software that cost only around a hundred dollars, but are guaranteed to make you a profit.

When it comes to guarantees, make sure your forex software has one. Programs that work are made by companies that are willing to back them up. The guarantee should be for a minimum of thirty days, and more time is better.

Lastly, the program should offer some kind of "demo" account where you can see how it works without investing any money. This way you can see how the program works without you having to invest any money in the markets. When you see that it produces results, you can start putting in your hard-earned cash.

Forex trading is a great way to earn some extra cash, just make sure that you go about it the right way! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send us a question. All the best! - 23162

About the Author:

Click Here to discover more about making money by trading currencies. You can also discover to trade forex and look at reviews about forex software.