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David TilneyIf you’d like to invest in real estate, but you can’t afford to buy property – don’t despair! Think about renting from owners who are saddled with ‘inconvenient property’ and negotiating the right to sub-lease their property to others. This is Master Leasing – the leasing of a property from an owner and then sub-leasing that same property to a tenant. I believe Master Leasing is the most economical way to get started in the real estate business today. It is a way to produce an immediate income stream without large amounts of capital.

Master leasing is an incredible tool, which can benefit both owners and investors.

It will lose an owner less than he is losing with a vacant property and it will insulate him or her from dealing with sub-tenant occupants. Master tenants are not agents of the owners, but rather entrepreneurs who are professional landlords. This gives a master tenant the flexibility to tailor a lease to the specific needs of each owner. They do not offer a ‘one size fits all’ solution, as do most property management companies. Since they are not agents working for the owner, the owners cannot be held vicariously liable for any of the actions master tenants take with their sub-tenants. This alone can reduce the owner’s liability dramatically.  Read More→

Are You Hiring the Right Tenants?

Posted on November 1, 2012 by

I have a friend in Colorado Springs who owns a bank. Many years ago I complimented him on the caliber of his employees as well as the longevity of their employment. My banker and I both understood that his most important assets walked out of the bank each night to go to their respective homes and his job was to motivate them to come back each morning. His key for hiring great employees was to screen for proper job skills, attitude and moral code. His key to retaining these employees was to empower them to be the best they could be and to treat them with respect and appreciation. 

A light bulb went on in my brain when I realized that this could be the same key needed for my success as a landlord. When I accepted tenants to rent a property, I had certain expectations of them – to maintain and improve the property and grounds, to pay the rent on time, to get along with the neighbors and to reside in the property for a relatively long period of time. I also expected my tenants to be problem solvers who should call on me only when they needed additional support. This, in effect, was the tenant “job description,” but was I sharing my expectations and screening for the proper skills, attitude and moral code? I realized that screening applicants for rental properties was very much like hiring employees for a job.  Read More→