Let’s take a quick look at the example above, finding a real estate agent by calling about a home they are selling. Their first priority is going to be to the family that who is selling the home. When you meet with them, they will be focused on the best interest of the other family. Yes, they will know a lot about the home and could answer questions. However, it is important to have your own agent to be on your side.

This is also true when you decide to buy a newly built home. The builders have their own agents that work to sell the homes being built. You might think it makes sense to go with them as they know a lot about the construction of the new home. The problem is that they will have the builder’s best interest in mind rather than yours. Going through your own realtor will not change the price of the home and allows you to have someone on your side.

Again the best plan is to find a real estate agent that is in your corner when finding a house for sale. How will you find the right person for you?

There are a few things to remember. First most of the real estate companies out there are very good. They have access to various resources and can help you find your dream home. Like with most things in life, a good company can have both good and bad real estate agents.

It is important is to find a real estate with whom you can have a good working relationship. Purchasing a home can be a long process. It is important to consider this a relationship rather than a business transaction. Find the realtor that makes you feel comfortable. Think about the qualities you want to find in a realtor. Do you want someone who will contact you back quickly? Do you want someone that is quick at getting visits to homes scheduled? Look for a person that has the qualities that you want.

So how do you find a reliable Bellevue Realtor? The best advice I can give you is to ask around. Get referrals from friends and family to find the perfect realtor for you.

Many people wonder if they should sell their home first or begin the process of purchasing a new house. Based on many years as a realtor, I believe the best decision is to begin the selling process first.

It is much easier to buy a house for sale than to sell one. This means that the focus must be on selling the home you currently have first.

Before searching for your new home, allow your East Nashville Realtor list your current one on the market. Give people the chance to see your house. Your realtor can begin asking people for feedback. This helps in two ways. First, you can get feedback on the areas of the home that may need to be spruced up. Also, when you begin receiving positive feedback, even though they may not buy, you know that your time to sell is coming up.

Now what about accepting a contingent offer on your home? I would suggest no to a contingent offer. The thing to know about this is that when a contingent offer is made on a home, realtors are aware that this offer has been made. They will have clients look at other houses before yours. This means you may have fewer people viewing your home, people who might have made an offer.

Once you begin receiving positive feedback from potential buyers, you can begin to look for homes for sale. When it comes to finding a house, look around and take your time. Don’t fall for the first house that you see. Look at many different homes in various neighborhoods. After looking at several homes, develop a list of your top three. By doing this, you can take a look at what you like and don’t like about each one and make the best decision for your family.

The biggest reason I suggest that you begin to sell before buying is to avoid placing a contingent offer on the home you hope to purchase. Let’s take a look at contingent offers with this example. You find a home that you love. However, you have not sold your current home so you place a contingent offer. This offer is going to be higher than you would make for a non-contingent offer. This is a typical practice, and you end up paying more money even if you get the house. Also, if you have a contingent offer in place, you may accept a lower offer on your current house in order to get it sold and not lose the home you want to buy.

All in all, I believe that it is best to focus on selling your home before starting your search for your dream house.

Many people make various upgrades to their home while they are living there. If at a later date they choose to sell the home, these upgrades may help them get a sale quickly. However, these homeowners made these particular upgrades based on their own personal preferences.

That is a key point. You may get ten people to look at your house for sale. Each person has a different idea of what constitutes their dream home. You may think adding stainless steel appliances will drive up the price of your home. However, some buyers do not like that type of appliance. This can happen whether the upgrades were made while you were living there or later in hopes of selling the home.

Maybe you have plans to sell your home and are wondering which upgrades you should make before listing the house for sale. Where should you start?

My first suggestion is to begin working with a reliable real estate professional. There are many top Cool Springs Realtor that would be willing to work with you. These professionals will have the tools to appraise your home. I know for many of you, it is important to know your homes value before making the final decision to sell. It is easy to think that adding upgrades to the home will increase its value and make you more money at closing. Before making any moves get real estate advice from your realtor.

This is not always true. When you dedicate a large amount of money into a home improvement project, it may help sell the house. It may not, however, get you back the money that you spent on the project.

Here is my take on home improvement projects designed specifically for a house you want to sell. If your house is appraising under $200,000 there is no need to add money into the home. A project costing $20,000 should be done only for houses that were appraised for over $300,000

The key is not spending too much on a home upgrades. In the end you may not get it back.

Now if you are set on upgrading the home in some fashion, my suggestion would be to paint and add new carpet. This is a simple and fairly cheap project that will give the home a fresh new feel without breaking the bank.

One question that always seems to come up for many potential home buyers is how to finance a home with a low interest rate. In addition, many people are trying to find a way to avoid all of the added fees. These issues are very important to home buyers as they want to know exactly what they are getting themselves into when buying a home.

The first thing you should do is look for a reliable mortgage lender. Let’s say that you are looking for homes for sale in downtown Nashville, TN. It would seem simple enough to look online and place some calls to a few mortgage lenders.

I strongly urge you to consider personal referrals instead. Ask your friends and family what company and specific lender they used when purchasing their homes. Find out what they liked and did not like about them. This information can be very helpful when trying to determine which lender is the best fit for your family. Let’s say that your father told you that his lender was easily accessible by phone. If this is important to you, put that lender down as a possibility.

So you may be wondering how finding the right lender can help save you money. There are a few things to remember. All mortgage lenders are subject to the same rules and regulations. Through references and advice from others you will be able to find a mortgage lender that you can trust. You want to find a person who will be on your side. Find someone will take the time to ask you what you are financially able to take on. You don’t want to be just another file on their desk. Instead you are a person who wants to make your dream of owning Real Estate in Cool Springs.

Let’s talk a little bit about the fees that many potential home buyers are faced with paying. One fee is the Private Mortgage Insurance (or PMI) fee. This fee must be paid when you put down less than 20% on your mortgage. Now I fully understand that not everyone has 20% to put down on a home.

Thankfully, there is a way to avoid that fee. Let’s say that you are looking for real estate in Spring Hill Tennessee but only have 10% of the mortgage available to put down. With some lenders you may have the ability to put 10% down. You can then borrow 80% of the mortgage.

Are you wondering how you will cover the other 10%? That last ten percent can be placed into a second mortgage. Take the advice of people you know to find a lender who can help you save money by explaining all of your options to you.

If that sounds familiar, real estate expert Monte Mohr is here to offer you some industry advice. Below are some really pertinent questions asked by people in Middle Tennessee…

Jim from Franklin wrote in and asked…

“We’re going to be buying a home this year and have got our credit rating over 650 now. When choosing a lender is it better to go with a small local lender or is it better to go with one of the big banks? What should we watch out for besides interest rates?”

I really appreciate that question and to be honest it doesn’t really matter what size lender a person uses because all lenders are subject to the same rules as enforced by our government. In all sincerity, the most important thing when it comes to financing, is the individual person that will be representing you in the process. I truly believe there is no question about it – that’s what’s most important. A good lending processor or mortgage person is going to be with a good lender; that’s a given. But what is most important, is that when you turn over those documents they are good hands.

The only way to find that person is to ask for referrals. That’s what I did a few years ago when I decided to switch lenders. I talked to closing attorneys and other agents who do it all the time. I highly recommend that anybody thinking about financing or getting a mortgage doesn’t just open up the phone book and start dialing.  It is very important for you to do your research and get references.

Christie from Ashland City asked…

“We want to buy a home this year but do not have enough money saved to avoid PMI insurance. Are there any financing programs out there that would help us get into a home with 10% down and avoid paying mortgage insurance?”

Well first of all, for those who don’t know what PMI is, it stands for Private Mortgage Insurance. Anytime you have a conventional loan and your loan-to-value is greater than 80%, in other words you put less than 20% down, you are subject to that PMI insurance unless you go another route. And that route would be to put 10% down, take an 80% first mortgage and a 10% second mortgage; that’s one way to avoid paying PMI.

However FHA does not provide that financing option. FHA has the same situation as PMI only it’s called MIP, or Mortgage Insurance Premium. Regardless of how much you put down with an FHA loan, you’ll still have that insurance.

Before we look at today’s final question on financing, I wanted to point out some new homes on the market in Williamson County TN.

Ben and Sara from Goodlettsville want to know…

“We’ve been researching mortgage companies online. Do you have a particular website that you recommend we check out for a good lender?”

I do not; and again I’m going to emphasize that I do NOT recommend going online to find a mortgage company for your financing needs. The problem in that scenario is there is no local level of accountability. If I personally make a recommendation to a mortgage company, not only do they try to adhere to a relationship with that individual, but to me as well. If they drop the ball, they’ve dropped the ball with me as well and they don’t want to do that. NEVER go online to get financing with a mortgage company because you’re just a file with no face and no accountability or effort. I have encountered so many problems with online lenders so do NOT go that route!

Let’s check out the Happy Customers of the week…

Thomas and Candice are a great couple. Candice’s mom found out about my “We Sell Homes For Free” program and they were able to save $3,500. They did things a little bit differently because they bought their home first and then had me sell theirs, but it was a great savings for them.

If you have questions about financing or you need help with buying or selling your home, please contact Monte directly by visiting Nashville Real Estate Adviser or by calling (615) 300-8393.

Angie from Franklin sent in the following question…

 “We have been watching you on Channel 4 and appreciate your up-front approach to answering questions about buying and selling homes in today’s market. My husband and I are trying to decide if we want to buy a brand new home, or an existing one; can you share your perspective of which is the better way to go?”

Well I don’t know that there’s really a “better way to go.” There is nothing like a brand new house, or a brand new car, but it comes with some costs. It really comes down to priorities; if you want a really big yard with mature trees, than it’s probably going to be an older home. If you have to have big closets and a large bathroom, than you probably want to go with a new home but it comes with some risks.

Know this – even if money was no issue and you built exactly what you think you want – next time you’d do it differently. A lot of people don’t realize that will happen.

Jeff and Kara from Mt. Juliet asked…

 “We are considering having a new home built in a new development. The on-sight agent has said that the builder will not negotiate price; is that true? We thought everyone would negotiate in this market.”

That is a good question, and honestly, a good builder typically won’t negotiate price. What they would rather do, for everyone’s benefit, is negotiate upgrades like granite countertops, washer/dryer, refrigerator, a bigger deck, or something like that. The reason for that, is to keep “the comps” consistent. For example, if you buy a $200,000 home, you would want to make sure that the comparable sales in the neighborhood will justify that price. If the builder negotiates price all over the boards, then the appraisers will have a problem with that.

This question brings up a couple of other good points:

1. If you are going to buy in a brand new development make sure you’re going to be there for the long haul because things can happen along the process.  One thing that can happen is, those who need to sell within a couple of years before the development is completed, end up competing with new construction making it really hard to develop any sort of equity. Just keep that in mind.

2. Many times if there is not a strong developer or builder they will start with one criterion, let’s say it’s “all brick with a side-entry garage”, but then that builder doesn’t work out so they bring in another builder. Now that builder may not have the same level of quality or criteria, and suddenly your “all brick” neighborhood is now just “front brick with front entry garages” or one car garages instead of two car garages – there are all those kind of variables to consider.  These are things to pay attention to if you are looking at a brand new development; be cautious.

Before we review the last real estate question of the day, there are some new homes on the market in the Forest Hills and I thought they were worth pointing out to you today.

Deborah from Brentwood wrote in and asked…

 “We are having a custom home built in Nolensville. We have heard you say to always get an inspection done prior to buying a home. Is that true for a new home as well? Or realtor said it’s probably a waste of money since the builder is providing a home warranty with our new home. Please advise.”

That is a really good question. The assumption is that since it’s a brand new home you don’t need to get an inspection. But I never recommend buying a home of any kind – brand new or otherwise – without having somebody go through the property.

Here’s the problem: even though there’s a one year warranty on the property, a lot of times problems take years to show up. So if you decide to sell the home 5-10 years later and there was a problem during construction that wasn’t corrected properly, than you’ve inherited that problem and it’s now your problem that has to be corrected. So a home inspection is really worth it.

I saw one case where a subcontractor has cut through some floor beams to install the air conditioner. If that had not been caught, it would’ve been the homeowner’s responsibility to correct the issue later. So always get a home inspection.

Let’s take a look at some Happy Customers!

Carlton and Jonelle are a great couple and a great example of the concerns mentioned previously.  They bought a townhome in an early development and when they decided to sell a few years later, they were competing with a brand new builder who was charging a lot less than what they had paid for their property. They were able to save $3,900 with my “We Sell Homes For Free” program, but it was still a very painful experience having to sell for less than the competition.

Mayra just closed a couple of weeks ago and she also took advantage of my “We Sell Homes For Free” program and saved $3,750 when selling her home in Antioch. She then was able to buy a new home with Goodall; there are some really good builders in town, as well as some that I wouldn’t recommend, but Goodall is a really good builder.

BJ and Kara were very patient. They saved over $6,500 by utilizing my “We Sell Homes For Free” program and then we found a super deal on a wonderful custom built home and they bought their Dream Home in Nolensville.

I encourage anybody who is looking to buy East Nashville TN Real Estate, but has one to sell first, to call me and use this program – it will save you thousands of dollars.

Here are some common questions that have been asked by real homeowners in Middle Tennessee:

Lonnie from Murfreesboro asked…

“We would like to sell our home and buy another one, but we do not want to own two homes at the same time. Can you tell us the best way to go about doing this? Do we put a contingent offer on the new one before ours sells?”

I really appreciate this question because everyone wants to know where they are going to go once their home sells. But what I’ve learned over the years is that it is far more challenging to sell a home than it is to find one to buy. So you want to put the majority of your focus into selling your property first.

Once you get your home on the market, wait until you start getting good feedback; that you’re in the top 3 choices of homes.   I refer to this as being a “bridesmaid.”  Once you’re a bridesmaid, you know you’re going to be a bride, so listen to that feedback.  At that point, go out and start looking at homes with the intention of finding your top three choices. Do not fall in love, just date.  Once you find your top three you are ready for that contract; once your home sells you will be in control.

Jennifer from Nashville asked…

“Two months ago we accepted an offer from a couple in Indiana to purchase our home. We knew their home would have to sell first before they could close on ours.  Our agent assured us that we could take other offers from other buyers as our home would remain active on the market. Since accepting that contingent offer our home has not been shown at all; can you tell us why? We really need to sell. Please help.”

Unfortunately Jennifer is finding herself in a situation where she has literally put all of her eggs into someone else’s basket. What happens is this: it’s an MLS requirement that once a home is under contract for any reason, a realtor has to highlight that property in yellow. And, once it is highlighted in yellow, when it comes up in the search criteria for that type of home, because there are so many homes to pick from, agents immediately start eliminating them. As realtors we don’t show homes that we are not sure that our buyers can buy.

So in this situation, the sellers have put all their eggs into the buyer’s basket and we don’t even know what kind of housing market there is in Indiana right now. And we certainly don’t know if they have their home priced right. So that is why the home showings have stopped – because nobody wants to show a home that they’re not sure their buyer can buy.

Before we get to the last real estate question of the day, there are some new homes on the market in the Thompson’s Station  and I thought they were worth pointing out to you today.

Stephanie wants to have a Home For Sale in Franklin and she asked…

“We’re ready to put our home on the market but before we do I want to go find our next home. My husband says we need to sell ours first, but I’m afraid we will sell ours and not have anywhere to live. Please advise.”

Well I hate to take sides between a husband and wife, but in this case Stephanie’s husband is correct. You really need to focus on selling because here’s what happens:

If you go out and put a contingent offer on another home as a buyer, you’re not a real buyer, you’re a wannabe buyer. And since you’re not a real buyer, you’re not going to negotiate the best deal because the seller isn’t going to come down to their lowest price for a wannabe buyer.  Then, when you go back and try to sell your home, if it doesn’t sell after a while, someone may make a lowball offer that you’ll be more likely to accept because you’re afraid of losing the other one.

Ultimately what happens is you end up paying too much on the buying end, and you take too little on the selling end because of that fear of loss. Remember, the fear of loss is always a greater motivator than the hope of gain. So my opinion is to never put an offer on a home without selling yours first.

Here are some great examples of Happy Customers who followed my instructions when selling their home:

B.J. and Kara in Brentwood were concerned about where they would be moving to, but we waited until we go that positive feedback and once we did, they went out and found some properties that they liked a lot. Once we got that contract they were ready to take action and they bought their dream home.

Alan and Bridget in Nashville sold their home in 45 days. Alan was a little conservative and did something different; he sold his home but he couldn’t find something he wanted to buy right out of the box so he moved into temporary housing. Then when they found their next home, they got a $40,000 discount on the property because they came from a position of strength; not one of hoping to sell their home first.

Brent and Sharon in Lebanon sold their home in 47 days and decided to downsize.  They too were concerned about where they would go once their home sold, but I explained the “rules of the road” to them and they followed my instructions. They went out and found their top 3 choices and then in 47 days when they got the contract on their home, we were able to take action and we got a great deal on their purchase.

If you’re looking to use any of my resources, please go to my website Nashville Real Estate Adviser and there you’ll find an explanation of my ‘We Sell Homes For Free’ program where I bring my 25 years of experience to the table for absolutely FREE, if you promise to buy your next home from me. People are saving thousands of dollars. I’ve already saved people over $60,000 in commissions this year.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have those commissions – I never dreamed that at this point in my career I’d be doing it for free – but in today’s world we’ve got to think outside the box. I’m trying to lower the expenses of having a Home For Sale in Franklin so people can compete with the distressed properties that are on the market, and it’s actually working!

Martha has a Home For Sale in Brentwood asked…

“We want to sell our big home in Brentwood and size down since all the kids have moved out and we are not ‘Empty Nesters.’ Can we use your ‘We Sell Homes 4 Free’ program if we are buying a much smaller, less expensive home than we are selling?”

I hear that question many times because the assumption is that someone will need to buy a home of equal or greater value in order for me to go to work for free – but that is not true! I have no stipulations; all I ask is that the home is located in Middle Tennessee, and the other part of that, of course, is that they are going to buy another home from me shortly after the closing of their home.  I don’t care if you want to sell a million dollar home and buy a $50,000 home. I’m here to help people save money by reducing their cost to sell, so they can reduce their asking price, so they are more likely to sell their home in this competitive market.

There really in no catch to it because not only do I work for free to sell their home, but they don’t pay me on the other end either, since the seller of the home they are buying pays my fee. So you will get everything – my 25 years of experience and 7 day work weeks – for free.

Jim in Nashville asked…

“We’ve been thinking trying to sell our home as a ‘For Sale by Owner’ without the help of a realtor as we do not have the equity to pay 6% commission and still have enough money left over to buy our next home. Some friends said they saw you on Channel 4 offering to sell homes for free if buying; please explain!”

I appreciate that your friends shared this program with you because quite honestly, as somebody who is going to be buying another home, there is no reason why you should choose to go “For Sale by Owner.”  Why take on all that responsibility and have to show the home at odd hours and all those sorts of things? I’m a Nashville Realtor will do it all for you, for free. Again, there are no stipulations as long as you buy another home here in Middle Tennessee. I will do all the marketing, all the website promotion, all the negotiations, all the flyers, and I’ll show up at the closing. I will do everything to handle the sale of your home, and it’s all for FREE.

It doesn’t make any sense for someone to go through all the hassle of trying “For Sale by Owner.” I understand why they are trying to save the money. If somebody bought their home since 2006, there probably isn’t any equity, which is why people are trying to do that. But if you’re going to buy another home, there is no point in going through all the hassle by yourself.

Let’s take a look at some real examples of Happy Customers who have been helped by a Nashville Realtor using this program…

The Robertson’s in Hermitage saved over $5,000; they had their home on the market for about 6 months with another company, but by hiring me they were able to lower their asking price and when they lowered the price, they had two full price offers within two weeks. Now they are in their brand new home; what a wonderful they are! It was such a blessing to help them.

Myra in Antioch saved $4,000. We just closed on Myra’s house last week. She found out about my program of selling homes for free and she said, “Why would I hire anybody else if he’ll do everything for free?” We got her home sold in a couple of weeks and she just moved into her new home a few days ago and she’s one excited lady to be in a beautiful home.

Take a look at this happy couple in Parkside Aspen Grove in Cool Springs.

Frank and Mary Jane in Spring Hill saved $8,800. Frank and Mary Jane are a great example of the first real estate question that was asked today. They sized down because Frank wanted to retire and they sold their big, expensive home from their Spring Hill Subdivision using my services for free. I then helped them buy a much smaller home in Murfreesboro so they could get closer to their grandkids when Frank retires.

Chad and Renee from Franklin saved $14,000. Chad and Renee had moved to the area and were not familiar with the neighborhood, then they found out there weren’t a lot of kids in their neighborhood. They were able to save $14,000 and we sold their home in just a matter of a few weeks.

I encourage everyone to check out my website Nashville Real Estate Adviser; it’s really working. I’ve sold over 35 homes this year already and it’s helped a lot of people, save a lot of money.

Steve and Cindi are trying to Sell a Home in Franklin and they had a few questions…

“We are thinking about remodeling our kitchen before we put our home on the market. Should we? It’s going to cost over $20,000 to do so if we change out the appliances too.”

Typically I recommend that you don’t spend a lot of money on your home before you sell it because it’s really hard to recoup those dollars. However at certain price points, certain things are expected. For instance, if the home is over $200,000 then granite counter tops will probably be expected by home buyers. If the home is under $200,000 then that would probably be overdone.

I would not spend $20,000 on a kitchen unless my home was over $300,000; doing so will help it sell, but you probably won’t get those dollars back out of the home.

“What are the best investments we can make before selling for return on invested time and money?”

Once you get past the basics of lightening and brightening, and de-cluttering, and so forth, the best investments are paint and carpeting. It is amazing what that will do to refresh a house; and it doesn’t have to be expensive carpet.

Kelly from Nashville asked…

“I’ve always wanted a pool, and we are thinking of having one installed this spring. Can we expect to get our money back when we sell for this kind of investment?”

That is a great question and I really appreciate the question because so many times I’ve seen people put $50,000 into their backyard and then want to get that money back out of it; you need to learn the term “personal enjoyment” because that’s where the greatest part of that value is going to go. In a strong market you might get a return of 50 cents on the dollar for a pool or hot tub, but in today’s market that is not the case. Those types of improvements may or may not help the house sell, depending on what the buyer is looking for, but don’t expect to get that money back – it’s called “personal enjoyment.”

Jimmy from Donelson wants to sell his home and asked…

“We are about to put our home on the market and are wondering if we need to get an appraisal first. We have been here for 20 years and really have no idea what our home is worth.”

You can spend the $400 to get an appraisal, but honestly I’d go to an experienced real estate professional first because realtors have access to the same data that is available to an appraiser.  There is no point in spending that money. And remember that whatever amount people come up with today, it’s a flexible number; it’s a “ball park” figure. Regardless of who gives you that appraised value, do not always expect for your house to sell for that amount.

If you have property for sale in Brentwood, visit my website Nashville Real Estate Adviser for great tools like:

• What’s My Home Worth? button; click on it and you get all that information for free with no obligation.
• How to sell your home for free – if you have a home to sell, and you want to buy another one – I’ll completely waive my listing commission. This will help you price your home correctly in today’s market.

And if you are looking to buy a home, you can check out some really great neighborhoods like Abington Ridge Subdivision and research areas like Spring Hill.

Let’s take a look at some Happy Customers…

Trymon and Opel are one of my favorite couples.

“Monte sold our home in 65 days after 2 other agents had failed. We will hire him again for our next home!”

I helped them sell their home after they had tried a couple of different times.  They have been married over 54 years.  That being said, I’m always asking successful couples what they did to make it, and when I asked Opel this question, she said that Trymon was on the road working for the first 40 years and that helped a lot! But in all seriousness, by lowering the cost to sell, we were able to sell their home quickly when most people are struggling to sell at all.

David and Sara are trying to sell Real Estate in Nashville asked…

“Our home has been on the market for over 6 months with no offers. We can’t lower the price any further because we owe too much on it. We are thinking of renting it out so that we can take advantage of the current market and buy a home in the area that we now want to live in. We have never been a landlord before and do not know where to start. Please share your thoughts on this subject.”

A lot of people are doing this now because their homes haven’t sold. When I started buying rental properties there was no one there to tell me what to look out for, so I’d like to shorten peoples’ learning curve as much as possible.  So here is a list of questions you should consider before renting out your home:

1. Do you have the temperament to be a landlord?

I think this is the most important issue to think about. Can you sleep at night knowing that someone is in your home? Can I evict somebody? Will I feel sorry for them if they can’t pay their rent on time? You will have to remain objective as a landlord so having the right temperament is crucial.

2. How do you determine the correct rental amount?

There is no science to determining the amount of rent; there’s no formula for a certain amount of dollars per square foot and so forth. It really comes down to checking on the current availability of rental properties that are similar to yours. Check Craigslist, Realtor.com, RealtTracs.com or those sorts of places to see what the current market is paying for that kind of property. There is no science to it and it changes from week to week. But I would always charge just a little bit less than the going rate because you’ll have a lot more people to pick from that way.

3. How do you advertise when looking for the right tenant?

Personally, my best experience has been with Craigslist because it doesn’t cost anything, people are constantly looking at it, and you can update it regularly. The next place is RealTracs.com where you can hire a realtor for a couple hundred dollars to put it online. Those are probably your best resources.

4. Should you manage the place yourself or let someone else take care of it?

By all means, if you have the margin to pay a third party – between what you are charging in rent and what you are paying in a monthly mortgage payment – do it! They are far more objective and they know about the eviction process and how to deal with it. The first time I had to evict someone it was a daunting experience and I did not like it. So by all means if you have the margin, pay a third party.

5. How do you handle a pet deposit?

The typical pet deposit it a non-refundable $150. But a pet can do a lot more damage than $150. So what I’ve learned to do is charge more, but I make it fully refundable. By charging a fully refundable $500-$1,000, your tenant is more apt to get out of bed when Fido gets up in the middle of the night, or very early in the morning and needs to go out because they have something at risk.

Some people may choose to simply not allow pets, but more and more people have pets so one way to get around the issue is to make sure that the tenant has a higher stake in the game.

Before we examine the last important item about becoming a landlord, let’s look at a success story in Polk Place in Franklin TN.

6. Why should you get to know the neighbors?

People don’t always think about this, but I got a phone call one time in the middle of the night, telling me that my tenants were moving out.  I don’t know what I would’ve done if those neighbors had not been able to contact me to let me know what was going on. Personally knowing the neighbors will help them inform you when something suspicious is going on with the property. It will add another set of eyes that will watch over the property when you’re not there all the time. So you should really know all the neighbors surrounding the property.

If you have real estate for sale in Franklin Tenn…

…or anywhere in the greater Nashville area, and you are really considering renting out your home, please contact me directly and I’ll give you a more exhaustive list, free of charge, of all the items I learned the hard way. Again, no one told me so I had to learn all of these things the hard way.

Here are some Happy Customers who I have been able to help…

Sara and Jason had a home in La Vergne that they weren’t able to sell after 6 months of effort. Then we found their dream home in Portland, and using the same advice I’m offering today, they were able to rent the La Vergne home.

“We rented our home with Uncle Monte’s advice and were then able to buy our dream home!”