Real Estate Explained

Landlord Lessons: How to Screen Tenants, Avoid Red Flags, and Protect Your Investment with Victoria Richards

• Nick Bush

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Not every tenant horror story ends in eviction — some end in lessons. Being a landlord isn’t just about collecting rent — it’s about making the right decisions long before a tenant moves in.

In this episode of Real Estate Explained, we sit down with Victoria from Greenway Management to talk about the real side of property management — from calling past landlords to spotting fake references (yes, even “Uncle Freddy” pretending to be one). She shares how she evaluates tenants beyond credit scores, why the “fit” between home and tenant matters, and how to avoid red flags before they cost you thousands.

We also cover DC’s changing rental market, new voucher rules, negotiation strategies like “cash for keys,” and the importance of empathy and boundaries when managing rentals.

Whether you’re a first-time landlord or growing your portfolio, this episode is full of real talk, wild stories, and practical advice that every investor needs to hear.

🎯 Topics We Cover:

Smart tenant screening & real landlord reference checks
Why credit isn’t the whole story
How to match tenants to the right property
Market changes & rent pricing realities in DC
Handling nonpayment: “cash for keys” vs. eviction
When to hire a property manager (and why it’s worth it)
Real property management horror stories — and lessons learned

🎧 Tune in for laughs, lessons, and landlord wisdom you won’t find in a handbook.

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SPEAKER_02:

So I'm in here with my guy Glendon Gross. He is the co-host for the month. I'm trying to get Glendon in here as the official co-host, but he's he's unsure, you know. So if y'all are watching this on the TikToks, the IGs, the socials, tell Glendon he's doing a good job and it's valuable. I'm gonna let you intro yourself with Glendon in a second. Um, but we have a special guest in here right now. I wish we had the um Victoria Richards is in here.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

Um tell the people who you are.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh so yeah, I'm Victoria Richards. I am a property manager. Uh I work in Washington, D.C. So DC proper, uh Northern Virginia, and PG County, Maryland. And I'm just here to, you know, answer any questions you guys have about property management and what it's really like. Um, and I'm gonna be honest and yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

What it's really like is important. Glendon, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00:

We want to hear the real stories, you know, the stuff that doesn't make it on the commercials. Yeah, like the pass the ad space on it. Yeah, Glendon here with movement mortgage. Um, but more importantly, um doing this thing with Nick now, checking this out and really hoping to have cool conversations. The whole thing is, you know, instead of just peppering you with a bunch of questions and making it feel like uh interrogate interrogation, we're just gonna talk about some stuff, get into some shit. Maybe some of it's good, maybe some of it's funny, maybe some of it's terrible, and uh have some fun.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, I'm with that.

SPEAKER_00:

Victoria, you look like you go to church. Do you go to church?

SPEAKER_01:

Is it because the outfit? I just you know I do go to church.

SPEAKER_02:

Because if we crush the pod and you want to tell your church people is that is that bad? Like if you want to show them, then you around those centers.

SPEAKER_01:

Nah, I'm doing Bible studies these days, so yeah, that's where I'm really at.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, so we're good, huh? We're good. Yeah. All right, so you're managing properties um all over the Northern, like DMV. Yes. But did you start in Greenway, in a neighborhood in Greenway?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, so I actually started in Northwest DC.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, and I put up like a Craigslist ad because um I just just I there's a story for why I started to get into real estate. Um, but my first client was in Northwest DC. I just like I didn't have anything together. So I just kind of jumped in and I was like BSing. They don't know that, but I was really BSing a lot of stuff. Yeah. Um, they found me off Craigslist and they really just gave me a shot. They had a beautiful house, and I was just like, oh, I hope they pick me. Because you know, DC has really big like powerhouses when it comes to property management. And I'm like, oh, they're gonna let Lil O me do it. Yeah. And they trusted me, you know, because I was professional and you know, um, so yeah, I did not start in Greenway. I started in Northwest DC. Um, I knew I wanted to do DC. I got my license. Uh, so I don't have a real estate license like to buy and sell, just the property management license in DC. That's all I have. So um, you know, with that, I started there.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. She's also a good start. She's already name dropping Craigslist.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah. Big job. Big job. I'm already scared of Craigslist, and I get it, like Craigslist killer and all that. But let me tell you, I get some of my best tenants off of Craigslist. Really? It doesn't work that same way in like, I would say, like, Ohio or Texas, but in DC Craigslist is still around in D. Fire.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't even use it. I haven't been on Craigslist in years.

SPEAKER_04:

Mm-hmm. It's still going.

SPEAKER_02:

I I think property management is so interesting, especially where my wife and I are in our stage right now. And she actually was the last guest in here. We just talked about our experience with our our tenant.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

And I knew property management was valuable, but almost like so you could put things on autopilot. But I never realized um how annoyed you can be from a tenant and how disruptive that can be from like your day-to-day life. Yeah. And how you just like rather like um what's the word on delegate that out to someone else. So is that like why people are going the property manager out?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, there's a variety of reasons, but I think that is the biggest one that I see. Um, because a lot of my clients, they're organized, they can do this on their own. It's kind of like I kind of uh explain it to people like um like having a cleaner. You know what I'm saying? Uh you can clean your own house. Like that's fine, you know, but sometimes you don't feel like doing it. It's a lot of work. So, like you said, delegation. Um, yeah, that I think that's the biggest reason. Um, some people, like you said, they just don't want to be bothered. Like, you know, they're at brunch on Sunday, you know, swag surfing over the pancakes. They don't want to call from the tenant. You know what I'm saying? They don't have those, like, you know, I have a uh a software that I use where they can put in maintenance requests. Now, if it's an emergency, all of my tenants have my cell phone number. So if it I know if they're calling my cell phone, okay, let me pick up, you know. Um, but that doesn't happen as often as you would think. But if it's just you and the tenant, they're just gonna constantly go to you. And then there's another like layer of when you have that middleman, that third party, look, I don't own the house. It's not my I don't have to pay the mortgage. You see what I'm saying? So while I do care about, you know, my clients and their properties, and I care about my tenants, like that I think is like the number one thing for me. I really do care. And the reason why I got into real estate is because I care, right? That's a whole nother story. But um, sometimes there's a lot of emotion in it. I care about it, but I don't have that emotion. Money has a lot of, like, you know, when you're talking about the stock market, you can't get emotionally tied to the investments that you make. It's the same thing, sort of, in real estate. Because I you can I'm sort of, definitely.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Definitely. Kind of like, you know, sellers with you guys, you know, as as agents, like you're one step from the emotional side of it, right? You didn't live there for 20 years. Which also means you're one step away from delusion.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Right? Where the emotion can create this delusion of like something's more important than it actually is, or something is a bigger fire than it actually is. So you get to be more of like the cool header.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly, and see it for what it really is. And it's like, you know, I got clients, they're cussing out their tenant.

SPEAKER_04:

What are you cussing out the tenant for?

SPEAKER_01:

Now that relationship is destroyed.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And like now the smallest things are gonna set you off and set the tenant off. And it's just it's a mess. I'm not cussing out my tenants. Do they get on my nerves? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, I kind of look at my tenants as sort of like clients too. Yeah, I have to provide a service for them. So, you know, so that's another layer. I've had people really come to me, like, I'm just frustrated with my tenant, like, we are not getting along. And they come and it's calm when they talk to me. Cause I'm like, hey, I heard what's going on. You know, I'm talking to them like this. I'm not like no need. So there's a variety of reasons, whether that's um, you know, uh delegation, um, just having a person to mediate, like being a mediator. Um, and then some people are just out of town. They don't even live in the state. Um, because I recently just had um uh one of the tenants broke, now I don't know how he did this, but he broke the toilet tank. And it's a duplex, you know. In DC uh duplexes are usually one unit on top of the other. And so all that water got into the bottom unit. So we had to put in a insurance, you know, claim. And the insurance, I'm putting in the insurance claim. I'm talking to the adjuster, all that. And they are like, oh yeah, who's the owner? Can we call the owner? The owner's in Wisconsin. You don't know what's going on. You gotta talk to me. You know what I'm saying? And I go over to the property, I'm meeting, you know, uh whoever it is that's doing the remediation for the water damage because mold had already started growing like 12 hours after all that happened. It was crazy. Um but you know, uh, so that is a good reason to have a property manager. And I knew exactly who to call, you know, because sometimes you can have a neighbor check on the house, but they don't know what's going on. You know, they don't have that experience. So that's another reason that, you know, you're out of state. Those things can happen.

SPEAKER_02:

So you know, that's interesting, like that you called the insurance um kind of the insurance company. I wouldn't expect a property manager to do that. I I always was like, what's the true value of a property manager and what's the scope of what a property manager does? Lately I've been saying, even though I have no experience with having a property manager, because I want to invest in Ohio and Bronson is now, and I think Glennon have, they've heard me say this a hundred times, right? And so I think next year I'll be out there. But um, I'm just like, I think as long as you have a property manager, or if you have a handyman, like I think you need a property manager for the contacts, yeah. Or you can have a handyman and like they can do everything themselves. Is there any truth to that? Like, or is it like, no, that's like inefficient just to have a handyman?

SPEAKER_01:

Like, how do you Um I don't think it's inefficient? It all depends on what you want for your property. You know what I'm saying? I think a handyman is good because a lot of the most of the issues are gonna be maintenance related, but there's also that human element to it.

SPEAKER_02:

There's also that so then what's the resource, right? So is it like, okay, I'm hiring Victoria. She has like a bunch of handymans in different aspects, and that's the value, is that I just don't have to deal with that part until I get an invoice, or is there something additional, maybe, that's like nuanced that you do?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, tenant landlord disputes, that's a advantage of having a property manager. Um, what else outside of maintenance?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, even just don't you handle like for me with my rental, like if my tenants ever leave, even if it's a good situation, I don't want to have to go find new tenants. I want you to handle the turnover, right? I want uh you to handle the cleaning, the the the post occupancy, you know, and all that stuff, right? Like so you handle that too, like the yes, I don't I don't necessarily have to write up the contract again. You can handle that, you can help with the negotiations as far as terms, whether it's pets or you know, deposits. Absolutely, all that kind of stuff too, where that's where like I I feel like anyway, and I have to go down uh the rabbit hole of like the legal side of it, but I've got a lot of clients now that uh are investors, and uh I had a question I wanted to ask you about it, but to tell the story a little bit doing it themselves, first one or two investment properties they own, they run it themselves, but then I have two of them right now that have called me in the last six months where they have to go through an eviction process because the person's three months behind or they're having some issues with you know, uh the one person won't sign the lease extension. And so now it's like this month-to-month question, but the way that the lease was written up, it's kind of ambiguous where it's like, what kind of recourse do I have now that we don't have a official lease in place? You know, all these things. Um, and I'm I'm imagining so there's two-part question. I imagine that you get involved and handle that.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, and the second question is do you kind of like a handyman, do you have a Rolodex of of legal help for that too? Because the biggest problem that they're having is finding a decent lawyer for this.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Like both of them are like, these lawyers suck, no one's getting back to me. And I don't know if it's just maybe not setting proper expectations where it's like, hey man, this doesn't happen overnight. No one's gonna get evicted in a week. This may take six years, right? Like, but they but they want it now because now they're like, you know, and and both of them have gone through multiple lawyers just because they they're like, this person sucks. I'm like, I know they're a good lawyer, yeah. But I don't think the communication is not the expectation isn't properly set because that person hasn't gone through this kind of litigation before.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly, exactly. So, yeah, so the landlord tenant dispute, that's like, okay, so maintenance, I would say maybe is like number one. Number two is are those disputes, and legal in Washington, DC in particular, is so important. I mean, I sometimes I tell my clients what the housing laws are and they don't believe me. They literally don't believe me. So I'm like, okay, I have to get an attorney so you can talk to the attorney so they can tell you. That's why it's like um, you know, that that's a a I think I know a lot about housing law because when I first started, I was dealing with those issues. Um, and I actually was like, okay, I can't do all this by myself. Like, you know, you take the test to become a property manager, uh, and you know, you learn a little bit here and there, but it's nothing like having an attorney. So I have an attorney on retainer that I use for just general questions about legal um, you know, things in Washington, D.C. Because it's so detailed. And it's like in Washington, DC, if you even fill out the paperwork wrong, they will throw that case out. And it takes about one to two years to go through the entire eviction process. No, people are like, no, it didn't explain. No, I'm that's how long it takes, especially after 2020 when you had those um moratoriums on evictions, and now all those people are like, okay, okay, I can get my tenant out. Let me go ahead and go, you know, through that process. But it it's a long process, and they do that on purpose.

SPEAKER_02:

And that's why I think that we were kind of letting our tenants take advantage, at least for me, because I understand the DC tenant laws a little bit, and I understand that she can kind of just take over the house and decide not to leave. And I'm honestly a little nervous. I'm like, on September 1st, is she gonna move out? Like, what's gonna happen? Because I know in DC tenants have um so much leverage.

SPEAKER_01:

I've never seen it like DC.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and I've been let I'm like, you know what? Let's just kind of like keep her happy. So at the end of the lease, she rolls out, and then we can get a new tenant in there. That's why I want to sell to like shift the funds like somewhere else where it's like more landlord-friendly. So can you speak to that a little bit? Like the leverage that that uh tenants have in DC and like why it's so hard to get tenants out. Because you even told me on the phone last week, you were like, you kind of can't even suggest that she move out of the house. And that's extreme, you know? So like can you speak to that a little bit?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so okay, so there's the legal aspect, and then there's the department of buildings. Okay, and they give fines, so their fines are not like a cute little$45 fine. No, it's like the latest um for one of my clients, this was before I came on as a property manager, okay, because I don't play that. Uh the fine was twelve hundred dollars because the filter was dirty. Now, does DOB knock on the door of every single house and you know try to find, you know, uh issues? No, but if you piss your tenant off, oh you're in trouble. Okay. Um, because the DOB came to that house because there was something that I guess the former property manager didn't repair really because the owner didn't want to repair, it was really a small repair. We got it done, but they were so pissed off they contacted D.O.B. DOB came out, and they they're not gonna just come out for what the tenant called for, they're going to look at every violation that that property has. And like I just said, for a filter for a HVAC that's like$24.99 at Home Depot, the fine was twelve hundred dollars because it was dirty.

unknown:

Wow.

SPEAKER_01:

And you have I and I tell my clients, ain't nothing I can do for you. You gotta pay that fine. So, you know, sometimes it's even in I see this a lot with um uh there's a certain type of tenant that, you know, they just are more familiar with the housing law, and so they'll use that to their advantage. Um, and I'll have to tell my clients sometimes like it is going to cost you like less to just do what they want you to do versus pissing them off and then we get in legal and we get in a DOB coming out and they giving you fines. It's just go ahead and give them what they want because it's just so tenant-friendly. And I get why it's like that, but it's because there is such uh, you know, there's um uh a lot of unhoused people in Washington, DC, and you know, council is really trying to, they're for the people. I mean, that's just DC, you know what I'm saying? Like in real estate is political. The policies affect everything. So they're they made it so extreme that now, you know, uh they're trying to protect the people from you know, uh really slumlords and these really big companies.

SPEAKER_00:

I was gonna say there's still slumlords that exist as a problem. Absolutely. People that you saw that one, what's that, was it Florida where the whole condo building went down? Yes. You know, and it just was held up on like toothpicks for 20, 30 years. You know, and that that that kind of stuff I think is where the laws come from.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And then it's it's I think it's just one of those where like you can't in my mind anyway, I look at it like you guys ever see Harry Potter, you know, she starts hanging up all the laws and it just becomes too much, just like the whole wall. And it's like, well, it started as a good idea to create some order, turns into too far. And then people take advantage, right? People are gonna take advantage on both sides of it. Like anytime you create a law, someone's gonna find a loophole for it, and that's what happens, I think, you know, and it kind of works itself back around. And then in 10 years, it'll probably be like too landlord-friendly because they'll make laws to overextend the other direction.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. Like it's hard to get that balance. So, you know, in DC it's definitely, you know, um tenant-friendly and it gets deep.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, but I just feel like this like tenant-friendly, landlord-friendly thing, like this like language is is kind of you know, it's almost like meaningless. Like, I know Virginia's like landlord-friendly. Yeah, I know Tennessee's landlord-friendly, but like what does landlord-friendly mean? Like, yo, you ruined my crib, I'm not giving you security deposit back. Like, if you don't pay your rent in 30 days, like you gotta get out of it. Is that like landlord-friendly? Like, yeah, like it's ridiculous that like there's even an implication that someone can like rent your house out, um, not take care of it, or like kind of squat and the state protects them.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, like that's crazy. Like, even how DC goes to the month-to-month lease, it's like, oh, that's interesting. So someone can just okay, so in that month-to-month lease, is that person still responsible for rent, though?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, they are. Okay. I've had a I've had um a tenant that had a lease from 2004 that was still valid and enforced to this day. From 2004, and her rent is like, I think it was around$749.

SPEAKER_02:

Yo, I had a dang,$749.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, because it didn't increase with the Yeah, the for some reason the landlord, uh, you know, I don't work with them now, but they just didn't increase, they didn't properly increase the rent.

SPEAKER_02:

So when I was at the Rich Carleton, um there was a one of the one of the concierge. I I used to work there back in the day. This is like 2012. One of the concierge was like a grown man, like regular guy, concierge at the Rich Carlton, uh, like renting a basement, like English basement were basements were popping back then. Like that's how everything on Craigslist was being marketed, like English basement. Yeah. And uh he's like, I haven't paid my rent in eight months. And I was like, yo, like what are you talking about? You're a grown man, bro. Like helping millionaires like fine dinner reservations. And he's like, I don't have to because of the laws. And I was like, what?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, people take advantage of it.

SPEAKER_02:

So what's the um the BBL in DC? Is it how how uh how important? I mean, I know it's required to have the BBL.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

But I know some people that don't have the BBL. And so what happens in those situations where like there's you know, do you know what the BBL is? Um You gotta go to Miami to get one. So in DC, and I'm gonna let you talk about it. Yeah. In DC, they have um what's called the basic business license. Yes, okay. And if you're a landlord, um and you you have to have the basic business license before you can um rent the property out. So you could talk, can you talk about what the basic business license slash BBL is? Yes, why it's important, and how it protects, like what is it for?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. So I'm glad you clarified what that acronym is because I've had clients like, we have to have a BBL. Like, no, not the not the BBL you're thinking.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I gotta say, for the pod listeners, I think you should probably clarify that.

SPEAKER_02:

I was going to, we're going down here. This thing, these these guys out West, they don't have the lingo.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, but yeah, the basic business license is really just about safety. Um, you have to go in, schedule uh an inspection. Um during the inspection, they check to see if you have a GFCI outlet in your kitchen. Um, you know, if you have smoke detectors, do they work? Are they carbon monoxide uh detectors and smoke? You know, uh so they're just making sure that all those safety things are in there. Um the walls are actually, you know, there's no holes in the wall. So it's not about, oh, is this a nicely renovated home? It's just does everything work? Are they gonna be safe? Okay. Um and so you go through the inspection, then you have to log into um, I forget what the dashboard is called at the moment, but you got to log in on the computer, do all this paperwork, make sure that your taxes, like you're up to date on your taxes in DC, because they check that. Um, and then, you know, once you clear those things, then you're good to go. And you pay, I think it's like$198 for two years online, and you know, they send you your BBL. Um, yeah, and you're good. And you know, to renew it, you don't have to keep getting an inspection. You um just pay the fee the fee. Yeah. So um, you know, uh it's pretty easy to get. I do know that like a lot of people sometimes they have like issues like just figuring out where to go, what to do. Um, so that's another area that you know a property manager can come into, you know, play.

SPEAKER_02:

So the BBL is like um kind of like a hurdle, and just then the inspection and they have to go back. So it takes a long time. But for us, I remember when we before we we had our property for rent, we had found a tenant we liked. So we always like, let's just go to housing voucher route, that's what we wanted to do. Um, and so we found a tenant we liked, she had great credit, everything. Yeah, but that RFTA packet was a beast.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

And we couldn't get through it, and that's how we ended up with the tenant that we and we submitted the RFTA packet, yeah, and they didn't do anything for a month. And then I called and they were like, Oh, we moved. I went up there one time. Um, and I called and I called, they were like, Oh, we moved it to the next stage. And I kept looking online to see um, you know, what was going on, and like nothing happened for like three months. It was ridiculous. And so um I just am dropping like acronyms right now. So you can talk about that, like the the housing voucher program, um, the RFTA packet, what it is, like how you are actually supposed to get through the process. Yeah. Because now that I know there's a lot of things that's been happening with my property that shouldn't have been going this way.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, like they niggas.

SPEAKER_02:

And then, and then also like just just talk about how um, you know, I feel I feel like, and I don't know if this is correct, uh, DC is more of a housing voucher. Like the landlords prefer the housing voucher over the um, you know, let's call it a standard tenant. Is that is that actually the case or not? So just talk about all of that um a little bit.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh okay, so the RFT uh RFTA packet, uh, that's part of the lease up process for if you have a voucher, uh a tenant that has a voucher, and so DC pays um usually the majority of the rent, and sometimes they can pay 100% of the rent. Um and, you know, it's not supposed to be that bad. Um it's supposed to only take like a month. Um, but you know, you do have to follow up sometimes a lot with their um case manager um to move that process along. Um and you know, uh they just ask for a lot of documentation um when you have a voucher tenant. Uh they um, you know, it can take time even for you to get your first check from the government. Um, but it it it does have its benefits. So I would not say that for single family homes in that space that people prefer uh to go the Section 8 route. Um and that's Section 8 is really a nickname uh for I forget, it's like some code uh or some law. Um so technically the the uh politically correct way to say it is like voucher. Yeah, that's why I said it like that. I knew it was Section 8, but I didn't know like dancing on that a little bit.

SPEAKER_02:

No, no, you were saying I didn't want to say, like, for example, so we can't um like fair housing is a big thing for for a real estate agent. So sometimes when we're saying something that we want to say, yeah, we kind of like dance around like like just like a race, like even mentioning a race. You're a property manager, so I don't want to be like section A and then you had to clean it up.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. Um, but yeah, so I wouldn't say that most people prefer it because there are some drawbacks. You can your tenant can lose the voucher. Yeah, they can. Uh they have to keep up with their job and there's other requirements. Um, and you have to do like a yearly inspection. And some people they don't actually let the inspector in for the inspection. And it's like, we need that for the voucher. Um but the tenants don't? Yeah, the tenants don't, yeah. And like, and so, you know, uh it can be beneficial. Um, you know, and I think that it does sort of protect you from um, you know, just not getting rent and having to go through that eviction process. Because even if the tenant stops paying, the government is still paying you the majority of the rent. They might be paying like three, four hundred dollars a month. And that's not gonna like kill your pockets, yeah, you know, to to lose that versus oh, the whole 3,000. How's it determined, like what the voucher pays and what the uh um I'm pretty sure it's due to their job and how much they make.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, and you know, uh it it varies. So, you know, uh, but yeah, that's one of the things that I I'm always upfront with my clients about. I love, you know, the voucher program and how it helps uh, you know, just everyday people. But, you know, you really have to just like vet your tenant before and make sure that they're just gonna be responsible. And um, most of them are. Like I know it gets a bad rep, but all of the tenants that I have that have a voucher, they're wonderful. They really are.

SPEAKER_02:

When I see people when I see like rentals online, I always see like the requirement 680 credit score, three making three times the rent. You know, that's kind of like two years' tax returns. Is that like the standard um qualification like that's that that landlords are looking for? Are there any laws around? Can you say like no 580 credit score in here? Like standard. I know you can't.

SPEAKER_01:

So in DC, you cannot discriminate based off of the credit score, like that number. You can, however, look at the credit factors. So, you know, on-time payments, and um, you know, if you have things in collections, which I like that model, um, just because it kind of it forces you to actually look at why their credit is the way that it is. Maybe they have a you know 580 or whatever because of student loans. Honestly, I'm gonna be honest. Like, I kind of get it when it comes to student loans. I'm not about to really because come hell or high water, most people are gonna pay their rent. You know what I'm saying? Um, now, uh tax returns and things like that. I don't usually look at that. So one thing that I do look at is um and I think is the most important, besides like credit, is past landlord references. Talking to that past landlord. Like I have called landlords, and you some, some, I mean, there's always drawbacks to anything, right? But most of them are gonna be honest with you. And you can ask them a couple of questions to make sure they're actually a property manager and not somebody's cousin. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? How many units do you have? How much was the rent? What when did they stay here? A landlord's gonna know. And you know, if it's an apartment complex, they'll be able to click, click, click, they'll be able to tell you, but their cousin's not thinking that far in advance, you know what I'm saying? Um, you can ask them just something a landlord would know.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Um because Uncle Freddie don't know all that. So, you know, so um uh yeah, asking them. I've had people answer the phone and be like, no, they didn't pay rent, they gave me the runaround, they was cussing out the neighbor. And I'm like, oh, you know, and that's something you can really like write down and have as a this is a a qualification. You did not meet this qualification. You see what I'm saying? Um, so that is a really big one. Yeah. And so, you know, another thing is it's like, okay, maybe somebody has a not so good credit score. But if I call your, you know, uh apartment uh uh front office and they're telling me you made on-time payments every single time for two years, oh come on in, you know?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I had someone that didn't have um an amazing credit score, but I looked at it and I was like, uh, she just has a high balance credit card. Like she's she's paying everything on time. She had a great salary and everything. You gotta probably give an investment property. I'm going over like, if if it were just you and me here, I'd like be firing away about like DC, DC law. But Glendon, you have a PA property, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I have a curiosity along those same lines, because I'm curious how you guide or assist your clients in picking tenants, right? Because so when we first got ours, just a quick story to kind of set you up for it. Yeah, you know, we picked uh an older couple that had owned a home before, great credit, great income. Or like, oh, they they're gonna take care of the house because and they did. It wasn't there was nothing wrong with them, but a year and a half into their two-year lease, they decided they were gonna buy another house. And so, like, ended up not being a long-term tenant. Whereas in the second go-round, we picked somebody lower credit, more than likely not going to leave us anytime soon. Still great tenants, you know, but it was a different philosophy the second time around. Do you have a like a system with that or advise clients on like, hey, one thing maybe better on paper, but maybe not in reality?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, yes, definitely. Um, one thing that I can say, uh, because usually I just have those conversations just one-on-one with them. Um, and one thing I do say is making sure that the house makes sense for the tenant is a good way to kind of gauge if they'll stay, right? Like how you said, like, okay, they owned a home before. They might want to buy another house, you know. Um, so those strategies are very important. And it's like, you know, sometimes people come and they're like, Yeah, I want to rent uh this four-bedroom house for one person. Man, that don't even make sense. Yeah, right. What you doing with all these three rooms? Yeah, you're about to leave because why would you pay all that money? You know, they come in into DC and DC is expensive. You coming from Nebraska, you're not gonna want to pay no$3,000,$3,500. Yeah. It doesn't make sense. So I'm gonna kind of lean towards, you know, the the husband and wife with the children, you know what I'm saying? And you can't pick people based off of that. It's not about um, you know, the demographic or the makeup, but it has the the house should make sense for what the person wants. Now, if you come to me and you say you want a four-bedroom house as a single person because you have like studios that you want to, you know, put up or something like that, it's gotta just make sense.

SPEAKER_04:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe you got a couple pets. I want my dog to, you know, have some space. Okay, I'll go with that. But you just sit up here four bedrooms just by yourself with one couch. That's weird. So that's something that I consider. Um and that, yeah, that's one of the biggest things. Just and then, so it's like it's kind of you know, you have to stick to the income requirements, but something else to just consider, right? Is just cooperation. How cooperative could this person be?

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

That's kind of hard to determine. Um, but that's just something you want to keep in the back of your mind. Um, because you know, you have uh, you know, tenants that are gonna come in and they're not gonna want nobody to come in and fix stuff, but they expect it to still get fixed. What? So, you know, and then maybe just talking to them up front, though, that helps too. Like, look, this is I give you 48 hours notice, this is what we're doing. Talking to them up front and giving them the game plan, that also helps. So, you know, looking at those things, cooperation, and does the house even make sense for them? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Is it still super competitive? Because I mean, I have some some clients that I've gotten because the agent steered them my way because it was actually easier to buy than it was to rent, just because of maybe their their profile or things like that, that they're they weren't being super attractive to renters, and the rental market is so competitive right now that it was like you might be able to go buy a condo as opposed to renting this place, you know, just to get in faster. Is that is it still like are you seeing a lot of competition, I guess?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh no. No, unfortunately, no, just because um I don't know why that was so funny. No, just because at one point, yes, like it was super competitive. Like, I would say, like, right after the pandemic, you know what I'm saying? Um, but now uh with the climate in DC and people getting laid off and you know, unfortunately losing their jobs and having the fear of losing their jobs, a lot of people are moving. I've had a lot of tenants email me like, hey Victoria, like I gotta break this lease, like I lost my job. And I'm like, okay. And I talk to the owner, I'm like, look, it may it might make more sense to just let them go. Like, this is a hard time, like I get it. Um, and so there's just not that much uh, you know, the inventory, there's a lot of inventory, but not a lot of renters. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Interesting. I'm surprised by that. Yeah. That wasn't that was not what I was expecting.

SPEAKER_02:

Let me stop being so cocky then because we gotta put our house on the market.

SPEAKER_01:

No, it it it and it looked, it depends on, you know, the the the like asset class, you know what I'm saying? How many bedrooms and all that, but there there has been a decline.

SPEAKER_02:

When I put my house on the market last year for rent, I had like so many calls and tenants right away, vouchers to be like, you know, we're in a voucher neighborhood. I don't want to say I don't think I can say that, but like we're kind of, you know, I know where we are. And uh I think that I think that we can, you know what confuses me online is that fair market rent calculator, because I think that we could be charging way more, and I don't know how to determine that, but then there's the competition aspect, right? I'm like, oh, I think we can charge more, but then there's a competition aspect, but then I know the voucher program would be like, well, you we're not you that's not what the rent can be.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, and the voucher program didn't change, okay? They used to just go by strictly numbered bedrooms and zip code. Yeah now they actually come out and check the property to make sure that you got the amenities, they look at finishes, which is how they probably should have done it in the beginning, but it doesn't benefit the landlord, you know what I'm saying? Um, and uh, you know, I oh my gosh, that is one of the biggest things that I call my friends about and complain, is like and I'm sure you you you get this too when it's like you have someone who wants to list their house for like a million dollars, but really it's not gonna sell for that. Yeah. And it's just this it's it and it's a lot of emotion because it's a lot of money on the line. But I have to tell my clients, and sometimes I have to tell people like, I cannot get you that. Okay, I cannot work no miracle. It's just not gonna happen. And so DC, especially, it is block by block. Even when you go and you put in to like uh Rentometer uh and you put in the address, they've gotten better though. I think they changed it. But you would go like, you know, there's the wharf and then there's like Anacostia, and they would group in the wharf with Anacostia because it's only like a mile away. Uh-uh. No, the wharf and Anacostia, you not getting wharf prices.

SPEAKER_02:

Look, I had a property manager that um, you know, big property management company local, yeah, locally. And I was like, hey, can you do, you know, a rent analysis for me to let me know like if I'm tripping or not? And they came back in like the mid 4000s.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

And I looked at Lauren, that's my wife's name, Lauren. I was like, no way. I'm like, no way. And we're gonna put this on the market and we're gonna get I didn't believe it.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, and so I do, I do think that like there's so what happens in a situation where it's like, okay, well, I want, let's use a round number. I want 4,000, right? The voucher program says I can get 3,500. Are you just relying on the tenant to pay that extra$500? Or is the voucher program like you can't even charge$4,000? Is there a rule?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, they can, yeah. The the tenants can decide to pay the difference. I wouldn't advise for them to do that. Yeah, it's kind of like an appraisal gap, yeah. I wouldn't advise it though.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Because it's it's about their how much they can afford, you know what I mean? And you really want your tenant to be able to afford where they're living, because then you're gonna run run into issues, yeah. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Last thing you want to do is squeeze them.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00:

And then you have that tension that you're talking about in the city. Exactly, exactly. And then once the rift is there, right? What would you do, man? I mean, just like straight up, what would you do?

SPEAKER_02:

If what?

SPEAKER_00:

Someone just stop paying your rent, dude. If your girl stop paying rent, like, besides panic. Like roaches and snakes in that. What do you do? I mean, it's just it's uh it's just such a crazy just thought in my head where it's like, you know, PSA to listeners, man, pay your rent. Like, yeah, don't be a dick.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think that um what do you do? You know, like how do you, you know, like you said, it's very frustrating. Yeah, when when when someone comes and tells you it's probably easier to just let them go, let them do their thing for a little while instead of trying to go legal and yeah, fight it and make it worse. Or I don't know, man. I don't know. It's just in my mind, I'm like, dude, that sucks.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I think you have to go to the case.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, there are things that you can do before you go to legal.

SPEAKER_02:

Which like what?

SPEAKER_01:

So, and that's what I always try to do with my clients before we go to eviction, hold on, call them up, talk to them, see, yeah, see you, yeah, you know. And um, talk to them, see where they're at. You know, people are people, they're human. Sometimes you can really get to somebody and say, hey, look, I know it's a tough spot, it's a tough spot for me. Like, hey, like, what if I just give you a month? You know, I'm not gonna make you pay this back rent. You know what I'm saying? You have to, when you're negotiating, you have to have somebody something for the person on the other side, okay? So you can't just always get what you want, you gotta give a little bit. But there's negotiations that you can do. Uh in DC, you can provide like moving assistance, okay? Cash for keys.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

You can do it, write it up. Watch the language, but write it up and say, hey, look, I'm gonna I'll pay for the moving truck and your first month's rent for the next thing, and I'll give you a little extra to cover rent. You can do whatever you want with that money though. But you know what I'm saying? And then that helps out.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And people appreciate that, they take it, you know. Hey, you sign a uh uh, you know, sometimes the owner will offer to pay for the moving truck and all that stuff up front, and then once you actually out, then okay, you get the rest of the money. You see what I'm saying? So we could go that route. So step one, step two, and then step like five is eviction. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, mm-hmm. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_02:

I you know, I think I give people the benefit of the doubt too much. Um, where I think they're just gonna do the right thing. And people are not don't always do the right thing. So I'm not even the best. I was actually talking to Ian, another lender I know, and he was like, You need a property manager if you feel like that. He owns a few properties in Baltimore, and he's like, That's not the reality, my God. Like people are gonna abuse if they can. I think it's I I think it's interesting. I mean, if someone, you know, obviously I I think the property manager route is the way to go. Yeah um, because it's just a lot of work. I and I think like if you own one property, right, then maybe you can manage it. You own two or three, maybe you can manage it. But if you do want to scale up and make this a business for yourself and an income, then you do need a professional on your side. Yeah. Um, we're gonna get you out of here with unless you have anything. But I want to hear like what is the number one, like what is your craziest horror story?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, craziest horror story that you can share. Oh, yeah, that I can share. Okay, let me see. I can't use no names or nothing. Right. Um, I mean, I I have a lot. I mean, I had a tenant who was a prostitute. Um, yeah, and you know, every time I would go over there to do inspections, she would have different men um just, you know, coming in and out. Um, they would bang down her door, and it was a little bit scary too, uh, just because, you know, I would go in there for inspection, and there was always a man, a man on the bed, like just waiting for his turn. I'm like, uh, I'm gonna mind my business though. You know, girl, rental on first. You know what I'm saying? But it that was crazy because there were children in the other unit, and I did, I cared about those children, and I just didn't know, you know, it would be late night, and I would get a call from the the grandmother, and she'd be like, Look, you know, a guy came and he he kicked down the door, the lock is broke. I got kids in here, you know, the main door to the the four-unit building.

SPEAKER_04:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, so yeah, that was that was just it was just crazy, just interacting with that house. And, you know, just that was that house I learned a lot. That's the house that made me get an attorney on retainer. Because I was like, I this is a like this is a lot. Yeah. And I really wanted to help uh the client. Um and you know, uh, she she herself was good. It was just her business.

SPEAKER_02:

That was her business was a little risky.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, her business was risky and it was challenging, and there was a lot of safety issues, and even still in DC, there's just there's nothing you can really do about that.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

You know?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So I had to work around and you know, she was always pleasant with me, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. Well, thanks for joining us. We appreciate you. You crushed it. Awesome. Um, where can people find you uh uh and and sign up for your your services?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so um my website is actually greenway capital with an a properties.com. Um, and then my Instagram is Greenway Management. Um, and I'm not gonna give out my cell number, but people could, you know, reach out there. Um, I do have a contact form on my website. Um, and you know, I'm here to help. Thanks for joining.

SPEAKER_00:

We'll put all your links up too with everything we post out there so that people can find you there too. Okay. Super easy.

SPEAKER_01:

Awesome. Cool. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Boom, we out.

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Nick Bush

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