Have You ever heard of the Internet
Dean's "Landlord Training Course" is a measure just launched by the Ministry of Justice in the past two years, with the purpose of "endoing illegal and destructive behavior in rental housing".
When Dean arrived at Tjouton Avenue in the city center in the shabby Chevrolet pickup truck in his garage, it was close to two o'clock in the afternoon.
The course is held by the Youngstown Safety Society, and the class is held in the Government Welfare Building.
Interestingly, the poor enjoy a series of welfare checks from the federal government, which are also distributed here. Of course, this also includes landlords cashing here with rental vouchers.
When Dean found the classroom for lectures, there were already more than 60 landlords sitting in it. To be honest, it was a little unexpected for so many people to be landlords in Youngstown.
Just two minutes after he sat down, a tall woman in a dark suit came in.
"I'm Susie. Lang, responsible for today's training course. Now that the time has come, we will start and end on time.
Once in a state, Susie, with a cold expression, clenched her hands behind her back and began to speak like a series of cannons.
"What is the most important thing about finding a house? Location, location, location! So what is the most important thing to find a tenant? Filter, filter, filter...
You have to do a lot of homework. Only in this way will you know who is bad and who is good, who can rent, and who has to be listed as a rejected account.
Next, Susie told the landlord who participated in the course how to grasp the date of birth of the tenant, so as to check whether there is a criminal record, credit status and other issues.
Dean, who participated in such a course for the first time, originally thought that most of the lecturers were according to the script, but he didn't expect that a landlord had so much knowledge.
"In the face of those who call themselves freelancers or be their own bosses, you have to be careful, because those who sell leaves are freelancers or their own bosses.
Unfortunately, there is no reliable and effective screening service in the intermediary market. Most of the time, the landlord can't understand the background and credit history of the renter at the first time.
Hearing Susie's complaint, Dean had a different idea in his mind. Information screening seems to coincide with the classification website I have been working on recently.
It is well known that the upcoming Internet era is the information age, and for those who need it, information is the value, and they are willing to pay the appropriate price for it.
Dean looked at the more than 60 landlords in the classroom, more than half of whom were likely to be potential customers who were willing to pay for information.
"Listen well," Susie motioned everyone to pay attention. "If you meet someone who has a recent expulsion record or criminal record, you don't even have to think about it. Deported people, do you think they have money to pay the rent?
In the United States, landlords have the right to apply to the court for an eviction order for tenants. Of course, this has to be found. For example, rent arrears, destruction of construction facilities, complaints from other tenants, etc. Generally, the court will support the landlord's claims.
And these eviction records are also made public regularly, but most people don't care about them, including many landlords here.
However, Dean feels that this information is valuable. If he completes the collection of this information, someone should be willing to pay a small amount of dollars for them.
Of course, this market is not big. After all, the audience is limited, but it is just right for Dean to verify his ideas, isn't it?
Susie's class was coming to an end soon, but before it was over, she took out another set of printed manuals.
"I am also a landlord. During my nearly ten years of landlord career, I have sorted out all the matters that need to be paid attention to in the process of renting a house into a set of simple and easy-to-understand introductory manuals.
How to screen qualified tenants through some small actions, how to legally evict the tenants you hate, and how to avoid the difficulties of house inspectors...
$2.99 a set, this manual will give you the answer. Susie's confident voice spread to every corner of the classroom.
Dean, who was sitting below, cursed secretly. Damn, it's all business. Unexpectedly, Susie, who is quite like a royal sister, is also a real businessman.
In fact, he is even more angry that someone has put this good ida first, but everyone's tracks are different. He wants to tell Susie a cruel reality that times have changed!
"Do you have any questions?" At the end of the course, Susie scanned the classroom.
"Should I give the tenant a long-term rent or a short-term rent?"
"The focus is on the contract, okay? No matter what the conditions are, it must be written in white and black.
A man in a camouflage hat raised his hand and said, "When we close the house, do we really have to give them a three-month buffer period, or something else?"
"No, if you don't pay the rent, there will be no grace period."
A woman asked, "Can we enter the public area, corridor, or open basement of the house without notifying the tenant?"
Susie paused with a smile, and then asked everyone in the classroom, "So what's the answer?"
"Yes," several landlords answered in unison.
Susie nodded and turned her eyes back to the woman who asked. Come on, read with me: This is my house."
"This is my house." The female students are very obedient.
"This is my house." Susie raised the volume, raised her hands, and motioned the whole class to read it again.
"This is my house." The landlord in the classroom answered in unison.
"This is my house!" Susie pointed to the floor and roared.
The sound in the classroom changed all at once, like a proud and powerful choir. This is my house! My house!"
Susie nodded with satisfaction like a general who reviewed the soldiers. Congratulations, you have become a qualified landlord. Class is over.
"Wait!" Just as everyone got up and was ready to leave, Dean, who had been acting as a background board, raised his hand.
"Does this student have any questions?" Susie stopped the movements in her hand and put a professional smile on her face.
"Miss Susie, I have no problem myself. But as a member of the landlord, I have a proposal that can bring convenience to everyone. Dean stood up and replied in a demagogic voice.
Sure enough, hearing what he said, Susie herself had not said anything. The others sitting in the classroom had shown interest.
"Oh~" Susie looked at Dean unexpectedly. "I don't know what this student's name is?"
"Dean. Price, a freshman majoring in electronic information engineering at Cleveland State University. Dean humbly showed his brightest title.
"Wow, I didn't expect such a young landlord in my class. So, Mr. Price, which one is your main business? Susie's humorous jokes made everyone else in the classroom laugh.
Among these landlords, a few big blacks even whistled.
Dean ignored other people's eyes to look at the tender chicken, and he shrugged his shoulders confidently. That's the scoring place. For example, here, I'm on the same side with everyone. We all want to make money from tenants, and the less trouble, the better.
His speech made many people agree with the nod. This college student did not seem to be an idealist in their impression. Money, everyone's only same goal, talking about this is more useful than anything else.
"Okay, Mr. Price." Susie returned to the podium, "Then let's talk about the proposal you said that can bring convenience to everyone."
Susie herself is also a landlord. Since Dean claims that all this is good for everyone, you might as well listen to it.
"Just like Miss Susie just said," Dean looked at Susie in OL professional clothes, who nodded with a smile.
The most important thing to rent a house is the location, and the most important thing to find a tenant is to screen. For both landlords and tenants, how to find the information you want is the key.
Let me ask you a question first. How many of you here are professional landlords?
To Dean's surprise, more than half of the people in the classroom raised their hands, including Susie sitting on the podium.
"So where do you usually advertise your house, that is, advertising?"
"Of course it's an intermediary." The man in camouflage hat answered as a matter of course, which is also the answer of most people.
Most professional landlords have more than two or three houses, but it is obviously not cost-effective to advertise in newspapers or do other media advertisements for this resource.
Therefore, intermediaries specializing in the real estate industry are almost the only choice for everyone.
"Last question," Dean raised his hand and stressed, "What is the cost of advertising in the intermediary and the effect?"
"Usually, the agency will charge us half a month's rent as a reward. As for the effect, it depends on whether they are willing to introduce our house to the tenants." This time, Susie answered Dean's question.
"Bingo~ That's the problem!" Dean snapped his fingers, "Have you noticed that our landlord was in a passive position during the whole process?"
The agent took our money, but it was entirely up to them to recommend the house to the tenant. Finally, even if we get the tenant's information from them, it has been screened by them.
And the most valuable information is often hidden in the hands of intermediaries, and this should not be the case. We should communicate directly with interested tenants, which is not only efficient, but also saves a considerable intermediary fee.
Dean's last words are the point of everyone's interest. Whoever is willing to rent a house will pay the intermediary up to two or three hundred dollars.
The lack of middlemen to make the price difference means that everyone's profit will rise by another level.
"So what should we do?" The lady who asked before couldn't wait to ask the question that everyone wanted to know.
Dean smiled mysteriously, "I don't know if you have heard of the Internet?"