Getting automatic payments from Property 2’s Tyrell was nice when he had a taxable job. Every Friday morning I’d hear that chime on my phone which let me know that $178.75 has been deposited into my account. With the circus situation of Property X and the constant unreliability of the post office, I’ve been looking for a way to get electronic payments from tenants without having to rely on mail. And I may have found it.
Chase Bank has this thing called Quick Pay. It’s designed so that anyone can send me money electronically, even if they don’t have an account with Chase. Here’s how it works:
1. I sign up for Quick Pay with my Chase account (already done.)
2. A tenant signs up online for Chase Quick pay, even if they don’t have a Chase account. All they need is the routing and account number from their bank.
3. Once everything is verified I give them my email address or phone number, which is connected to my account. When they need to make a rent payment, they just go online and pay money to that email address/phone number. I get the notification and accept the payment, which usually happens same day.
That’s it!
In order to do this, I’ll have to start slowly. I’ll experiment with whoever the new tenants at Property X will be. When I give them the approval and they come to sign the lease, they’ll also have to bring their routing and account number with them. I’ll bring my laptop and my phone which has a free tether, and they can set everything up in front of me. The whole process takes about 5 minutes, so it’s a tiny sacrifice of time for a large reward. I'll probably do this with Tyrell himself, as his bank sends me weekly checks to the PO Box. Imagine never having to hear the line, “I sent it in the mail a couple days ago”. Imagine never having to wonder whether the post office is slow or the tenant is lying. Imagine never having to go to the post office for rent ever again. Imagine a system where everyone pays this way, leaving me to take vacations whenever and wherever I want during retirement and still get that sweet rent money. Imagine never having to break that vacation to fly/drive back to Smalltown for a late rent payment pickup. Ugh, wow. And it all starts now.
P.S.: I thought about hiring a rent collection company, but I’ve decided not to bother. I don’t like adding more variables to something that should be very simple. A third party means yet another person/entity that I have to keep my eye on, and I’m trying to lessen that reality by as much as possible.Variable elimination, remember?
Chase Bank has this thing called Quick Pay. It’s designed so that anyone can send me money electronically, even if they don’t have an account with Chase. Here’s how it works:
1. I sign up for Quick Pay with my Chase account (already done.)
2. A tenant signs up online for Chase Quick pay, even if they don’t have a Chase account. All they need is the routing and account number from their bank.
3. Once everything is verified I give them my email address or phone number, which is connected to my account. When they need to make a rent payment, they just go online and pay money to that email address/phone number. I get the notification and accept the payment, which usually happens same day.
That’s it!
In order to do this, I’ll have to start slowly. I’ll experiment with whoever the new tenants at Property X will be. When I give them the approval and they come to sign the lease, they’ll also have to bring their routing and account number with them. I’ll bring my laptop and my phone which has a free tether, and they can set everything up in front of me. The whole process takes about 5 minutes, so it’s a tiny sacrifice of time for a large reward. I'll probably do this with Tyrell himself, as his bank sends me weekly checks to the PO Box. Imagine never having to hear the line, “I sent it in the mail a couple days ago”. Imagine never having to wonder whether the post office is slow or the tenant is lying. Imagine never having to go to the post office for rent ever again. Imagine a system where everyone pays this way, leaving me to take vacations whenever and wherever I want during retirement and still get that sweet rent money. Imagine never having to break that vacation to fly/drive back to Smalltown for a late rent payment pickup. Ugh, wow. And it all starts now.
P.S.: I thought about hiring a rent collection company, but I’ve decided not to bother. I don’t like adding more variables to something that should be very simple. A third party means yet another person/entity that I have to keep my eye on, and I’m trying to lessen that reality by as much as possible.Variable elimination, remember?
I use erentpayment.com. It is very inexpensive and professional. You also have the option of blocking partial payments, which protects you from tenants who know the law and want to stay while not fully paying you.
ReplyDeleteGood thing you wrote this because I completely forgot the name of that website when you first suggested it. I checked it out and looks pretty damned good! But I have to try doing it without a third party first. If this Quick Pay thing doesn't work, or if I can't find another way to keep it between myself and the tenant, then I'll probably have to go with Erent Payment. Now that I think about it, maybe Quick Pay can be considered a "third party" as well... hmm...
DeleteNot sure what the laws are where you live. Where I have a rental, if the tenant makes a partial payment and it is accepted, you cannot evict. Can your refuse Quick Pay payments after you have accepted the first one?
ReplyDeleteMore about erentpayment.com: it sends your renters automatic invoices (if you want that), it can be set up to require autodebitting every month (if you want that), can automatically add in late fees, and each payment is labeled (rent, utilities, deposit) to prevent later disagreements over what the payment was made for. I love them.
The auto-debit feature sounds very awesome. I may have to check this out much sooner than later. I'll call them to see how much they want for their services. If the price is right, then I'll increase the rent my that amount so that I don't lose any profit. I'll try Quick Pay first, of course, but Erentpayment will be next. Good stuff, Trix...
DeleteThe price IS right. You can absorb it totally yourself ($3/month is average per property), you can make the tenant 100% responsible for paying it, or you can split the payment $1.50/$1.50 with each tenant.
DeletePer property or per apartment? Hmm... doesn't really matter now that I think of it. $3 would be a great deal either way. I'll call them up to get more info.
Delete