Landlord Leader: Teresa Pennington

Speaker: Samantha (TurboTenant) Spotlight, my name is Samantha, and I’m on the Education and Community team here at TurboTenant. Today we’re joined by Teresa, who is a landlord using TurboTenant to manage her rental here in Colorado. Thanks for being here, Teresa.

Speaker: Teresa (Landlord) Thank you so much, Samantha, for having me on. Yeah, absolutely. So to start off, can you tell me a bit about how you got into landlording and your rental? Interestingly, I didn’t initially think I was going to be getting into residential rentals. I got into rental properties because I own an RV, and I had a difficult time finding RV storage. When I moved to Colorado, I had difficulty finding RV storage again. This got me interested in RV storage facilities. I started consuming content about self-storage, specifically RV storage through AJ Osborne’s podcast.

Speaker: Samantha (TurboTenant) How did you prepare to become a landlord then? Are there books or podcasts that you used and recommend? When looking at storage, you start going down rabbit holes, finding podcasts and books. I consumed content from AJ Osborne and BiggerPockets. I even took BiggerPockets’ rookie real estate boot camp, which helped me put my learning into practice and build confidence.

Speaker: Teresa (Landlord) Why did you choose TurboTenant for managing your rental? What features were most important to you? I wanted an all-in-one landlord software to manage everything remotely. TurboTenant offered easy property listing, lease agreement creation, background checks, maintenance requests, rent collection, and expense tracking. It’s helped me track my expenses and feel more confident.

Speaker: Samantha (TurboTenant) What have you learned about TurboTenant’s feedback process? I’ve been both a user and now work for TurboTenant. I’ve learned that our product marketing team and customer service team truly care about landlords’ feedback. They continuously interview landlords to improve the product and provide exceptional service.

Speaker: Teresa (Landlord) What have you learned about being a landlord that you wish you knew when you started? I’ve learned to treat my rental business like a hospitality business, focusing on offering excellent service to tenants. It’s about providing a great experience rather than just viewing it as an investment.

Speaker: Samantha (TurboTenant) Do you have advice for anyone interested in becoming a landlord? Three things: 1) Self-education – keep learning from podcasts, books, and content. 2) Attend meetups to build connections and relationships. 3) Take the first step – even if it’s not perfect, it builds confidence.

Speaker: Teresa (Landlord) Tell me about your rental property. I live in Colorado, and I found a townhouse outside of Greeley. It’s a three-bedroom townhouse that I acquired and fixed up a bit. TurboTenant has helped with rent collection, maintenance requests, and tenant communication.

Speaker: Samantha (TurboTenant) What is your investment goal, and what’s next for you? My investment goal is to achieve financial freedom despite unique retirement planning challenges. I’m exploring small multi-family units and learning about creative financing and syndication. I’m also still interested in RV storage down the road.

Speaker: Teresa (Landlord) Outro: Thank you for chatting with me about building your real estate portfolio and your journey. I appreciate your time today. Great, thank you so much, Samantha. I appreciated being on.