new member from Atlanta, GA.

[Ari Newman]

Hi everyone,

My name is Ari Newman, and I live in the Reynoldstown neighborhood a few miles east of Downtown Atlanta. I've owned a home-automation and low-voltage integration company since 2007 and have just now dipped my toe into the world of real estate investing. With over 15 years experience working in other people's homes (& a major renovation of my own) I saw the potential for these skills to translate well to REI. My primary interest is buy & hold properties which I will manage myself for the next few years. My long term goal is to build a portfolio of properties that will fund my family's retirement.

So I decided to jump in with both feet and purchased my 1st investment property (SFR 3/1) about 6 weeks ago. It's currently tenant occupied, and since I'm honoring the existing terms of the lease, I drive to the property once a week to pickup a cash payment. (and some coins too ;) When the current lease ends in a few months, I'll update the kitchen & bath, refinance and then move on to the next one.

I love analyzing deals and playing with numbers so I'm open & intrigued to learn about all the facets of REI. If anyone is interested in talking shop, please send a PM and we can grab a cup of coffee!

cheers,

Ari

[Mitch Messer]

Hey @Ari Newman, welcome to BP! I do like your buy & hold strategy, but unless you really enjoy driving to tenants to collect rent every week, you should consider requiring your tenants to sign up for automatic withdrawal from a checking or savings account.

Collecting rents in cash creates the opportunity for payment disputes, not to mention being a security risk and a huge inconvenience for you.

If you're goal is to build a serious portfolio of properties, you'll need to resolve the rent payment issue sooner or later. Might as well be sooner.