All Forum Posts by: Bryan Blankenship

@Amie D. It's really difficult when you KNOW you can do it just as well, if not better, yourself. It all comes down to how much you value your own time! Personally, I LOVE my time, so most of the time I hire out rather than doing it myself. I also have dozens of properties that would take up all of my time if I tried to do it all myself, though, too! Contractors can be fickle people, but sometimes you're forced to take a bit of a gamble.  :)

@Jordan Chicano Welcome aboard, sir! Life is an adventure, real estate is a passion, and when you put the two together... it can be GREAT! You have to be able to get over your fears and doubts and DIVE IN. You'll make mistakes. We all do. But you'll learn from them, and you'll grow, and you'll do better and better. :)

@Ethan Spielvogel Hi there :) LOL I don't really ever meet up with people because despite how it may seem, I'm a definite introvert. However, I DO have an amazing team that LOVES to meet people and answer all of their great questions and all of that stuff! I don't know what their availability is today because we have a lot going on since it's a Friday, but you might be able to meet them somewhere in the middle, depending on the time.

We're in Cincinnati, Dayton, and everywhere in between. 

@Thomas Petra Everyone is on track here already, so I'm just throwing my two cents in with them. :) 10 CAP is risky in most places. Every great once in a while we'll get a smoking deal that will hit 10 CAP, but it's pretty rare. We do A and B class single and multis and run right around an average of 7.6 to 8 CAP. I'd rather have stability and consistency at a 7 CAP than buy into a 10 CAP and run into long vacancies and high turnover rates.

Ohio is much different than Florida, so I imagine there's even less opportunity for those long-term, stable, high returns in your neck of the woods!

@Michael Corso Short answer: no. Long answer: NOPE. We routinely have out-of-state clients get appraisals on their properties here with us, and there's a 98% chance the appraisal is going to come back at a number no one else agrees with. Now, there's a super long story about why that happens HERE so much, but I'm not going to get into that.

As @Account Closed said, it's someone's subjective opinion. I don't know how many times we provide real comps to the appraisers to help them adjust their number to fall in line with reality, but I'm pretty sure it is every other day. 

That being said, there are one or two appraisers here that really DO know the area well, and we're happy to work with them, and they give us numbers that take everything into account, so they are very fair. Depending on if you're getting your appraisal locally or out-of-state, use them at your own caution and discretion after some due diligence. 

Good luck, sir! :)

@Jay Stewart Vinyl plank! That's what we use in all of ours in Cinci and Dayton. :) It's nice that everyone agrees on something, isn't it? LOL

@Steven Mojsej Yup! Our local market does not include utilities unless they're shared in a large apartment building, and that's pretty standard. All of our properties have positive cashflow after everything, including financing, taxes, insurance that actually covers things, maintenance, vacancy, etc.

Sometimes people will do a 5% fee for appliance rental separate from the rent amount, pet fees, etc. We usually just have a flat rental amount, though, and then the tenant is responsible for utilities and lawn maintenance (unless it's a multifamily). 

I hope that helps a little! :)

@Erin Greer Welcome aboard! Read, listen to podcasts, ask questions, read some more, make some mistakes, and learn and grow! This site is a wealth of knowledge and resources, so take advantage of that :)

Good luck!

@Derek McGillicuddy It's always a pretty big gamble if you rent out to someone you know. Sometimes people like to take advantage of a relationship and try to leverage that and make excuses, and it's always hard to have to tack on late fees or even go through an eviction!

You need to approach your investments as a business, and run it as such. $100-125 per month adds up to a lot over the course of a year or more. I'd say advertise it and try to get it leased up at the higher amount (you can always go DOWN in price, but never UP in this situation!), and if it doesn't get enough interest after a week or so, drop the price a bit.

Good luck, sir!

@Tyler Vinsand Unfortunately, I'd chalk this one up to a "lesson learned." Renting out properties in an HOA can be tricky, and there are often a lot of restrictions and rules you have to follow. We all make mistakes, but we learn valuable lessons as a result! I'm just glad when the mistakes I make aren't catastrophic ones LOL.

Good luck, sir!