All Forum Posts by: Bryan Blankenship

@Shane Brandt LOL! Nice to know that hasn't changed.

I see :) Whatever route you end up going with, best of luck, sir! 

@Charlie Moore Yup, what they've said! People will flush all sorts of things down the toilet and expect you to pay for it unless it's spelled out in their lease. If your lease includes this, then send them a bill with the explanation of what's clogging it and why it's their problem to pay for and not yours. 

If it's NOT on your lease, then you could be nice and not charge them, but give them a bit of an ultimatum about it and let them know you won't be paying for it if it happens again in the future. Maybe give them some kind of print-out that explains what you can't flush down a toilet and why (a lot of wipes advertise as being "flushable," but they're not, at all - some people may not know this and just trust the packaging to be honest). You could also charge them since it's not "normal wear and tear." Either way, make it abundantly clear that it is their responsibility not to flush wipes, sanitary products, paper towels, etc if they don't want to be stuck with a bill. :)

@Shane Brandt Welcome aboard! You're in the right place :)

My wife's family is from Illinois. Her sister used to live by Mattoon, so I know where you're talking about (do parts of Decatur still smell like old, burning tires? LOL).  Not many duplexes around there, as you said. Tons of cute little single families, though. Do your due diligence on the properties themselves and know your market. Since you live around there, you know what areas are hottest, which ones would attract students as rentals, etc.

Good luck!

@Joe Shepherd Welcome aboard! You've come to the right place. Now that you've had a taste for real estate, you're in for a wild ride! :)

@Aaron Ure Welcome aboard! Real estate is a passion, 100%. Networking is huge. Doing your research and due diligence up front is huge. Finding that first deal and diving into it is a wild ride that you either love or hate! Once you get that first one under your belt, you're hungry for more. :)

Good luck!

@Roshan K. I retired at age 35 with real estate. Then, three months later, I came back out of retirement because I was bored out of my mind and LOVE real estate too much to let it go! I'm back at it with a full team and wouldn't trade it for anything else.

In retrospect, maybe I'm not the best person to answer this LOL :)

@Tom Kaplan Welcome aboard! You'll find that there's a TON of valuable information and resources here. Read the forums, listen to the podcasts, and ask any and all questions you have.  :)

@Andria Kobylinski Love the Midwest, but I understand your desire to go a slightly different route with AirBnB and whatnot. You could potentially do that in the major hub cities in the MidWest.

@James Wise LOL, I think she meant in Jacksonville since you mentioned that market, but she should have seen that answer coming. ;)

@Alex Pearson Welcome aboard! It's never really too late. You just have to have the drive to do it! Don't feel at all discouraged by that. 

Read the forums, listen to the podcast, absorb everything, ask questions, and start investing! Best of luck, sir :)

@James O. Love it! I'm glad you've approached this with an eye for long-term returns. I think that's where a lot of people fail to see the benefit of a GOOD, reliable turnkey company.  Houses get lived in. They're going to have some out-of-pocket expenses like anything else that gets used daily. Sure, this strategy isn't for everyone. No single strategy is!

Most turnkey clients do it because they value the service turnkey companies provide and are happy to trade a little more cash upfront for the ability to receive passive monthly cashflow. Several of mine are very busy professionals who don't have the time to worry about every little maintenance issue or bad crew, and they LOVE what we do for them.

Thanks for saying we're not ALL bad. We really aren't. :)