All Forum Posts by: Alex Deacon

@Daniel Green Daniel I did the same thing 22 years ago. I was a full time mechanic and I quit my job and made $12,000 the first year as a real estate agent. I went back to work as a FT mechanic and did RE on the side. Then I was established enough after 2 years I did FT agent and PT mechanic and after the 4 th year I was making 100k in the RE business and I quit my job as a mechanic. I would suggest the same for you. Now I am in the top 1% income wise. I am truly blessed.

I don't want to stop you from your dream but just be cautious and if you do jump in full time and don't like it is it easy to get a job doing what you are currently doing now?

I wish you all the best

@Matt Stokes Matt This is a great scenario potentially for you. I am thinking the seller may even take a little less than what's owed. If they want out bad enough they will find a way to come up with a $5k or $10k shortfall. The other option is they may consider a lease option to you. Cover their mortgage payment and then you rent it out to someone else or fix and flip. You would put no money down.

Either way the property has to make sense at that number. If it doesn't then walk from it if you cant make the numbers work.

Good luck

@Ben Kirchner

 First, I agreed to let the tenant pay the security deposit with broken up payments on agreed upon dates AFTER the move in.  NEVER DO THIS 

- I went to the property to do a 30 day walk thru. I saw a dog in the house, which I was never told about. I would require a $250 pet fee for this. When I contacted her about it, she said she was just "dog sitting fort he weekend."  I have heard that a million timesThe tenant was there. Instead, her Mom (who is an authorized tenant) and a man who I didn't know (unauthorized tenant) was there, with her kids. An unauthorized tenant again would warrant a $250 fee. She said he was just a weekend visitor.OK RIGHT

- She was late on rent this month. She ended up paying rent and the late fee on 5/10/17. Again, this took some hounding. She is not payed up.

- Today I went to the house to do another walk thru, fix something, and check on things. This time she was not there, but her cousin and her cousins friend was there with her kids, along with the Mother again. They let me in. I saw dog food. The dog was outside but later let in the house while I was there.

My questions:

At this point, I certainly do not trust the tenant. She is paid up for May. I can't confirm if the other people at the house stay there or not. However, I think at the very least, she owes the $250 pet fee. My question is how would I enforce this? I see her giving me the run around about "just dog sitting." How can I enforce the pet fee, and are there ground for eviction based on this? Part of me says I need to be ready to push the button the eviction now, but I need solid reasoning, and also do not want to forfeit May's rent when she would end up occupying it for the rest of the month, regardless. Another part of me says wait until next month and file for an eviction if it's the 2nd of the month and she has not yet paid. That would at least start the process, and have her out with some time to start showing the house again in June. What are my options? Looking for how an experienced landlord would handle this situation.

Thank you

been doing this 25 years and we manage over 600 units. Start eviction and she will either step up to the plate or leave. You have to be in control and never deviate from your process of screening tenants. You have to take your time when finding the right tenant and evict as soon as possible.

good luck

@Ritch Bonisa There is an overload of out state and country investors in PGH. Mainly because its affordable. The issue is that 99% of the investors fail. They are taken advantage of and they dont do their due diligence. I buy 4-5 properties a month in PGH and live here. I help a lot of out of area buyers grow their portfolio. Its not easy. Just because its affordable here in PGH you still need to know what you are doing and have a great team of contractors, property manager, agent, attorney, etc..

@Frankie Lotrec Hello fellow Pennsylvanian.  I live in Pittsburgh and run a property management firm. I assume you are across the state closer to Philadelphia? If you need any help let me know and I can email you our leases and other forms that we use. We basically use the standard PAR lease which is the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors lease. There is a lot to learn. You need to be well educated so read up, listen to experts and go to local real estate investor meetings etc..

@Tyler Vinsand Thank You for reading the Blog post. Thats the first time for me. 25 years in the RE investment side of things but 25 minutes into this social media blogging thingy. If you need any help I will try to answer the best I can and be frank and to the point. I find thats the best.

@Dean Kamak Dean please reach out to me when you are in town. We have an expert staff of contractors and I own and operate a licensed property management compnay here in Pittsburgh. PM me so we can schedule a meeting when you are in town next time.

Warm Regards

Can you also do me a quick favor. I am technologically challenged but i posted my first blog today. Literally a few hours ago. Can you read it and do whatever people do after reading a blog do? I just started using social media and BP last week because one of my younger and smarter associates urged me to do so.

@Cameron Paterson Ok thats good to know. I always suggest to my clients and students that they start small and keep their risk small until they get a grasp of the market place etc.. commercial is not really my thing its mainly residential and small multi family but the basics apply to all types of RE. 

Can you also do me a quick favor. I am technologically challenged but i posted my first blog today. Literally a few hours ago. Can you read it and do whatever people do after reading a blog do? I just started using social media and BP last week because one of my younger and smarter associates urged me to do so.

@Tyler Vinsand @Cory DeGuzman To the both of you I can say that for certain there is always a crash around the corner. Being in the business for 25 years. That for certain will never change. You just need to be safe with each and every purchase. I look at each investment like this. A. Everything goes well and I make a lot of Money. B I make substantial profit. C. I break even or rent out the property and cover my expenses  D. I lose X amount of $$ because the market tanked or I just miscalculated but I can afford to risk and I will learn from that and move on. 

If I can live with scenario D and the upside is large enough then I will pursue the deal.

Where you can really get caught with your pants down is if you have too many flips going on at the same time and the market shifts. Then your holding costs will kill you and you wont be able to sell the property or even rent it out to come close to covering the monthly liability.

In the rental game rents will shift but generally you are able to keep everything afloat. 

One final note if the market crashes so badly then there is nobody that will be safe. thats out of our control. focus on what you can control which is your correct decision making and the correct due dilligence.

good Luck