All Forum Posts by: Eric La Pratt

Nice insight @Aaron Wyssmann. What type of accounts? Regular checking / savings or something a bit more aggressive?

How do your tenants track the amounts? I use a spreadsheet and make a draw when something requires. Presumably simple accounting software would do the same thing. 

Thanks @Jerry W.

That's my plan for sure. I am curious to know how people organize their money. Is it all in one savings account where you commingle cap ex funds between your properties? Is there a maximum percentage one might want to have saved (of course depending on the area and home)?

Hey BP'ers,

A few questions about the amounts you are saving every month for maintenance, vacancy, & cap ex.

1) How do you keep track of it?
2) Do you keep it all in one account? 
3) What do you do with your excess (ie if you have no vacancies for 5 years or your maintenance balance is starting to look like a cap ex balance)?

I myself could use some recommendations in these very areas.

I've used the Swedish Gardener for landscaping. Good work but not sure where her prices fall into others. I don't know if she does grass cutting.

I hope to be working with Dave Kidd with Owen Tree Service for a tree removal in the next month or two. I've used McDonald once for a great price and they did great work but I've never been able to get him to even answer my calls (he's admitted that he thinks my cell is a bill collector because it's out of state.) I'd love to give him more business but I guess he doesn't need it from me. 

Scheer's Ace Hardware can recommend a plumber I believe and possibly an electrician. Get to know those guys at the plumbing/electrical desk. They've saved my rear a few times. They did give me a plumber name but I don't have it off hand and haven't had to use it just yet.

Hey all!

Any investors out there who own property in the Chicago Uptown market? We've zeroed in on a property and just offered on and so would be indebted to briefly pick your mind in return for grateful cup of coffee, a decent lunch or whatever. Curious to hear about first hand experience with tenants, rents, the neighborhood, etc.

For what it is worth, I've lived in Uptown for 5 years now so I am super familiar with the area but not so much as an investor. Any leads would be helpful.

Thanks!

@Mark Forest While I think taking a class is not a bad idea, I also do not think it is the best usage of your time. Work on your business, not in it. That said, for a little photo advice, I would suggest to think like you might think an expert would think (make it up!) and, at the same time, like a perspective renter. A few photo tips:

• Photos are 2 dimensional representations of 3 dimensional spaces. So what you think looks okay in real life does not always translate onto "film". When you take your photo from eye level and point that camera lens down, you are essentially taking a photo that is mostly flooring. Instead, lower your camera to about 4' high. Don't go too low and then aim the camera up - the same goes for photos of the ceiling... no one cares about that!
• Keep your camera level - do not point down and do not point up. When the vertical lines in your space show up in the photograph as actually vertical, is gives the perception to the viewer that there is order. If you look at almost any architecture photograph (the rule is broken sometimes), every vertical edge of the space is actually vertical in the image. If the photographer tilts a camera, the vertical lines in the space start to angle and stop being parallel to one another. This is called "converging lines" where, if you followed the lines off the page, they eventually would meet and converge at one point. You do not want your lines to converge.
• Open the curtains! Let natural light flow in!
• Avoid putting the corner of a room in the center of an image. Instead, put the corner off to the side about 1/3rd of the way in.
• Try to include a window in every shot.
• Get creative with your perspective. Consider incorporating something in the foreground so that you can "shoot over" something the gently peaks in.
• Turn on all of the lamps in an image.
• Do not photograph at night. Dusk or dawn, maybe, but that's getting pretty advanced.
• Try to stay away from wide-angle shots. Some photographs do this to show the whole space but it's deceiving as we do not see like that as humans. It's more natural and better marketing wise to create a descriptive image that evokes an emotional response.

You can see examples of these principals on my website here. I also do not expect you to make images like on my website. Just make a good, clean image that is bright and homey. If you do not trust yourself, hire a real estate photographer. They usually cost a few hundred bucks. You'll want to stage the space, too, so it looks liveable. For good examples, it might be worth looking at local AirBnB listings.

Once you have a good image library, you do not need to update it for years. Also, when I tour one of my occupied units and my tenant has decorated with good taste, I will ask if I can take a few photos to use later down the line. Then I can avoid staging.

Hope this helps!

I agree with my predecessors here. I would add that the photos are not warm, inviting or homey. They are dingy and dark. This is a problem with many rental ads, not just yours. Then again, I spent many years photographing the worlds top hotels for their sales and advertising campaigns. This is not a multi-million dollar property but paying a little more attention to how your images "feel" and what they convey would make a big difference. There is a lot to be said for the nuts and bolts of what you offer but, remember, a home is usually an emotional experience. Your marketing should lend itself to that experience. 

Uptown! Argyle & Marine to be more exact. And our favorite pizza is Michael's on Broadway between Irving & Buena.

I am looking at multi-families on the north side right now. Nothing yet, but soon. You are thinking about the right areas. Just a matter of honing in. 3 multi's came on the market last week in Ferndale that are all priced very high (which is great for me as an owner). They are are not charging enough rent, either. For whatever reason, landlords seem to think the Ferndale market is not tolerant of higher rents when, in fact, it is very tolerant.

Welcome @Judy T.!

I've done the opposite of you- that is gone from Ferndale back to Chicago. You've found a wonderful site and wil be able to use it to help sure up the family rentals I am going to guess might exist since they're all being managed in someone's head.

If you have any questions, definitely reach out. Also check out the Webinars!

Welcome aboard, Jeremy. Explore and exploit BP!