All Forum Posts by: Alan Pederson

I bought a 3'x5' banner and I hang it on the back fence of one of my houses that backs up to a busy street. I have a separate banner for each house describing some of the features of that house and my phone number. It works really good. www.bannersonthecheap.com and like everyone else has said, screening tenants is extremely important. I have good tenants in my rentals and I would gladly give up a months rent for a good tenant.

The Oven/stove and dishwasher are pretty standard to include. I also provide a Fridge. I can usually pick up a nice used one for $400 or buy a new one on sale for $1,000.

I wouldn't buy something that looked like this

Last year we had a new concrete patio (10'x16') and patio cover installed on one house. The old one was really small (6'x6' i think) and had no cover. We just had trees trimmed on another. On a different house, we remodeled both bathrooms that were in bad shape.

The dollar value we spent on these things might not increase the price of the house as much as it costs for these projects but the value is that it brings in more potential tenants and keeps the ones I have for a longer period of time.

This keeps Sheldon from knocking on the front door?

I don't know why this door won't fit thru the gate.

It would depend on the size of the creek but you might be able to install a culvert.

My wife has a hard time spending less and saving more. I Iook at the bank account and the bigger it gets, the less I want to spend it. When she sees it, she thinks about the places we can go, new cars, adding a pool, etc... I keep having to remind her that we are trying to build up this business so one day we can retire and have a comfortable living. It's like being on an elevator and as soon as it starts going up, you push the button to get off. I'm in no hurry, I'm heading to the penthouse. LOL

Rich Dad Poor Dad and Set For Life are pretty good books to read. I drive a 2006 Nissan truck that has over 200,000 miles on it. I think I can make it last at least a few more years and my wife keeps telling me to buy a new truck. It runs just fine but the paint is starting to peal. When I look at new trucks I see that prices start at $35k or so and I think that I would rather use that money to buy another house and than let the income from that house pay for my new truck. It probably won't even be a new truck. I think I will buy one a year or two old to get a better deal.

We don't scrimp every penny (my wife's a bad influence on me) because you have to enjoy life a little to. We take little vacations that don't cost a lot a couple of times a year. This year we're going to Arkansas during spring break and renting a nice cabin at a state park for a few days. This summer we're going to Alaska but this is something we have been planning to do for a couple of years and most of the expense it going to get paid using points from our credit card.

It's all about having a different mindset then most people. Most people are trying to keep up with the Jones and it's important for them to have the right clothes and drive the right car in order to fit in or look cool. I don't care what other people think because I'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

If you retired right now, what would you have to live on? When I looked at my own finances (I'm 55) I was looking at working till I was 67 and we would be living on $100k a year. That would be plenty for some people. Once I got into real estate, I now plan to retire around 62 and we should have around $200k a year to live on. If I want more income than that, I can keep building my portfolio while i'm retired or put off retirement a few years. My choice! Before real estate, I had no choice.

In Tarrant county, you can go to the website www.TAD.org and look it up by property address or owner name.

SF price varies by city and neighborhood. Start looking at various neighborhoods to get a feel of what the prices are or get a realtor to check comps. In the area I look at it's between $125-135 a sf for single family homes but if you travel a few miles east from that area, the price drops because of crime rates and school ratings. I wouldn't buy anything in that area of town.

Vacancy rates are low but that to depends on the neighborhood and the price you charge for rent. Last summer I was getting 5-7 calls a day for a house I had for rent. I could have rented out 10 houses if I would have had them. I have one listed right now on realtor.com (613 Ruth, Kennedale, TX if you want to take a peak) and haven't received a call yet and it's been posted for a week. My tenant isn't moving out till the end of February so i'm not really trying right now to get calls. In a couple more weeks, I will put up the yard sign and I also place a 3'x5' banner on the back of a fence at one of my properties that backs up to a busy street. Once I do that, the calls start flooding in.

There are 4plexes in Kennedale and in Arlington that come up for sale once in awhile. Most of them are sold individually so buying the entire 4plex doesn't come up as often. Duplexes are much easier to find and if you're planning to house hack, this might be a better prospect to start with. There are some nice ones just east of 287 and north of Sublet in Arlington. Look around Homestead road. I also used to live in a townhouse duplex in Euless on Argone ct and those were nice when I lived there 15 years ago but I don't know how they are now.

You don't have to write a new lease. Just write up an addendum to that lease that states you are increasing rent and add the part about the discount for paying on time. I wouldn't add the last part but that's your call. Here's what mine looks like. I increased the rent and changed the late fee on mine.