All Forum Posts by: Alex Craig

@Jay Hinrichs Yes, the chicken is good. Not sure if the Franchiser is doing the food court route, but I doubt it, she is very particular on protecting the uniqueness of the brand.  I love those commercial food courts--the one in Boston near Faneuil Hall is my favorite.

BTW -- we are considering taking on another partner/group to expand beyond Knoxville into 3 to 4 markets within the next 3 to 4 years. There is no doubt and I thought so before I even got involved in this venture 5 years ago, but hands down, the best fried chicken in the country. Food Network and several other publications agree.

@Jay Hinrichs out of my domain. I will stick to Little Rock, Memphis and Knoxville real estate along with frying chicken!

@Jay Hinrichs where can I sign up for that?

@Diane G. Lol. Why it?

@Keilen Richardson

@Keilen Richardson BTW, I think I may know the whole Shelley you’re talking about as we have bought some deals from him and I’ve been very active in Jacksonville, Arkansas.

I still say driving for dollars is the best way to find potential deals.

@Keilen Richardson

Pigs soooe! I just hired a Arkansas graduate in the past year.

Let me jump in here and clarify my comments. Not all painters and carpet installers are stoners--just an observation that over my 12 year career of doing this, I have found these 2 traders to rank 1 and 2 though. 

There is a quote in the movie, Boiler Room. I am not going to direct quote as it is inappropriate for this forum, but  "Act as if. You understand what that means? Act as if you are the President of this firm." The quote goes on from their, but certainly not going to share here.

The main point of this quote is to walk and talk with confidence. Don't let anyone think you are anything but an expert in the field and someone that should be taken serious.  Something else to consider is dress successful too. It doesn't have to be a suit and tie, but dress nice. Go to your local mens clothing store that is not Jos A Bank or the Mens Warehouse.  Something along Brooks Brothers.  

"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing"

Off topic, but sort of on topic. I just find these funny and thought I would share from some good movies

"Coffee is for closers"

"Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach, teach PE"

"The world needs ditch diggers too"

And my all time favorite: "I rarely wear underwear, but when I do, it is usually something unusal" 

"Hello, my name is Jeff, I am your new landlord. I am going to raise your rent and yes, I understand the place is a dump." :)

Things to consider:

• maybe they are living there because they can't afford to move and since they realize rents have not been raised in 15 years, they accept their place needs a full reno.  I see that type of gentlemen's agreement all the time, in that, tenant does not call in maintenance or complain about the condition of their home and landlord leaves rents alone. I don't agree with it, but it happens.
• Sounds like the bar is low on the tenants if you are waiting on them to get evicted 
• If your goal is to get them to leave, then yes, raise the rent and get them out.  I buy homes frequently with the same scenario you are laying out. I roll with the rent for a while allowing those rents to fix up easy repairs while the tenant is in the house. 
• Tell the tenant you will keep him in place at current rent, but you want to make specific repairs that when complete, you will need to raise rent to X.  The tenant may like that the owner is finally fixing up the place and will be ok with paying $100 more
• That being said, your rents are super low.  $25 is a big deal in this space and you may be overthinking the expectation of the tenant. In other words, avoid over renovating the place. A few cheap vanities, new coutnertop, twin pack brush nickel lights ($25), rolled vinyl, etc go far in this space.
• You mention "when they get evicted", that is a common occurrence in that space. I would try to figure out how to keep your turn cost low--it is burn and turn in this space. That being said, if the 3 of 5 tenants are paying, you may not want to mess with that.