All Forum Posts by: Al Pat

@James Masotti I had Wells Fargo ready to go but then I withdrew because the interest rate were very high and it was variable despite having credits of 800+. Best thing to do is get fixed loan and that is around 6.125% as of last week. I’m working on a one now.

@Michael Junior not everyone get a deal at 20% of the asking price. $5000 is absolutely not bad. Don’t let that take the joy of getting property away from you. Focus on next step and path forward, aka finding a solid tenant. You will be fine, I have done the same still think I was good even though it didn’t feel like it at that time. Good luck.

@Michael Doherty my rule is stirctly not discuss anything about my side gigs at work. With family and friends ok but within limits.

@Alan Pederson It's hard for those to understand the strategy when they don't have plans. However, I learned a lesson hardway by discussing my personal investments with my boss and coworkers. I was frankly discussing my progress with my boss of over 3 years as to how many houses I have and income it generates etc. Last year our company was going through merger and were restructuring. He made a decision to lay me off so he can keep another manager who did not have means to stay a float. Irony is that the new guy was on the job for barely eight months. When he handed me my severance, he said now you can focus full time on your properties. At that time I realized how discussing too much personal stuff can be detrimental to your career. Not everyone is your friend. So my advise, keep it to yourself, don't get carried away to help everyone you encounter at work. Of course you will have last laugh over others because you are lot smarter than them.

@Cisco Hood when they pull Lexus Nexus report, it will show up that you have a loan on the house even if it's in LLC. People move it for risk mitigation not to get another house for 3-5% down. For that you will have to wait for two years to claim another primary residence.

@Cisco Hood May I ask why do you need to discuss this with your lender? Is this your first property? Once the loan is complete, your business with them for that house is done and over with is my rule. Don't run to them for clarifications. You are running your business no one else. I don't know how they check that but somethings just goes without saying. Pay your bills on time all the time and you shouldn't have issues.

@Marci Stein For a refrigerator that was 8-9 years old and then it stayed in a shed for six years, it wouldn't have given you much service even if was in use. I would look at this way, if they have kept it instead of using their own and had died then you would have spent money to buy replacement anyway. I understand you feel bad but I had same thing happened to me. Fortunately, when they remove things and I find it during my HVAC filter change visits 😉, I offer to remove it for safe keeping or use in another property. I wouldn't worry about charging them after they stayed for six years. Hope this helps.

@Tom R. I tried Home Depot once but I always stick with Sherwin Williams promar 200 paint. My paint colors are standard for all my properties so I always have left over and it matches very well. Also, SW paint is little thicker and hides imperfections very well. I tried eggshell but went back to flat again. However, even SW will not accept return of tinted paint.

I have been self managing my properties for years and have always given my tenants my cell phone number. If there is a water line burst in the middle of the night, do you want your tenant to call your voicemail or you? Simple question you need to ask yourself is, when you call your tenant do you expect to speak to them or their voice mail? your answer and expectations should not be any different than your tenant. If you feel the need to hide behind a voicemail then you are not ready for the business. With all that said, the process actually starts at the time of tenant selection. In metro Atlanta, I am peaky about who I rent. I am biased towards renting to professionals with over 45k-50k income range. I had only two calls past 10pm but never after that and both were legit and reasonable. You also need to train your tenants, my tenants do their homework before they call me so I am okay with them calling me.  

@Leanne Rich Never provide more than what you have to. Less maintenance request will come your way. We only provide refrigerator, stove with oven and dishwasher. I do have some properties with built in microwave over range but it came like that. We even removed garbage disposal after many tenants didn't know what to and what not to put in it causing freuent jams.