All Forum Posts by: Andrew Halbert

We just rented to a tenant with a somewhat similar situation.  Credit was a disaster due to a foreclosure over 5 years ago.  However, all other backgrounds checks came in ok, income verification was good, employment history was good and the tenant's former landlord said they were a great tenant and hadn't missed a rent payment in the 5 at their former residence. They also could move in on Nov 1st, where most of my other leads could not move in until 12/1.  The last thing I wanted was a family moving into my unit during a winter in Michigan.  

HOWEVER, I did insist on a 6 month lease and they agreed.  Drama free and rent on time for 6 months means we can renew again in the spring. 

 buy and hold

 I'm not sure how to answer that?  Forgive my newbiizm but what do you mean?

 Like I mentioned earlier, the knowledge of the area and the home are worth a lot.  Being a newbie, and already having my hands full outside of investing, it made the most sense with the least amount of risk at this time.  

It's a different experience that's for sure. Emotionally detaching from the house where we became a "family" is not that easy.  

Each person's/investors situation is different.  For us at this stage of our life this made the most sense.  It might not yield an awesome cash flow, but it was a safer and more logical choice for my family.  If I was 25 again, no kids sure I would have gone all in very aggressively.  The way I look at it is hey, I'm at least starting this journey so I don't have to work a 9-5 forever.  90% of the battle for us was simply getting going and taking the risk. 

 When we bought the house it was at the height of the economic crisis (especially in detroit) and we paid hardly anything.  It was never our intention to turn this into a rental when we bought the house almost 8 years ago.  We did a LOT of modest renovations etc.  Currently it appraised at 160K.  I did not pay anywhere close to that, so there is equity to work with.  

Our cash flow is ok. I am pleased with the potential ROI for just this unit for now. It's a good safe starting point for us. We know the neighborhood, we know the house through and through. I thought about selling and taking the money and purchasing one or two units in a lower value area, but decided against it due to the fact that my knowledge of this house and this area is worth something. I also have a full time job, 3 kids and new house to look after, so we needed to play this smart.

 I would say learning how not to let people waste our time is number one.  People lie and lie and lie.  We wasted a lot of time with bogus leads/people etc.  With 3 kids, wife full time job, that was killer.  I was also very aggressive with the signing date after a potential tenant passed our checks and scorecard. 

 I won't ever have a lease signing on a Monday again, that was disastrous.  I realize now that not everyone has almost 4K just laying around for a security deposit + 1st months rent + app fee's etc.  That's a lot of money and I should have allotted more time for my #1 pick to get the funds.  I didn't even think about the fact that they are going to have to give their current landlord 30 days notice, plus get that security deposit back to use on my rental etc...  

All in all it was an awesome learning experience and I'll take these tools with me to the next property we acquire.  

If any other newbies like me have any questions feel free to ask.  We definitely made some mistakes. I haven't dealt with the general public in this type of setting EVER so that was a real treat at times let me tell you! 

Wow what an experience and learning curve! Major thanks to personal friend and fellow BP'r @Christian Hutchinson for all the advice and help. 

My wife and I have been wanting to get into real-estate for some time and finally put our plan in motion about 6 months ago.  As of of Nov 1. our first lease is signed.  Feels great. 

Thanks to everyone here for their help and advice.  

Yes I have already started showings again.