All Forum Posts by: Austin F.

Innago (prop management software) sends reminders for me. I can tell when the reminders go out because I get a few tenants paying up each time. It sends out a few emails before the 1st.

If they haven't paid by the 2nd I will text them myself and remind them, that usually elicits a reason for lateness, and a payment.

On time rent collection has gone way up since I started using the software with reminders. When I was doing it manually I would not send reminders and most rent came in on the 1st or 2nd. Now most is paid early with a few stragglers on the 1st.

All to say reminders work, but get a software to do it for you.

If you have more money than time, pay someone. If you have more time than money, do it yourself.

Painting isn't that hard, but its much harder than it looks to do a nice job. Tape, patience, and two coats will serve you well if you decide to do it yourself.

I use a neutral white in all my properties Sherwin Williams "Weathered Bone". It isn't exciting but it is very neutral, and cuts in easy for repaints. Sometimes if I have paint left over from a different project I'll do an accent wall but I wouldn't spend much time fussing over paint color, its a rental not a Better Homes and Gardens front pager.

I pass along the cost of background check as my application fee. I am also very up front with my requirements so I don't get many misses. If someone tried to charge me $75 to APPLY to rent their place I would move on.

Are you getting these requests off Zillow "so and so has requested an application". If so I would say most of those leads do not end in an application for me. I have found anyone actually serious has a few questions before applying, so I have started only sending applications to people I have had a dialogue with beforehand. 

Single lease as one unit. No one wants to rent with people they don't know, in my town groups will set out to find houses, not singles.
Then as I tell the kids when they complain "Its much more motivating to come home to a house full of angry roommates than it is for me to call you a few times"
Continuing: If someone leaves I put the students in charge of finding their new roommate, I don't want that responsibility. I tell them something to the tune of "rent is the same with 3 people or 4, so better ask all your friends"

I like LVP. The harder wear layer stuff gouges less when someone drags a bed across it.

I use Innago, free, very good. Screening college kids is tricky, they don't have any credit history, and I'm not going to call their RA (if they're straight out of the dorms or their parents house). I find that listing very early attracts the best tenants.

Maintenance: I set up a group text message with me and all the kids living in the unit and tell them to direct maintenance requests to that chat. Makes it easy for me to talk to all of them at once, and then I don't get 4 individual tickets for a broken toilet.

Love my students, just remember to speak their language.

My college kids smoke a lot of pot inside (I believe). Probably not enough to be considered some type of smokers den although I'm not sure, I generally leave them alone. But they are for sure doing bong hits in the living room.

Anyways, I have found that weed smell comes out WAY easier than cigarettes. Usually a day with the windows open and its hard to smell it anymore. A good clean and a few hours of ozone and its totally gone.

Would I rent to someone who was super stoked on 420? No probably not they're usually pretty weird, but my calculus is different I don't have a unit sitting empty. May be worth a meeting and a conversation to sound them out.

Edit for a fun story:
I worked with this guy who was super stoked on 420, had "legalize it" stickers all over his car, wore Bob Marley shirts, stopped work every day at 4:20 to take a hit, etc. Couldn't figure out why the cops kept pulling him over for doing 1mph over the speed limit, happened all the time. One day he got arrested after they found a baggy of what he called "gummy bear sugar" and the cops called "meth". Never heard how that one ended, but had to drive over and get his car off the side of the road, then go bail him out of jail. Fun times.

Innago works well for me and has many other features. Also free.

I too have been considering this. Would like something like a high yield savings account where I can easily transfer money in and out (of course with limits etc). Not sure what type of fund to look at.

Edit to add: Don't need highest rate of return, would bee perfectly content with 4% or so if it were easy, and pretty liquid. My local bank where I keep everything else offered me 1.5%, not worth it at that point.

My insurance agent often does an adequate job.

That sentance alone tells me I should shop around agents/providers, but what is the easiest/most effective way to do that? I would prefer emailing off some info and getting a rough quote before driving over and sitting down for a 2 hour shakedown by a new agent.

I would also prefer me current agent not know I am aggressivly shopping around.

I have a medium sized portfolio, 7 houses, liability, an auto, RV, renters policy etc. Probably worth someones time.

What should I ask my current agent for to provide to the prospective agent, and also will there be repercussions like the current insurance company coming to reinspect because someone quoted that property, can they see that info? My current agent advised me not to "rock the boat" with the policies I currently have because they are all older and would "go up significantly" if I changed anything.

Following this, I've considered this as well but haven't moved on it yet

Quote from @Joe S.:

Would love to hear more about how you built up such a good cash flow so fast in life. What was your model etc?   You look pretty young in your picture, so are you single living on bare minimum and simply love taking time off?

I buy in tertiary markets, and focus on cash flow (my spreadsheet doesn't even have an appreciation tab). I buy and hold with the expectation of paying off the loan in 30 years, meaning no cash outs, and a slow growth.
I started in 2014 and jumped in totally over my head (I bought 3 properties at the same time from an investor getting out), learned a lot, made mistakes, but stuck with it and was able to buy a property every year or so skipping a couple years.
I do all my own rehabs, management, and maintenance, and live fairly frugally, and yes, am single.
I focus on maintaining a lifestyle I enjoy more than making money, the choices I make in investing always get run though the 'lifestyle' test, and I have built systems to support expansion while still being able to manage remotely.
I will be 35 next year and have told myself I am switching from a frugal growth mindset to something more sustainable, we'll see how it goes.