All Forum Posts by: Mark Graffagnino

When I have multiple applicants, my theory is that I want the best qualified applicant, not the first applicant.  I will take a batch of applicants and check out their job references and past landlord references first.  This is done by me via phone calls, or if their employer requires a form then I send that in.  Once I've checked all of those I rank them in order of preference.  Then I take the "best" candidate and run the credit, criminal and eviction backgrounds.  If #1 passes those then that is who I lease to.  If #1 has issues on the background check, then I got to #2, and so on.

This process isn't first come/first served.  It's a process to get the best qualified tenant into my home.  So I'm not going to pass on a more qualified tenant just because a less qualified tenant got their application in first.

I take applications and application fees through my PM platform.  My personal policy is that if I don't run the background checks, which costs a fee, then i refund the application fee.  Although there is time required to personally verify employment and past landlord references, I consider that to be due diligence that I am happy to spend that time on.

@Neal Burgess love the story.  I started my daughter like that and she's 12 now and whenever I say I'm going to look at a house she always wants to come with me.  Even getting bitten by fleas in one house has not turned her off.  Whenever the 'what do you want to be when you grow up' conversation comes up, the job always fluctuates....veterinarian...fire fighter...actress...but her tagline always is "and I'm going to own rental property".  

Atlanta REIA holds their monthly meetings at the Holiday Inn in Roswell, on Holcomb Bridge Road, first Monday of each month. And as Brad mentioned the Mountain REIA subgroup meets on the first Tuesday in Cumming.

Hem,

Just wanted to say Hi, Iive in Atlanta but was born in Ozone Park, lived there till I was about 5, on 78th Street, back in the BG days (before Gotti).  I'm not a wholesaler, but Atlanta's a great place to invest.  

Good luck.

Mark

I used to do ACH payments, but now I have tenants pay through my PM software platform.  I use Buildium but I think most platforms have this option.  I also have applications sent through there.

@Jonathan Wenthe I don't understand how a lender can try and hold an appraiser responsible for a homeowner defaulting on their loan; that doesn't make any sense to me.  But regardless, my situation was a pre-listing appraisal so there was no risk of anything to do with a loan.  What it did was cause me to lower my asking price by about $5K and then we got two full price offers plus another for a little less, within 3 days of listing.  The offers are more than $20K over the low-ball appraisal, so chances are good that I could have gotten more money for the house if I had not been influenced by the low-ball appraisal.

The industry was way to lax previously- the first question an appraiser always asked was "What does it need to come in at?".  Now it has swung way too far the other way where appraisers are afraid to allow what I would consider normal increases in values.  And some of the adjustment calculations that are made for like properties are just ridiculous.

@David Begley that is good advice and I'll definitely use that on future pre-appraisals.

I am sort of dealing with this right now.  I had the pre-listing appraisal done and it came in very low.  I tried to reason with the appraiser, show them where I thought they were making incorrect assumptions, but they would not even entertain any pricing revisions.  We listed where we the broker recommended and sure enough we got a full price offer right away and a backup.  20% more than the pre-listing appraisal value.  Buyer is in due diligence right now, so we will see where their appraisal comes in, but my agent is confident in our contract price.

I think the problem is that appraisers use these generic formulas for price adjustments and don't really have the time (at $300-$400 fee) to fully understand the neighborhoods, especially if it is a somewhat transitioning neighborhood.  It's pretty scary that someone being paid a $300 fee can hold so much power over what can be a very large transaction, and even kill a deal that is otherwise a win/win for both parties.

sent you a PM and connect request.

@Julie Kern fortunately I've never had to pay any fines to the City.  Although with the amount of crap I had to go through with the historic district department it felt like I was being fined.  We're going to list the first one and see how it goes.  The broker feels like we should be OK.  We'll see