All Forum Posts by: Mark Graffagnino

I went thru this with a tenant that was collectible, she worked at a large regional hospital.  Took it all the way thru garnishment and got paid back in full....but it took a long time.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/234...

I tell tenants that I prefer them to pay online through my Buildium platform.  I pay like $1 for each account to reduce the hold time to one day.  Only issue I had was once a tenants payment was returned to their bank for nsf and repay didn't post until the 8th or 9th...but got the added late fee.  It was nice not to have to hassle with notifying the tenant and coordinating it; all done through Buildium.

I've been using a realtor to list my properties.  He said a very large percentage of the inquiries are looking for Section 8, which I am not offering.  The tenants that I've had have all had solid jobs....Neo-natal nurse with 2 kids (successful garnishment), two women/one kid who worked at Emory in administrative roles, hotel manager/4 kids (current lawsuit) and a single marketing rep/no kids.  One property rents for $995, and the other is $1300.

I own 2 houses in 30318, a neighborhood called Collier Heights, which is on the National Historic Register.  It is a stable neighborhood with a lot of retired educators.  I have not had good luck with tenants however.  2 of the 4 have broken the lease and tried to skip out on rent...I garnished the wages of the first one and have just recently filed suit on the second.  

After the second one vacated I was at the house on a Sunday morning and got my *** chewed out by a little old lady on her way to church because of the condition that the tenant left the property in.  I tried to explain to her that I could not legally do anything until the official eviction but she was having none of it.  It was pretty funny but also made me feel good that the residents took pride in their neighborhood.  

@Tim Lindstromsorry you are having to go through that.  If he does miss a payment is there any way you could garnish his wages?  I did that successfully with a tenant that skipped out on a couple months rent.

And pretty funny that the dude's wife sunk him with that email....probably not much conversation at the dinner table that night.

Thanks for posting the article, @Rick Baggenstoss.  I've lived in Atlanta for almost 40 years and have been in the development and construction business here for nearly 30 years.  There are some good points in the article but there is a lot that I disagree with.  

I am just watching what's happening along the Beltline from afar right now.  I'm rooting for it to become a huge success, and for you guys who are down there now to have great success.  I just hope the city of Atlanta doesn't f- it up like most everything they touch.

I remember when the MARTA rail line first opened and used to take it every morning, when I was a car-less student at Tech, to the farthest northern station- the Arts Center- then get on a bus to get to my summer job.  Or I'd ride it out to the farthest eastern station- Decatur- to visit my girlfriend at Agnes Scott College.  But i can't remember the last time I rode it and have no desire to ride it now.  New management seems to be doing well but they've got a huge mountain to climb courtesy of years of corruption in both MARTA and the City of Atlanta.

Dammit!  I've really wanted to attend but my timing on these has been horrible.  I've got another conflict but please add me to the invite list.  Hopefully I'll be able to make it in April but knowing my luck it will be scheduled during our Spring Break (week of April 4th btw).  Looking forward to catching you guys one of these months.

I used Legal Zoom for my first one and have done them all since by myself.  It's not very hard.  @Roger Pearcelink above is a good place to begin.  Here is a list of forms http://sos.ga.gov/cgi-bin/corpforms.asp the first one you should file is the Name Reservation, unless you think you're going to have an unusual name that nobody has already used.  You can also do a business search on the SOS website to see if there are any company names like yours.  Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions.  Good luck.

Congrats Jack!  For me it was "why did I wait so long to start".

@Shannon Webb that is a really ambitious plan!  I'm going to send you a PM tomorrow as I may be able to offer some advice based on my own experience.  I started off studying architecture and switched to construction management.  I'm heading out the door to see my Yellow Jackets take on the hated Blue Devils, so won't be back home until late.