All Forum Posts by: Brad E.

@Kyle Reynolds Per my CPA an LLC that holds the property can also be the property management company. So you dont need a separate LLC just for the management company.

@Shawn Q. thanks for the feedback!

@Thomas S. - good catch I did fat finger the rental increase, it is $175.  The 5K is on a credit card with 0% interest for 12 months.  Why do you use 2 years?

@Andrew B. - yes I do like that return :)  However, I started wondering if that was painting an accurate picture.  I have been studying up on investment metrics and have recently been learning about using NPV to compare investments.  So I was thinking I should be using a different metric to show a more accurate picture of apples:apples comparison. Of course I know just enough to be dangerous at this point.

@Steve Vaughan - its been mostly cosmetic stuff - paint, floor, counter tops plus a couple things to the exterior.  I'm all about DIY but realized I dont have enough time with my other commitments to get the work done this century.

@Lex Nunez

Just a thought but you might consider picking the CRM you want to use long term even though it sounds like you really don't need a robust solution at this time.

The reason I say that is b/c if you are planning to scale up you are going to have to learn the new software anyway.  

Additionally you will have to migrate all of the information from the temporary solution to the permanent, which may not be a trivial task.  

So it would be double learning curve plus a data migration.  

In the meantime, you could maybe use a simple solution (e.g. excel) for now that you are already familiar with and focus on learning the permanent solution.

Hi all -

I am looking for some guidance on evaluating the value of improvements to a duplex I recently aquired. Not sure what metric I should be using to evaluate this opportunity.

The situation is that I have a duplex which is occupied with inherited tenants at a below market rent. The other side is empty and I have spent about 5K improvements which has allowed me to raise the rent for that side by $125/month.  Now I am wondering if it makes sense to improve the currently occupied side when the tenant's lease is up.

So the question I am trying to answer is, should I invest an additional 5K to raise rent by 125/month or is it better to leave it as is?

Here are my numbers:

Current rent: $525

Improvement cost: $5000

New rent: $700

My initial thought was to do a simple ROI calculation ($125/$5000) but I feel like there is something missing.

What metric should I use to evaluat this opportunity? Would I measure this over 1 yr or what time period should I be using?

Thanks in advance.

@Georgui Kasaev you too bud!  I'll post up in that thread soon!

Also, I'm up for meeting with the group on a Thursday soon....

@Brie Schmidt @Colleen F.

Thanks for the tips!  It is definitely advertisements. Ugh!

Hello everyone - I recently purchased a duplex with inherited tenants in one side.  The other side is open.

I have checked the mailbox for the open side several times and see that I am getting mail addressed to my name in that mail box.

I have written "not at this address" on the mail and put it back in the box for the mail person to pickup but the mail continues to come.

I am trying to play the role of 'property manager' instead of 'owner' to the tenants, per recommendations from several sources.  Getting mail at this address in my name is not helping with this goal.

Does anybody know how I can stop mail from going to this address addressed to my name?

@Larry Turowski Check out Airtable.com for tracking.  It's an online database software that's reminiscent of Excel but you can store attachments and create relationships between data.  Really easy to work with.  

This is how I track my work orders.