All Forum Posts by: Jeff Howard

 Where is your podcast 103?

 "analysis paralysis is the worst in this business."  True.  I need to work on that.

 Thanks I will check your podcast, I agree, experience is the best teacher here.  My problem is starting. I need to start, but I want to start right... that's my other problem, I tend to be risk averse and take a long time to make a decision.

 Excellent point, and an easy next step.

 The two Realtor I have available to me are good folks, and you are right about the seller not lowering the price much.  They have an agreement to give 5-6% commission if the buyer brings realtor or not.  But on the steps to doing this, what are your thoughts there?  Is there a fast way to determine value? Are there any steps missing?  Any pitfalls?

Hi all, Wife and I are looking to buy property to rent in the next few months.  Would like to get some help on the plan forward, we are very new and risk averse.   Here is what I am thinking.  Looking for a house or duplex close to me, looking to clear $500 per month after expenses (before taxes).  

I just bought a house with a Realtor and sold my own without one. I am thinking I can save a lot of money by not using a Realtor to buy if I find a FSBO, but then how do I get to see inside MLS listed houses...

My own stab at the first steps...

1. Build the strategy, what kind of renters am I looking for, what kind of landlord am I, where to buy, what to buy.

2.  Build team:  

  a. Find a Realtor (do i need one?) 

  b. Find a Lender (I will need one, I have some cash but not enough)

  c. Find a repair man (I might want one, I have a busy life)

  d. Property manager will be me, but I can be soft which is a problem.

3.  Research Properties around the area.  What is the fastest and easiest way to determine market rent values?

4. Build rental agreement (I believe 3 and 4 should be worked simultaneously, once i find a good property I want to be ready to rent it.)

5. Build Marketing plan

6. Buy Property

7. Rent Property

What are your thoughts folks, any site out there that covers this topic well?

Thats what I am afraid of, what I struggle with is the fact that the amount i owe left on the house makes it a great deal for a rental property for me.

Trying to decide weather or not to rent our house that we are about to move out of, we have been living there for 8 years and want to move up. The concern is its high maintenance yard. Right now the yard is green and beautiful and I worry that if I put a tenant in there it will just die and will be more difficult to sell. Right now houses in my neighborhood are selling in 2 weeks or less, it is in one of the best school districts in the region, middle to upper class area, 4 bed 2 bath. I could just sell it now, but if I rent I think I can get $500 in cash flow per month + $200 of the mortgage is going to principal so technically I am getting $700 a month. Here is what the tenant would face.

1. Lawn is all fescue and needs to be watered at least every other day and sometimes daily. There is not currently a sprinkler system which I will have to change I think, its too much work to keep it watered, I have a Mickey Mouse hose system that I use that I would not expect a renter to use

2. Lawn is completely covered in trees and must be thatched and reseeded every September. It typically dies by then and must be reseeded to keep weeds from coming back

3. Lawn requires heavy raking in the fall, with all the trees there are tons of leaves. Usually 4 hours of work every other weekend for 1 person 4 times a fall

4. I would probably not allow pets because there is no fence, and a large dog would destroy the lawn

5. There is a deck that needs to be cleared of leaves like the yard, twice a month in the fall

6. The land slopes to the house so special drains to divert water away need to be cleared twice monthly of debris or I could have some serious foundation problems, already some signs

So this is my first post and I really want to be a landlord... I would probably set rent at $1600

Should I...

1. Charge $150 a month more and tell the tenants that the Yard is very important to my business and that I do not want to put that responsibility on them, all they need to do is water it and I will have gardeners and sometimes myself handle 1-6 above.

2. Let them take care of it but ask for a $2500 deposit (Rent would be $1,600) and outline what must be done. If there is a full lawn of green fescue when they leave they can have their deposit back. I figure it will cost that much to sod. But I want to be sure the drains are clean so that I do not have any problems with my foundation.

3. some other alternative? What do you guys do with a high maintenance yard?