All Forum Posts by: Canneton Howard

I second that. Norberto is awesome.

Thanks @Ryan Sanders

@Ryan Sanders Did you end up using Susan Wilklow? I'm currently looking for a CPA and have seen her name come up a few times. Just wondering how she worked out for you.

Thanks @Norberto Villanueva , I was leaning toward raising rent some for a 6 month lease to give me the time to make updates but it sounds like the rent market in the Springs is doing well and I could get the desired rent now. 

@Thomas S. thanks for the recommendation.  I will consider the m2m with the new lease.

How has everyone else in the Springs been doing with filling vacancies?

I know this topic has been approached numerous times, but I haven't been able to find a post with a similar enough situation to get a feel for what to do.

I recently purchased a duplex in Colorado Springs that needed some obvious work (inside and out). I have been trying to update, fix, and maintain as much as I can with tenants in place but of course I can only do so much (new deck/stairs, new tile and vanity in bath, clean-up yard, fix irrigation, etc.). Another large part of the updates will be the overall landscape but of course the middle of December is not the time for this in Colorado. 

The duplex came with tenants in both units (Unit A: 3 bd/1bth, Unit B: 2bd/1bth) but their leases are expiring soon. They have been paying on time since I bought the property and have been good tenants; however, they both have cats and dogs, are smokers (outside), and the amount they are paying is ~$200 below market for unit A and ~$100 below market for unit B. The rent also includes a W/D in both units and all utilities (except trash) because the utilities are not split. Utilities for both units for the last 30 days was $250. 

My conflict is this:

1) Raise rent enough to cover expenses and basically break even in order to keep good tenants in and avoid the turnover expenses.

or

2) Same as above but only until spring/summer when I can fix the landscape to attract better tenants. 

or

3) Bring rent to market now (including utilities) and most likely lose tenants in the middle of winter. Will need to spend quite a bit to get the unit in good shape before renting again. However, the horrible landscape may still scare off good tenants until I can deal with it in the Spring/Summer. 

So, looking for pro/cons of the above options, other options, or any other thoughts you have on the subject. Thanks in advance!

Hi @Becky Reid

Some of my criteria included 《$300k purchase price, 1-4 unit property, min of 10% total equity return, $200 cash flow per unit after ALL expenses including mortgage, tax, Insurance, vacancy, repairs, capex, property management  (even if you are the PM), and other expenses you might have. Good luck!

You are welcome @Luong An. If you haven't done so already,  I would recommend Brandon Turner's books "The book on Rental property investing" and "The book on managing rental properties". Best of luck!

Thanks @Jared Bouzek. It's been a little bit of work but I think that's were the deals are now. You have to be willing to put some work into it. 

Thanks @Becky Reid. Best of luck to you. If you have questions as you go along I'm willing to share what I've learned along the way. And of course there are many more on BP who will definitely help you out as well. I feel like everyone here on BP is in this together so ask questions and make it happen!

Hi @Audra Dailing. I worked with @Norberto Villanueva with Atlas. He is very professional and great to work with. He knows the Springs market very well and I plan on working with him again in the future. I had Norberto go look at the property in person and check out the neighborhood as well. The buyer contract has plenty of opportunities to get out and get the earnest money back if you don't feel comfortable with it after you see the property or after inspections, etc. It really just came down to the numbers. The numbers worked ok at the listing price but after seeing the repairs needed we got them to drop it to cover those repairs and knowing that I will be able to raise the rent the numbers came out quite decently.

Thanks @Jenny Bayless! 

That's great that things went well for you on the rehab and getting tenants. Yes, that would be great to meet up sometime. Let's stay in touch.

I wanted to post an update on this situation. 

After writing this post, my realtor read it and started looking into it further by contacting the seller's agent. Come to find out, the tenants were telling the truth and the latest PM had written the contract incorrectly and therefore the MLS listing was inaccurate stating that utilities were paid by the tenants. My realtor suggested we ask the seller to pay for the utilities through the end of the current tenant's leases. The seller agreed and wrote a check to me to cover utility expenses (estimated) and also an agreement that if that amount didn't cover it he would pay additional.

So, lessons learned: Tenants can be telling the truth, it never hurts to investigate and ask for something, and make sure you have an awesome realtor who continues to work for you even after the deal is done. Thanks Norberto!

I have been interested in getting into real estate for many years now as a way to produce passive income and help my retirement fund early on; however, I had never done much about it except read a few articles or books here and there until I ran into BP. What a jack pot of information! From all the books and resources available to the many members who willingly share their experience and offer advice. I took the plunge and became a Pro member to get the full benefits of the BP world. I also bought several of Brandon Turner's books, which are amazing by the way. 

While reading and studying at every opportunity between job and family life, I started formulating a plan of attack and running deals through the BP calculators. I found a great realtor through BP who works with investors and is an investor himself and we started looking for deals. I didn't quite feel ready, but I knew I had to keep things moving if I were to ever make this happen. We went back and forth on a few opportunities in the Colorado Springs area but the numbers didn't quite work for me nor did they feel right. Finally, a duplex came up and we put an offer on it before seeing it in person. I was a little hesitant with this approach because sure enough, when seeing it in person it needed some help. The good thing is that both units were occupied and the property has some potential. We made some counter offers and got the price reduce by a good amount to cover repairs. 

I closed on it about 3 weeks ago and have already started fixing it up to be able to raise the rent to market value. The tenants and neighbors have been very appreciative that I am making the neighborhood look better by fixing up this property and I am excited to see the finished product. 

I was surprised how fast things moved but I have a great team that helped me through it and look forward to making more deals soon!

@Bill S.

All good thoughts. I think I might contact the listing agent/broker even though I know it is not the same company as either previous PM. It really sounds like the latest PM company was shady as none of the tenants could never get a hold of them and from the looks of the property, never set eyes on it once to take care of any repairs. 

To answer your question; no, the lease does not specify how the common bill is to be split. I will be adding more details to that section of the new lease.

Thanks again for your comments.