All Forum Posts by: Carl Hebert

@Kyle Nicholas Yeitrakis the lenders could be gun shy due to the location also. Lisbon and Lisbon Falls have always been a little less robust when compared to other towns in regards to rent and housing appreciation. 
You usually have the same issues as nearby Lewiston and Auburn with aged housing with deferred maintenance leading to costly repairs and updates. Old wiring, plumbing and almost guaranteed lead paint. 
With the unknown of how housing markets are going to fare they are probably looking at the past and thinking no thanks. 
This is just an opinion of what I have seen in the area over time. 
Three-four years ago if you asked me if Lewiston and Auburn would see double digit increases in rent and building appreciation each year I would said doubtful. Now I’m hoping Covid doesn’t wipe out all those gains!

@Kyle Nicholas Yeitrakis let us know how it goes and who you end up with. It might be handy down the road lol. 

@Neal Berger you may want to expand to include areas a bit north of Naples also. You can get a lot more bang for the buck in Fort Myers and Cape Coral when compared to Naples. 

@Kyle Nicholas Yeitrakis Have you checked with the smaller community banks and credit unions? I have heard that they have not been as stringent as the bigger banks right now. Mechanics Savings, Dirigo Credit Union etc. 

@Josh Vaughn I have used Tenant Cloud in the past and just recently switched over to Rentec Direct. Tenant Cloud was good to start with as it was free, but when I started managing other properties it just didn't fit for my style. Rentec Direct has an accounting setup that I like. 

@Joe Munoz - I bought a Duplex last November just south of Pine Island Rd. on Cultural Park Blvd. It is a large 2 bedroom 2 bath on the canal with a dock and screened in lanai and two car garages for each unit. 

We live in one side and rent the other out to a single mom and her young son for $1100. We could of held out and had someone in for $1200 probably, but we really liked her and she is on section 8 so we are guaranteed cash in the bank each month.  

We bought this knowing we would be living in one side and wanted something that was cheaper than renting a place. 

If we rented both sides out at $1200 this would be a cash flowing property, right now it gives us a cheaper way to live in Florida for most of the year.

There are lots of duplexes for sale and I recommend doing your homework and coming down and drive around the areas to get a feel for the different neighborhoods. 

It probably would be better for an investment property to avoid the canal properties as they costs more and do not really give you much more in rental income from what I have noticed. The same could be said of pools. Now if you are planning on doing vacation rentals that would definitely be a different story and those items would probably help you keep it rented out more lol.

Carl

We did virtual showings, basically just put up our normal photos and added a current walk through video. We let people know that we would not be doing any physical showings until they had an approved application and were offered the unit. 

First unit rented with them just seeing the pics and video. They also did a drive around the area at my recommendation. Our second unit we rented after they did a physical walk through, but mentioned the video we did was what sold them. We let them go through the unit by themselves after my property manager unlocked the door beforehand. When they were done they texted and the manager went back, cleaned and locked up.

We had so many applicatons coming in on the second unit we had to show it as pending to slow the inquiries. 

All applications, background checks and leases were done online. Something we have been wanting to do, but covid-19 made us get it done.

@Nick Heil great read, I have been reading up on storage facilities and had not considered portable. I like the way you can dip your toe into it and see if you like the business.

Thanks for posting!

We have been using Gravity Gray from Lowe's, any lightish gray would work honestly. We just happened to pick Gravity Gray and have stuck to it since we switched from a beige we had been using. Sometimes we add an accent wall from the same color card as the Gravity Gray. 

@Mike Maglietta I would never buy a property without looking at it. This is hard to do now, but you can have the tenants do a SLOW video walk through and have them send it to you. Have them turn on faucets, lights, stove, open fridge, flush toilet, open cabinets, closets, doors, windows, work shower/bath etc.

Watch the video, take notes and send request to see certain areas/items close up with another video or some photos.

Have the owner offer the tenants something in return for them doing it. 

If the owner can't make this happen I would just walk. 

Carl