All Forum Posts by: Coleman Nelson

Hey Anthony. Here’s some advice from a fellow new guy to real estate investing. My wheels have been spinning for a while, but I’m now getting some traction and am starting to move forward.

I recommend you start listening to all of the BP podcasts if you haven’t started yet. I’ve been listening to them on my drive to and from work most days for the past 8 months or so and I’m almost caught up. It both teaches and motivates which has been very helpful to me.

Decide what you want to do in real estate and focus on learning everything you can on that subject. Whether you want to flip, buy and hold, manage properties for others, etc. Don’t try to learn about everything at once or you’ll get overwhelmed.

Find other investors in your local area and network with them. Whether it's going to your local REIA, or connecting with people on BP. I'd consider organizing a local meet up with other new and experienced investors in your area through BP. I met my current business partners at a local BP meetup that they organized.

Don’t wait to take action. If you have the knowledge and the resources, jump in and take action. You’ll never feel like you know enough, because you learn the most through actually doing it. This is the biggest hurdle for most people.

Good luck!

We have several properties in Mt. Healthy that cash flow nicely.  I'm also looking at northern kentucky area for the future since it's closer to home for me.

Welcome to the site Stephanie, and good luck with your future rental empire! There's a good community in the local area and here on BP. I'm still pretty new at this too, but let me know if there's anything I can help you with. 

Welcome to the site John. Thanks for your and Vincent's service. There's a lot of opportunity here in Ohio, Kentucky, and throughout the Midwest. Good luck!

@Kyle Burnett

Welcome to the site! I'm also a newbie to REI. I've been around the site for almost a year, but I'm just now starting my real estate adventure for real. I'm in the process of partnering up with a couple guys who have rentals in the Mt. Healthy area and taking over the property management duties for the business.

My plan going in was to start with flips, then eventually build capital to invest in rentals.  But this opportunity came up so I jumped on it.  I still plan to do some flips in the future after I get a good handle on this.  So my advice is to learn as much as you can, connect with as many people as you can, and stay flexible so you can jump on any opportunities that may come your way.

Thank you all for your advice.  Sounds like a combination of passing it on to the tenants, developing good relationships with contractors, and potentially using a lockbox is the consensus.

Thank you all for your insights.  I agree that I need to develop a good relationship with a handyman so that I and our tenants can feel confident that he can go into the units unattended and get the job done.  We've been doing the maintenance work in house in the past, so we are still trying to develop those relationships so we can get out of that aspect of it.

I am managing 20 rental units while working a full-time corporate accounting job.  I'm able to do most of my management duties during my lunch breaks and in the evenings, with the exception of occasional phone calls and emails throughout the day.

My biggest challenge is meeting our handyman/contractors at the property for maintenance calls since the majority of them want do it during the 8-5 working day.  Is there any advice of what you have done so you don't have to go to the property with the contractor every time maintenance work needs done?  Do you require the tenant to miss work to be there?  Do you pay someone that you trust to be there the whole time?

From my understanding there aren't any laws restricting rent increase in the area...I'm not sure about Section 8 housing though.  If the units would be in demand at higher rates, I recommend to raise them when the tenant's leases are up. Maybe keep them just below market to increase demand. If you get a head start, hopefully you can reduce turnover to weeks instead of a month.

If rates are that far below market, you may be more likely to forego necessary maintenance and CapEx, which will deteriorate the property and keep you from being able to raise the rates down the road.

@Monelle Smith A buddy of mine just launched a new website where wholesalers and investors can list their properties for sale that other investors can search and contact the sellers.  Kinda like craigslist, but not limited to local markets...and much nicer!  The user base is still growing, so I don't know if they have anything you are looking for yet, but hopefully you can find something!  wholesalingclub.com