All Forum Posts by: Chris Chisholm

Not much to change it as far as "modernizing it".  Try using different prompts.  I took that original image and and asked ChatGDP to "show a mock-up of how I can improve the curbside appeal of this property" and this came out on the first crack (not sure that eliminating a window and opening the door is the best option, but otherwise...) :

First off, only you with the relationship you have with this tenant can say whether it's worth moving on or not.  Is his a new problem?  How bad it is?  A few days late?  Several weeks or months late?  What are there reasons?

I've been on both sides of it.  I have a tenants that probably has only paid the rent on time 5 times in the 4 years I've owned the place.  BUT he's ALWAYS communicating and paying it when he says he will (AKA easy to work with and plan around).  He's ALWAYS fixing stuff up around the place and keeping it well maintained.  Overall a great stable tenant other than some cashflow issues at times.  He's even recently split with his now ex who is still living there and he still helps take care of the place for her.  Flipside...had a tenant just move in, was late from day one and was every month...eventually got worse and and she stopped paying the rent.  Never ending list of excuses and "next week I'll...".  Her 2 dogs I allowed, ended up being 10 because the one was pregnant when she moved in.  She made a mess of the place and the dogs made a mess of the yard.  She lasted 5 month...It's never fun evicting a single mom 2 weeks before Christmas, but this was snowballing to be worse and worse.  I kept the place vacant for about a month and a half to clean/reno some things and found a new tenant that is SOLID and they are paying about 30% higher rent than the one I evicted.  Sometimes you have to take a couple steps backward and have a vacancy to take 10 steps forward to more profitable.

I look for opportunity for long term appreciation and hackability. If you can find that the cashflow should take care of itself. A lot of BRRR opportunity and how dense can I can make the cash on that property? Can I take a bungalow and suite it out? Can I hack a large/double garage to rent out as separate storage/shop spaces? Is there under utilized space on the lot that can be rented out as parking/storage?

What you should learn is raising capital! You seem to have the skills and contacts for the reno's and such. Learn to raise capital so you can scale up using OPM rather than your own. As far as specific real estate strategies, you would be well suited for BRRRR's, House Hack's or flips. A house hack is a great start, especially if you can BRRRR it as well. Find an undervalued/distressed property...rehab it to rent out every available part (each bedroom separate, driveway/lot space for long term storage of boats/RV's whatever, rent out the garage separate as shop/storage space) you can to drive up revenue to fund the reno's and live in one room/unit for free while you reno the place. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I pre-screen before I show a property.  I have a short questionnaire (3-5 questions about income, pets, smoking status, how many people will be living there, etc.) in Google Forms that I send to anyone that inquires to fill out.  It's made clear that is is just a pre-screening tool and not an application or guarantee they get the unit.  The form is tailored in a way that it will guide the through each prequalifying step and if they don't qualify based on an answer it gives them a message that they don't qualify for this property and to check other listings for a more suitable property based on their needs. I don't want to waste my time with people that have no business looking at a property of mine that doesn't it their needs.  If they pass the questionnaire they are asked to enter their contact information to be contacted to arrange a viewing.  With Google forms it takes the content from the questionnaire and gives me an organized contact list of all pre-qualifying candidates so there's no sifting through 10 different listing sites DMs or email or text.  As they leave the viewing they can take an application to fill out if they choose to.

100% agree!  I switched over all my properties to the Weiser SmartKey locks a year or so ago it's been well worth the extra money on the couple tenant change overs I've had and never have to waste time worrying about lost on not returned keys again. If someone wants to not return the keys, no problem...deduct the cost of cutting new keys and your time from the damage deposit and move on.  They can keep the old keys as a souvenir of their poor life decisions.  haha

In reading the job title thread I got to thinking....I used to work in commissioned sales and we had elevator pitches to get a conversations going when asked about work, rather than the usual "oh cool" response.  Do you use an elevator pitch when asked what you do?  I've found when I tell people I have a Real Estate business, or a Real Estate investor they immediately assume I'm a Realtor. haha

Been dabbling with AI to create one that's not too gimmicky but gets the conversation going around raising capital from everyday people with the resources they have.  

What do you do for work?

"Most people don't realize they can use existing assets, like their RRSP's (I'm Canadian) or an insurance policy, to invest in Real Estate.  I work with people to unlock that capital to generate the great passive income of a long term rental property, but without the hassle of being a landlord.  It helps people diversify their investments without adding more risk or extra work."

I've rented to friends before and I treat them the same as any other tenant and set that expectation up front.  If I know them well enough to trust taking a change on them or throwing them a bone if I can to get them through a rocky patch I'm open to it, but if they drop the ball on their end of the lease agreement, etc. they are out like any other tenant.  I explain to them this is my livelihood and ask if they would be okay if I went to their boss at their job and asked for 50% of your next pay cheque...this is the same thing.  This is my pay cheque that puts food on my table and fuel in my car just like their pay cheque does.  At the end of the day, if they don't respect you enough to not take advantage of your relationship with them, it's not a relationship worth keeping.

 Anything stopping you from hanging around after the tenant leaves and knock on the door?  "Hey I forgot to ask the agent and he left...do you if  **insert some random question about the furnace or something**?" as an ice breaker and then have some small talk with them if they are friendly about it.

Without an agent, everything is on you. The due diligence, knowledge of the market, negotiation, etc.  If you feel you are that confidence to be able to handle all that without an agent go do it.  Just make sure you have a solid lawyer to make sure the agreement/paperwork is solid.

I'm working on my 3rd off market deal where we haven't used an agents for it (Most of my family is in the trades so they can assess any reno's, etc and I have a background in the financial world to analyze things).  Takes a lot of leg work to make sure you're mitigating the risk, but it can save some money.