All Forum Posts by: Chris John

@Crystal Smith

@Jonathan Klemm

@Drew Sygit

I appreciate you taking the time to weigh in and offer your differing perspectives.  In the end, I feel like it's a service that I require when making offers and crunching numbers.  I'd hate to get stuck with some bad deals because I overestimate rents or a manager's willingness to manage a house in the first place.  It's now my first question when I interview perspective managers.  I'd have had no problem putting money into a retainer and even mentioned that to him, but I guess by then we'd already agreed not to work together.

Thanks again, all!

I just came across this post and I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach for you guys.  Some people are just disgusting and vile, I suppose.  I hope you're all able to recover financially and emotionally and that your lawsuit brought you some money and peace.  Best wishes.

I'm confused too.  Are you trying to sell this or buy this deal?

I believe @Erickson Sainval is giving you a good timeline on good deals though.  haha.

@Steven Jackson

@Jay Hinrichs

Attaway to avoid wrestling with pigs to both of you.  It looks like he took some pretty disgusting shots at both of you.  I apologize for finding it amusing, but it was so laughably stupid to begin with...

Steven, that's awesome to hear you're gonna get paid for solving a problem.  Congrats!

Jay, great attitude and I apologize for having brought it up again, but you definitely took the high road.

Wow.  You know, I've found the news so, so depressing lately with all the talk regarding coronavirus, race relations, ballooning deficits, police relationships, anti-capitalist agendas, etc.  This post took a sudden, dark turn into many of those narratives, but somehow I found it hilarious instead of depressing.

Thanks for putting down your crowbar and taking a break from bashing storefront windows long enough to make my morning, crazy stranger, whoever you were.  haha

@John Warren

@Jesse Byrer

@Mark Ainley

Awesome.  Thank you so much for your response and expertise!  I don't want to go too much into specifics in terms of location, etc.  It's a small world and I've definitely put myself into uncomfortable positions before.  haha.

By all accounts, the property manager runs a very successful operation and is well respected.  I think that's the thing that made me doubt myself the most, like I was taking unfair advantage of the other two property managers I'm working with that didn't speak up.  They both literally go out of their way for me in terms of shooting me properties, letting me know which ones they like, etc.

I definitely intend to become a "local expert" in whichever markets I'm trying to buy in, but I'm finding breaking into a market especially difficult.  Out in California, I feel like we have entire sections of towns that are "no go" (as far as my investing preferences), but in other cities it feels like "this street is great, but this street two away is really rough".  I'm finding the proximity issues really interesting and difficult to navigate.  It just feels like cities are organized differently than I'm used to or something!

Also, I've found the rent predictors extremely inaccurate.  Honestly, I've found appraisers extremely inaccurate as well.  We recently refinances some properties, but a rent estimate (or whatever they're called) was accidentally ordered instead of an appraisal.  The rent estimate came back at $1050, but it's renting for $1675.  If the tenants left, rent price probably go up again...  I've noticed that rents in my neck of California are universally underestimated on zillow, but in the location I'm referring to they are universally overestimated.

Ah well, I'm definitely not working with that PM anymore.  I've been "fired" as much as I've decided to quit, so at least the feeling is mutual. 

Thank you again for your replies and expertise.  It's good to know I'm not crazy (or at least not for this reason).  haha

I have a question regarding property managers.  Is it abnormal for them to do a 2-minute analysis of whether they're willing to manage a property and give an estimated rent potential when shot an address?

I'm dealing with three property managers in three different locations and all seemed happy providing this service.  I'm making offers on properties (and am in escrow on some), so it's not like I'm not trying to act on the information or am just kicking tires.

Long story short, I received a curt (imo) email from one of them that he basically feels taken advantage of for performing that service and normally he would expect to get paid for it.  I was taken aback because I hate the idea that I'm taking advantage of someone.  I tried to explain that I realized he hadn't made any money off me as of yet, but that I was actively making offers and even had one under contract in his area, so it wouldn't be long before he started generating income off of me.  Also, that I don't understand how I could possibly break into that market without knowing if he'd be willing to manage a house and what I might expect to rent it for.

Then it occurred to me that I don't really know a lot about what the job entails.  Is it crazy to insist on working with a property manager that's willing to do that?  If it's not something a property manager would do, who should I rely on?  It seems like real estate agents have every incentive to overestimate rents and neighborhoods, so I feel like property managers would give authentic information.

I'd love your thoughts and suggestions.  Thanks in advance.

@Steven Jackson

I'm so happy to hear that it looks like it's gonna be a winner for you!  Thanks for the update.  I'll be looking forward to the next one as well.

@Breann Jones

At least it's for refinancing instead of purchasing, but that's a little scary.  haha.

I remember around 2007/2008 my buddy told me (he was a lender) that I could live in a million dollar house for 6 months (or however long it took the bank to foreclose) because I had over a 700 credit score.  I was a teacher making 40k, but he told me we could "state" that I tutor on the side for 300k.  I don't remember how much the down payment was, but it might've been 0%.  I know it couldn't have been more than 5% because I actually had money to pull this off...

Anyway, he was kidding about actually doing it (although I actually could have done as he described), but I remember telling my wife that the jig was gonna be up soon.  Crazy times, for sure!

@Katie L.

Yeah, they're in California so avoiding a reassessment is PARAMOUNT.  haha.  There's been enough appreciation that it would be terrible to make a misstep in that regard.  We do have our trusts and wills set up, but I appreciate the offer.

We just need to figure out the most efficient way to combine what we have while maintaining the flexibility to add to it in a way that will allow us to avoid reassessments and still allow us to get loans individually.  That's all...  haha.