All Forum Posts by: Christopher Laws

For publicly available deals, there are a bunch of good websites that take MLS listings all over the country and which you don't need your realtor's help to access. These include:

• ZipRealty
• Redfin
• Realtor.com
• Zillow
• Trulia

As for non-public deals, you can try foreclosure sites like RealtyTrac or your local foreclosure auctions, bandit signs, yellow letters, commercial brokers, lawyers, accountants, estate managers, etc.

Most cities make all of their tax assessments public knowledge, even if you don't own the property. For example, here is New York City's: http://nycprop.nyc.gov/nycproperty/nynav/jsp/selec...

You can try just googling some combination of "City X + assessment" or "property assessment" or "property tax." The municipal tax or finance office's website should come up.

I think this is true across the real estate value chain (and life...). You want clear communication from lawyers, contractors, etc. At a minimum it saves you the time of deciphering cryptic emails. 

I used this as a filtering mechanism when looking for a property manager. The same logic you are applying to agents applies to them (they will be marketing potential rentals). This kind of filter could potentially have a long term impact if your units sit vacant because no one can understand the listing.

I think renting to families is generally seen as good for consistent, long term renters - especially if your units are in good school districts. I have read many horror stories about B/C neighborhoods, but you could spin that into a bigger story about geographic mobility. I would bet higher income people are actually more mobile, but more stable. 

You should also be pretty careful of the numbers for these deals. With that first one, the max rent-to-value (all 6 units rented at $720) is only 1.1%. That probably does not leave you much of a margin in case you have unexpected expenses or vacancies unless the building is brand new and you expect super low expenses otherwise. 

Have you seen that vary depending on the type of deal (i.e., buy and hold versus flip)? My guy reaction is that that makes sense for a flip, but less so for a buy and hold where maybe a monthly PM-like fee is more appropriate.

One of the interesting aspects of the recent BP podcast on investing out-of-state with @Mehran Kamari was his partnership with @Dawn Anastasi in Milwaukee. I was wondering, how have other folks found, vetted, and structured similar kinds of partnerships through BP with a remote investor and on the ground management? How do you divide labor? How do you divide the investments and compensation? What about the legal structure?

I am starting to look into remote investing in Atlanta, GA; Columbus, OH; Cleveland, OH; and Jacksonville, FL so I'd be particularly interested to hear of any success stories in those locations.

You should work with your insurance agent to determine your liability exposure. Depending on the policy, your homeowner's/landlord policy might already have sufficient liability coverage  (in which case it'd be primary). If not, then your umbrella policy would come into play. You can usually get limits from $1 million to $10 million. An agent should be able to provide more insights into what is appropriate given your current coverage.

Contact your insurance company immediately. They have the duty to defend against this kind of legal claim as part of your homeowner's/landlord's insurance. They will help you determine if you have coverage for this and what the strategy should be for settling this (i.e., go to court or settle). 

This is a nice collection. Thanks for sharing, @Brit Foshee ! 

Has anyone else seen similar resources that do state-by-state comparisons (e.g., compare NY to NV on late fees, when rent is due, notices, disclosures)?

@Alex T. We're gonna need a bigger boat.