All Forum Posts by: Dave G.

@Tyler Dix

I see a variety of responses here and my thought is you are not overreacting. All of my properties are are managed by PMs. I have been through a number of them, and have seen what wrong looks like. Perhaps @Tracy Streich is largely correct in her response, but the way you described the communication (or lack of) from your PM is concerning to me. I am a Program Manager in my day job. I have customers. When I have bad news, or am working an unpleasant issue, under-communicating is not well-received. Customers want to be informed, even if it's bad news. So my opinion is if you give this PM a pass this time, you have to emphasize your expectations on responsive comms. And maybe you put the PM on "probation." I have changed PMs several times and I'm not sure there is a painless way of firing one and hiring another. It is a lot of work, and can be costly. So do what you can to avoid that, but as I have experienced, you may reach a point where that pain is less than otherwise. And remember, you either manage your properties, or you manage your Property Manager. Neither of them are "hands-off." Best of luck to you. 

@Assaf Arie You've not mentioned what the style of the house is or the age. With that information, you can search and find all kinds of ideas online for tastefully updating a historic property while preserving period-specific characteristics. For example, one of my properties is a 1915 Craftsman home in Arizona (that's old for AZ) and I can find tons of remodel and decoration suggestions/schemes online. Good luck to you.

@Jean Bae Since you mention NY and Washington states, I assume you have flexibility in where you can invest in the US. I would recommend you apply some macroeconomic and regulatory criteria as part of your location selection. Those 2 states are among those where I probably would not go. You need to go where there is job growth, net population in-flow, low taxes, few regulations and business/real estate friendly environments. Recommended reading: Emerging Real Estate Markets by David Lindahl. The book is not new, but the principals remain valid. Good luck to you.

If by "write offs" you mean beneficial for taxes, I know of no value the LLC brings in that regard.

An LLC is a legal entity, and when properly used and managed, affords an otherwise sole proprietor with a corporate veil of legal insulation.

I'm am not lawyer, but I'm sure one will chime in and either correct me or confirm. 

@Ruth C. thank you for applying some critical thought to this. I am not website pro, but at a minimum, why would one not just contact their politicians directly? They all have many vehicles available for their constituents to contact them. They all want to be contacted. I don't see a need for this website, at least a need that benefits a property owner. Agree there is no guarantee of what they are doing with the information they receive. It could even be gathering information about investors/property owners that will be used adversely against those very investors/owners. I will be continue to be vocal via direct means and through my local REIA.

@Gerald Rutledge the topic is not politics. It is about property owners being forced to provide housing without compensation, or the ability to legally pursue compensation. 

This is not a political site, and I'm surprised your post has not already been deleted by a moderator.

I would re-title your post to "Need CPA licensed in VA" and you'll get a better response with that focused request.

@Anil J. I agree with the postings that don't want tenants messing with repairs. I send people in to repair my properties. Also, it may seem trivial, but having maintenance personnel enter the property to perform a repair also allows for a cursory viewing/inspection of what's going on inside the property. Other issues such as neglect, unauthorized pets or pet damage/odors, etc. It can be very revealing and provide an opportunity to address other problems earlier than otherwise would likely occur. 

Good luck to you,

Dave

Keep living with your relatives, this is an exceptional financial opportunity that you may not have again (or want again) as an adult. I would do this until you pay off all of your debt. During this time keep researching how to do a house-hack with a duplex, but delay a purchase until you get rid of the debt. 

Or, at least do this until you get rid of the cc debt. Carrying cc debt is dumb. I like using credit cards as a tool, but do not carry a balance, ever! Pay them off every month, for the rest of your life w/no exceptions.

I suppose your school loan and car payment may be low interest, but there's no need to rush into this at a young age if you can clean up your balance sheet and enter investing in a much healthier financial condition a year or two later. 

Good luck to you,

Dave

As a young investor, I did the math wrong calculating cash-flow on the 3 properties I bought and could not cover maintenance expenses. Further, I had no cash reserves. Obviously, this was an unsustainable situation and I had to dump all 3 properties. 

2 Lessons: 

1. As you assess a potential rental acquisition, make sure you run the numbers correctly and thoroughly. 
2. Always have cash reserves for each property.