All Forum Posts by: Rick Baggenstoss

Nothing.  It's just for tax purposes.  It doesn't even mean that they've seen it.

@Akshay Bhaskaran. Atlanta is one of the best cities in the USA for investing, but so is Austin.   There's no need to invest out of state when you're in TX.

Secondly, condo investing is pretty risky in Atlanta.  Townhomes are ok. 

Lastly, I concur with the other comments - 1 month vacancy per year would be pretty bad.  3 months per year and you've got a huge problem.  

@Christian Perez We don't use title companies in Georgia.  We use attorneys.  Try Harlan and Associates.

@Jason Nguyen. Get a sewer map from the city for your area.  It will show the city's pipe running from city property through the problem area and out to city property again.  This will demonstrate that it's theirs, they have an easement for it, and it's their obligation to repair/maintain.    

Begin contacting City council with your concerns and evidence.  Let them know you'll seek damages for neglect, if need be. 

I know 30 year old landlords with a couple dozen properties.  They can count on one hand how many times they've evicted someone.  My point is landlords have to find/learn ways to get to your goal (returned property vs. being right) without completing an eviction and put out.  

Georgia is pretty landlord friendly, but it's still cheaper/faster and usually safer to get the tenant out without court involvement.  

@Charles Fatunbi. It's not illegal in Atlanta, yet.  As a resident, your tenant can also file and get a license.  

I understand your lease doesn't allow Airbnb.  I wouldn't spend the money to evict.  I would let them know they are in breach and when the time comes, I would not renew or I would significantly increase rent and require they register with the City.   

It's not a great time to evict, and I expect they are paying rent.  Find the win-win. 

I just went through this effort myself.  I like Stessa, but its limited abilities make it difficult to use with so many entities.  I ended up going with QBO because of its flexibility and the ability to get professional bookkeeping support.  

The downside is QBO has to be configured for your business to become useful. I used a VA in the states. She's ok. There's no magic bullet where you don't have to participate. It takes time to get the rules in place to automate things, then a rule breaks or a weird transaction occurs and you adjust / weigh in. QBO makes this collaboration easy.

A master, property manager LLC is a great way to structure things where all the rents are paid into and all expenses are paid from the Master LLC as the Property Manager for all properties. One reason is it can help you whittle down the number of data feeds into your bookkeeping system. Policies like "almost always buy from Home Depot and Amazon" can also be feeds to categorize expenses. A single business credit card which prompts a PO number is great so you can allocate the property and expense category at point of sale is also helpful.

@Justine Veal.   Do you have plans and are the other pieces rezoned for your desired use?  I'd start there.  

Maybe sell off the 10 as stand alone.  I can't imagine it's worth tearing down yet.  Use the proceeds to fund the other lots.  

If you're looking at 100 units, that's a challenge where you might want to sign up architect and development partner.  It's not a smooth process because of the Beltline overlays, etc. which require more approvals and affordability, and maybe mixed use.

Stolen appliances, trashed houses, contractor make off with your money?   What's your scary story?  Investors will share horror stories and compete for fun prizes while we all shudder from the scary scenes endured by investors.    Hopefully, we'll all learn, have a good laugh, and be prepared for what could happen.

We're having an OPEN meeting, free to everyone.  Come hear the stories and network with others.  Please register so we have a headcount for food.  GaREIA and SkyBeam Capital are paying for heavy appetizers.  This is at a brewery at the top of the Perimeter.

As of Friday morning, we have 85 folks registered.  Hope to see you Monday.  

I purchased a kitchen with Ikea cabinets. They're ok.  The quality isn't as good as what you can get from an off brand. Most importantly, the installer makes a big difference.  Try Thumbtack or something like that for contractors.

Happy to give you my kitchen designer, supplier, installer as another option.