All Forum Posts by: Doug Minton

I've lived in 3 different homes in the last 25 years, all dating before 1950. I've never had any structural issues, and find the older homes to be very solid, i.e. They have good bones. So I am all for older homes and think that when rehabbed properly they are just as sound, or more sound than homes built in the 90's.

I've been a landlord for 10 years, and it is worth it. I used to have multiple units, but I am now down to one and I still reap the benefits from it. Appreciation, depreciation, and any other write offs on taxes. Plus I am making 11% cash on cash return. I am looking to buy more properties, and have been looking for a good deal where I can buy a multifamily and live in it while using my tenants as leverage to pay down my mortgage.

Don't worry about being handy. Just allocate at least 10% of the rent towards any repairs throughout the year. Find a good handyman to take care of the minor repairs if needed. 

Another benefit I see with owning rental property has to do with cashing out on your equity. I did that after owning the property for a couple of years and ended up with a $30k check. Keep in mind that this is all tax free dollars, and the tenants are paying it off, and I get to write off the interest as well. I don't think you can get any better than that.

Options:

1. Print it out, sign it and scan it back into your computer.

2. Get a PDF editor and sign it with a your scanned signature, then email it back. I use Nitro PF editor. It has a feature where you can us a scanned signature. I do this for all my contracts, and leases. 

3. Another option is a fax service that allows you to send via email. My company uses myfax.com 

Hope that helps

Just curious why you think it would be illegal. You're just paying for leads. If you subscribe to a list, then that isn't illegal, so I guess you can think of it the same way. You're just paying for a service. 

DISCLAIMER: I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice! :-) 

@Mike D

Mike, these are numbers that were given to me and they didn't share with me the gross rent, or the expenses, so, I really don't know. I can ask my friend and get back to you. However, we have been doing business since 2011 and I trust his numbers. 

@Michael Germinario 

I totally agree. 

@Dawn Brenengen Hey Dawn! Too funny. I went out for my 5am 5 mile walk today and as always, was listening to the bigger pockets podcast. Congratulations on a job well done. I got a lot of great information from you, and you also refreshed my memory on listhub.com. I've been meaning to start using it for my business. Great stuff! Thanks!

@Joseph Romero,@Dawn Brenengen

Dawn, yes it was quite an experience and I am still rolling with the punches. I got my NJ real estate license, and I am hoping to be investing full-time by next year right after a cash out on my NJ property which I currently live in. One lesson I could share is that if you have a crappy looking property, then you attract crappy people. The main difference between my Rochester property and my Atlanta property is that I would live in my Atlanta property. It is newer construction, built in 2007. However, my Rochester property was a slum. I would have never lived in it the way it was. My story could have been very different if I had fixed up the property, and then rented it out.

Joseph, yes sir, Essex county has really high taxes. However, it is a very desirable area, so fix and flips work well out here. I reached out to an investor that I partner with and he just picked up an 8 unit building in South River. His taxes are low and they projected an 11.5% cap rate. They are all in for 450k and will net 52,125 annual rent. So that's around $4300 per month. I wish I had partnered up with him on that deal. So, I think the key is to invest in an good area in a town with low taxes and where the properties don't look run down. Sometimes you can find some good multi-family units that can be rehabbed in areas like Newark. The key is to know the good areas in Newark. Take a look at North Newark, area code 07104. I am also looking for a 3 family in a town like Bloomfield where I can live in it and also cash flow. Just know that there are areas that you can invest and the taxes won't kill your profit. Like I said, I think its all relative to your area. 

I may have someone in my office that could do it for you. Send me your contact info, and the address of the property, and I will see what I can do for you.

Send to [email protected]

I am a Keller Williams agent. 

@Mark Updegraff Sure! When I was managing the property myself I had no issues. 5.5 hours away, and I was still able to manage the property with no issues. However, the real estate agent that helped me purchase the property said that she could take over the management, and I trusted her. That was my bib mistake. She put bad tenants into my property. The area wasn't really that bad. In fact the address was 153 Norton St. which is near Irondequoit. 

I would tell her not to accept a tenant unless they had 1 months rent and the security deposit, but she took whatever they had to offer. Then DSS screwed me! The tenants would lose their benefits, and I would not get any notice. I eventually receive a letter stating that they didn't need to inform landlords when benefits changed, i.e. if the tenant needed to pay a part of the rent, or if they lost their benefits. 

The next thing I knew, all my tenants lost their benefits, and I was stuck with a non-performing property. Now, I will say this... I do know plenty of investors in Rochester that had no issues. However, the real estate agent I hired to manage the property jumped in an made things worse. She put a tenant into the property with no security deposit and that tenant abandoned the property and allowed drug dealers to move in. Then, when I told her I wanted to dump the property, she found other investors and put the property under contract, by forging my name, and took all their deposits.   But wait, it gets worse!

I had a burnout property I was going to rehab and she took 10k of my money and never got the contractors involved with the project. A couple of them called me to find out if I was still going ahead with the project. Then she took all the deposit money, kidnapped her kids and ran away to Houston TX.  Meanwhile, all the investors who she took deposits from started contacting me to find out why I wasn't selling my property to them and started demanding that I return their deposits. 

I finally had to dump both properties. I ended up coming out of pocket 23k, and with all the other expenses I lost over 50k. Talk about the school of hard knocks! 

This was my first step into real estate investing and that was back in 2004. I finally sold both properties in 2008, and I have been recovering ever since. Now here is the kicker! Around the time I got out of Rochester, they started to revitalize the area. Rochester never experienced a real estate crash and had remained pretty consistent in sales and vacancy rate. No boom, no bust! So, one would think that it was the perfect place to invest. But I just ran into the wrong person, and later found out that she didn't even have a real estate license. 

Sorry for the long rant, but to make a long story short, this was the worst experience I encountered and it was the best experience I encountered. Now I mentor new investors to not make the mistakes I made. Way worth it. 

I will conclude by saying this. The agent who helped me sell my properties told me not to let that experience discourage me, and that real estate was a great vehicle to invest in. I let those words sink deep down and built up my cash and jumped back into investing.  I could write a book on the things I learned. And honestly, I would invest in Rochester again, but Atlanta seemed to be a better value.