All Forum Posts by: Eric McCully

Arthur Tom Sorry, I'm completely unfamiliar with the out-of-town requirement.

Arthur Tom This is easy. The pros only exist if you can get a better deal down the road versus where you live. If the better deals are closer to you, why bother with the other? The cons basically center on the hassle factor. All of mine are 20-30 minutes away, and I don't mind. I can't replicate the same deals in my own neighborhood, and I'm willing to drive a little further because my investments are cash flowing and I want to protect them. If you know you're going to get irritated driving to the next town, save yourself the headache. I agree that you won't find yourself driving there too often after you get it leased. Once a quarter to do a drive by and change the tenant's air filter should suffice.

Scam. Scam. Scam. Also, why did he need your credit card # to check your credit? I don't need that to pull credit report. You better be checking yours just in case.

I'll echo what Jassem A. said regarding granite tile. Also, I get the unfinished oak cabinets from Lowe's then stain or paint myself. My kitchen designer at Lowe's is quick to discount 20% on their in-stock off-the-shelf selection. Once a month they run 10-20% off, so if the cabinet sale isn't going on then ask when it will be. They'll give you the discount that day if they hear you won't be buying until they go on sale anyway.

John Pearson Can you elaborate on the window heat/cool units you used? I think that will be the cheapest option for my 4plex in Memphis and am told the heat is adequate. My units are only 550sf. What brand do you recommend or have you used? John Pearson That's what I'm looking at. Memphis gets about 6 weeks of 20 degree weather, so I am hoping the LG models with high enough BTU will do the trick. Thanks for the info.

Kim Knox Wonderful info. Thanks for the time you put into that to fill me in. I'll be calling the local board shortly as suggested.

@Curt Davis That's helpful. Not as expensive as I'd guessed. You lead the Getting Started group at MIG last month that I attended. I will be reaching out to you shortly.

Also, it seems that a license is required in order to manage properties for others, which I can understand. I read something that made me think you have to be a broker, not just a licensed salesperson, in order to manage properties. Is this accurate? I'd have to wait three years before becoming a broker. I think I'm missing something here.

Memphis investor here. Small time (6 SFHs and 1 fourplex so far) but poised to grow. Curious about getting real estate license, but I'm having trouble getting a grasp on the true costs associated with getting licensed and then maintaining license. Seems like there are MLS fees and association dues once up and running, but I can't really find out what cost I'm looking at and what other fees there may be, other than commission splits or transaction fees to broker. Can anyone enlighten me? Particularly anyone licensed in the Memphis area? As a heads up, I'm a TN resident but would like to hold license in TN and MS. Thanks in advance. New to BP but really enjoying the forums and podcasts.

Haim Mamane Palman Haim, all of my 6 SFR's are in Southaven and Horn Lake. I live in Memphis, but I like the Desoto County, Mississippi area for buy and hold. It's never taken me longer than a week to find a renter, I've got good blue collar families in my homes, and there really are no "war zones" there like you find in Memphis. In 8 years and 6 homes I've had 2 evictions, coincidentally both were on the same home. I like finding the $75-95k home that rents for $975-1250/month. Less competition from other investors as they're all obsessed with Memphis in-town properties (for good reasons). You will NOT have a problem renting Desoto County properties quickly. There are many families looking to leave Memphis and plenty coming from other markets who want family-friendly Desoto. Happy to talk if you'd like.