All Forum Posts by: Filipe Pereira

I think you should house hack if you can to speed up the process of saving up more funds for your investment journey. While you are saving money for the investment property you will also be building equity, of course. @Jovann Thompson

Hey @Evan W. - here are my thoughts and the order of what I would ask for.:

1. HVAC cooling system is causing the drain pan to fill with water because pressure is lower than it should be. Also, ductwork is ~25 years old.

2. Outdated aluminum wiring and 15+ ungrounded outlets

3. Moisture and mold in the crawl space. (No vapor barrier, damaged insulation. Some soft spots in the floor).

4. Sitting water on the roof due to incorrect grading of roof membrane. Other than that, the roof is good condition.

Reasoning

1. I'd want to know if I was expecting to have to replace the HVAC (because that can be pricey). 
2. Safety concern, and electrical can get pricey, especially if things are wired in a poor manner. 

3. It sounds like the issue is clear and a pretty solid quote can be made. There shouldn't be any surprises here, so figure out the cost and factor it in.

4.  It sounds like the issue is clear and a pretty solid quote can be made. There shouldn't be any surprises here, so figure out the cost and factor it in.

Basically, my thought is you should ask for safety items or things that may be big unknowns which could translate to big $$. 

@Jovann Thompson

Having $15,000 saved up is a great start to your real estate journey and that's worth recognizing. It's also important to understand that you have to set up yourself for success by creating the right foundation on which to build. For some people that means starting in their market, for others it means starting out of state. 

Do you know Memphis, or people you trust with 15K of your money there? That's what it takes. Are you OK with potentially losing all of your money due to poor management? These are questions you need to ask yourself. 

Out of state investing is not for the faint of heart. It's still a lot of work and really only pays off once you're well established - and you can almost guarantee there will be bumps along the way. @Account Closed - I hear ya...

Time for a new lender @Kirsten Milliken! Seriously though, there are definitely people out there writing loans for self employed folks.

@Joshua Cochran, if you don't have a w-2, most banks will want to see 2 years worth of tax returns to determine what your income is and process a possible loan accordingly. This is the route I am going. 

Of course, there are other (some creative and some more expensive) ways of doing it, such as statement only loans.

This is a fascinating thread and quite timely, thank you for posting @Carlos Rovira. I also run a property management company and have been heavily considering a VA to help my business.

I am curious as to what tasks others here are planning to ask their VAs to do. I am very much looking for ideas still. Thoughts @Tracy Streich, @Peter Tverdov, @Drew Sygit?

@Peter - why do you prefer people in Central or South America over the Philippines? Any countries in specific you focus on, or look for people from?

Unfortunately this is a scam that runs rampant through the rental industry and a large part of the reason why Craigslist has quickly been decimated by more credible competitors (name Facebook) where the poster is required to have a public profile @Joe P.

I will say that @Troy Sheets' and @Marco Anemone's situations sound a bit more extreme, but honestly it's probably just an example where the scammers "won". 

If you do go the watermark route as @Tracy Streich mentioned (which is a great idea btw), you have to be mindful about where you're placing the watermark so that it cannot be easily cropped out. 

This is one of the reasons we don't put "For Rent" yard signs in C class neighborhoods - we don't want people knowing which units are vacant. 

Hey @Michael Gallagher, if you're going to consider upstate NY also consider CT as @Sean Toomey mentioned. There's a lot of cash flowing sub markets here in Connecticut that make a lot of sense still, and we are definitely more landlord friendly than NY, lol!

I make my list of contacts completely public and can make recommendations for this area as well. 

The giveaway is when you have more questions than answers and tenants won't give you the answers you're looking for @Lisa K.

Easy peasy. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...it's probably a lying tenant! (Kidding, of course.... sort of ;) )

@Lisa K.

@Theresa Harris nailed this one for you @Bryant K.. How is his current status any different than the tenant having a guest over besides the fact that he use to live there? What does the tenant gain by not having him on the lease? 

Usually people try to leave significant others off of the lease in order to hide something about their past. That doesn't sound like it applies in this case, so maybe I am missing the reason, but I don't really see the benefit in a tenant taking a boyfriend off the lease.

It may just be because they want closure from it. If she checks out by herself, do it. And make sure everyone knows who is responsible for what, including damages and security deposits.

@Tameika Craig 

If your goals really are to get the education and to expand your network, then absolutely go for it. However if your goal is really to make big money in commissions quickly, then change your course because that doesn't happen often.

In the state of Connecticut it costs me around $1,500 a year to maintain my license and the tools that I need to be successful in real estate in the year 2020. It quickly adds up between dues, licensing fees, insurance, e-sign programs, etc.

Just be genuine with yourself about what your goals are by getting your license and you will be fine. Most agents in my area that are making 300K + per year in commissions are working 60-80 hour weeks.