All Forum Posts by: Frank Geiger

Not really sure what you are looking for here. 10k worth of repairs should not take you a year. More like a few weekends. 100k and 35k are way off so I would figure out where the discrepency is. Three family is going to cash flow $2800? Owner occupied? 9 months out of the year is a lot vacancy.

I don't know your market or the details on the purchase but I assume your mortgage will be around $2000 a month. What are the rents?

Have the conversation, understand his situation, and make the offer. You need to know the price he wants for the property and your top (safe) offer. Always make them say their price first. This will give you a ball park number to see if your on the same field or one of you is playing football and the other baseball. 

Offer over 80k and keep the bank out of the transaction. Help pay for moving expenses... whatever it takes to get a good deal!

The travel job is a perfect time to learn!

I am in the Army and would wake up at 2 am, RE till pt at 6, work, get off spend time with my family till they went to bed, study....then do it again. Spend sometime learning the basics until you feel comfortable sinking your hard earned money into a deal. We all have 24 hours. 

If you switch jobs, make sure it benefits your business like becoming a loan officer to learn the ins and outs of processing. Otherwise, keep the job you have now. More cash will benefit you in the long run after you get a system in place.

Wait. Did you close on it yet or just have the offer accepted? 

I had to perform this and it is definitely not cheap fix. Especially, if the house isn't just studs. Also, is it just in one location? Get a plumber to the property and get a quote, put some buffer in there, and renegotiate the sales price. 

This idea comes across very unethical to me. Seems like you're trying to do something similar to a lease-option to an unqualified tenant so that you can keep their deposit (but in terms of a loose contract that doesn't necessarily protect the tenant). 

Why not take the full security deposit, plus one months rent? Sounds like a lot of effort.  May have a vacancy for a month not justifying a 4% return.

Jimmy,

I would like to add, while not common, that some bases shutdown, training numbers fluctuate, or brigades move and that can severely hurt the population of these small military towns. 

Some bases have strong lineages and I would absolutely invest there. It's funny how rent around those areas are in line with BAH. You can always get their Commander as a reference that way if they don't pay rent you know who to call. 

Best Of Luck!

@Lana Lee yes I have. PM me if you need a reference.

Congratulations on purchasing your first rental property!

Find out when the tenant gets a paycheck and take payment that same day. That way there is no excuse for them not paying the rent. Believe it or not, the landlord isn't always their top priority.

Finding a good PM is really difficult. I would highly suggest finding an investor that has properties in that area and ask them. Make sure to interview them. 

When I was searching for a PM in the Philadelphia market, I called someone and asked when we could schedule a time to interview. He said, "you just hand the properties over and I take care of it." Wasn't even willing to answer any of my questions. He didn't receive a call back.

You want someone who cares for the property; not just someone who collects $100 every month. 

Please do not drop 20k to work with gurus. There are plenty of Mentors that will lead you in the right direction if you just find a way to add value to their business.

You can get a solid rental, all the books on BP, and afford a few minor mistakes with 20k.

Real Mentors know the value of your capital and won't strip that much money from you because they would rather see you succeed.

Pay a neighborhood kid $10 to do yard work and snow blowing. That is how I made a few hundred bucks a month as a kid. I felt like it was a steal. It was a win/win. That's an easy task and one that doesn't warrant a percentage off his rent.