All Forum Posts by: Greg Lemmon

Hi Sarah,

This market here is truly insane and is getting more insane every day!

To answer your first question I would say that being well connected with others in the industry to find deals and/or connecting face to face with NOD's have been the best source for me to generate new opportunities.

My cashflow on all of my rentals is very thin. Most of the time here I am speculating on the market appreciation, not the safest route, but it honestly feels like the only route when your properties rise in value 15% in 1 year. Then when that happens you may think, okay this works for now. (The last words of real estate investors in 2008) Also, with this approach assuming the market doesn't tank, you can usually refinance off PMI in 1 year, if you are house hacking and then get decent cash flow.

In general, the Salt Lake market is not slowing down anytime soon. The top of the market cycle is probably still a couple of years away and we have new jobs coming into our area daily due to Utah's extremely friendly business environment. I would say keep investing for now.

I know a couple of KW agents in the Ogden area. It's a pretty good office from the couple of interactions I have had with them. The thing that has been so positive for me really has come down to my broker and the agents in the office. KW itself provided a lot of training to get me going then it was my broker and fellow agents that have made up my mind about staying there for the long haul. On the downside, I can't say it's perfect and the flaws will present themselves as you get more experienced. When I started new agents were taught by the top performing agents and it was the best! From what I have seen now they have largely changed that in my office to where the new agents are trained by "trainers" or members of the staff who may have good sales expertise but are limited in practical experience. The other downside that KW is working quickly to resolve and I am impressed by the results thus far is their technology. We used to have a lot of useless technology that must have been created by a much older generation. Now we are starting to get a lot more software that is very useful and they are rolling out new features and updates every week. 

Also, I agree with what @Amy Kendall said about Remax. Every Remax agent I have met has been great and I would recommend adding them to your list of brokerages to interview with too.

Based on the MLS I wouldn't take anything out there unless it was a really good deal. 1 property sold there last year, 2 expired, 1 active at 190 days on the market. Seems like the turnover time is going to take the profit out of any deal unless you can do cash or get a very good interest rate, even then the return still might be minimal in my opinion.

Hi Joshua,

I am with Keller Williams and have been for my whole four years in real estate. I am pretty sure I have them to thank for most of my success in my career thus far as the training here is top notch and the culture and agents that work in my office are some of the best people I have met in the industry. Making the right choice for a brokerage I think is a big deal and I have noticed many in my experience that have said otherwise don't seem to do this for a career, lots of people (again in my experience) that complain about commission splits and brokerages not mattering to them are just here to sell their friends and family deals as a supplemental income. I guess it mainly depends on how serious you are in your career as a Realtor. Also, I have never heard a bad thing about Coldwell Banker here and I have enjoyed working with their agents too. Which offices of Coldwell Banker and Keller Williams are you considering?

Unless you are against it. I would recommend moving into your next rental option, or as many call it "House Hacking" A lot of people are saying that we are approaching the top of the market and if those people are right then any medium to high-risk investments could go upside down. With an owner occupant purchase, you will get the best interest rate with the least money down. If you are feeling really ambitious try the BRRRR strategy. Purchase a home that needs small updates that could be an easy flip in value and stay there while you renovate, then refinance or remove private mortgage insurance, followed by renting it out.

Given that she is current on rent excluding late fees, I would try to just stay the course and hope she gets out tomorrow or the next. Posting the notice is always a good idea for a backup plan though. In Utah where we are considered very landlord friendly, the eviction process still costs a lot of time and money. If your tenant is being cooperative I would suggest Cash for Keys. I know it sounds counter productive, but it usually saves time and money to offer the tenant some cash to be out by a certain time leaving the property in a certain condition. Then they also leave happy and are less likely to vandalize your property.

I worked with an investor a while ago that had the same problem. He had mostly tenants that depended on the state usually through disability. Whenever it was time to raise rents he would just move tenants around to different vacant units and said he needed to do renovations on their current unit, or when no other units were available he would raise rent and do renovations while they lived there. This way he got a little return and normally people were okay or even happy with the new rent as their unit was just updated. By updates I don't mean go crazy either, just paint, carpet, fixtures something like that that adds a lot of value in the tenant's eyes and makes them appreciate there home a lot more.