All Forum Posts by: Gregory Schwartz

We are in the process of screening a tenant which of course includes verifying rental history. We ask simply questions, like were they late, did they have lease violations, outstanding debt and would you lease to the tenant again. But we were told Graystar management has a policy that they don't disclose any rental history even with a signed release of info by the tenants?! This same PM company requires tenants to provide verifiable rental history?!?

I've been in PM for the last 5 years... has this always been a thing with Greystar? And if so, this sounds like the most hypocritical practice, we require but don't provide rental verification. 

One of my younger clients is a 21-year-old college student. He worked his *** off for a year to save some money, then convinced his dad to contribute and co-sign. He purchased a relatively inexpensive ($210k), 3 bed 3 bath townhome. He lives in one room and rents out the other 2 for $700 per bedroom. 

I would do that. 

 I find this extremely hard to belive. How many people are in your phone, how many friends do you have on Facebook? Do they all know about the deal?

If you had an opportunity to buy this deal for $400k cash knowing that its worth $1.3M would you be able to find investors. Im sure you would. And Im sure you would be calling everyone on your phone and messaging everyone on FB. 

The reason I'm a little aggressive with this is that I let a great deal slip through my fingers once. $700k upside and an assumable 2.7% loan. I only "pitched" it to about 5 people. I should have told 50 people. 

is the utility company threatening to shut off the water? My leases state that the tenants are responsible for the utilities and must keep all the utilities on. If the utility company shuts off the water that is grounds for termination. 

Are you concerned that they might be trying to move too many people in?

You can also limit the number of occupants. 2 people per bedroom is the recommended limit per HUD.

Start by filling out your BP profile :) 

@Alyssa Dinson

In hindsight, I rushed into my first investment. I quickly chose one of the first 'investor-friendly' agents I found, bought the cheapest duplex on the market, and only interviewed a single property management company.

Looking back, I wish I had taken the time to connect with more local investors in the area and leveraged their experiences to help me avoid some costly mistakes.

After two years, I sold that underperforming duplex and reinvested closer to home. One positive takeaway: I did my homework on the market itself. Huntsville, AL, showed—and continues to show—strong appreciation. Thanks to this equity growth, we were able to recover much of our initial cashflow loss. Lessons learned!

 Hey Travis, you're doing better than I did. In my first 9 months as a full-time agent, I sold 0 homes! Glad you're building your business while still active duty, that's a powerful move! 

What makes you want to get into property management? I manage my own portfolio and have worked as a PM for a very successful individual but have never considered managing other peoples properties. Margins seem low and the risk seems high.

@Kelsey Vander Meulen We use Buildium. Its a little more expensive but when our tenants put in maintenance requests we can simply forward those to our contractors. So as long as you take the time to add your handyman, plumber, electrician, HVAC company, etc into the software it should be as easy as the push of a button when the request comes in. 

Usually, we have the contractor coordinate entry directly with the tenants. 

@Anthony Colachicco you got to love $150k tax free money! This is very similar to what I did....

1. House hack a duplex with a low down payment primary residence loan (think FHA, VA or 5% down conventional).

2. Hopefully this allows you to also buy a small-ish SFR with 20% down.

3. With the savings from the house hack you should be able to purchase a non-house hack home in 1-2 years. 

One word of advice, keep an eye on your Debt-to-Income (DTI) can make it difficult to get all those houses in your name.