All Forum Posts by: Gretchen P.

I agree with the above comments about insurance, etc. so make sure everything is safe and legal. That said a friend who has multiple properties told me you can't have a range, so you can have a cooktop and microwave/convection oven and be code-compliant. 

In my opinion, the Colorado Springs market has gotten more expensive, and while rents have risen,  it is more and more difficult to find properties that cash flow.

Nice job!

Lynda, it may depend where you live, in different states the laws are different. I do agree with Lee that a title company may be a good place to start.

Pay off your debt, and in the meantime educate yourself, start looking at properties, analyzing them and meeting other investors in your area. If you can pay off the debt that quickly, I assume you can amass savings at a similar pace once the debt is gone.  

I am guessing the high taxes also serve to depress the cost of the property in that market. In other markets taxes would be closer to your monthly tax bill for an entire year. Find a different market. 

Make sure to add a clause in the future lease that states all adults over the age of 18 who are staying at the property more than 6 (or whatever number you choose) nights per month must pay to have a background check, and the background check must be satisfactory. 

Search the forums for this topic, and check with your insurance company. I believe I read that if your insurance disallows certain breeds that are considered to be aggressive  (like mine does), it can be an undue hardship on the landlord, and you may need the tenant to take out an insurance policy to shield you, the landlord, from any liability if there was an incident, you should probably check with a lawyer as well.

Check your zoning, and if it is R2 (or more) talk to the people at Regional to make sure you won't need any variances. Even with an R2 lot there are some other requirements the project must meet certain criteria. I have found them to be very helpful.

If you are buying and holding, and have healthy cash flow on your properties, it makes no difference what the market does, people will still need a place to live. Make sure to buy properties with plenty of room to lower rents if the market changes. 

Buy for cash-flow, mortgage pay-down, depreciation and appreciation is the icing on the cake. 

If you buy for appreciation, in hot markets and rents don't cover costs, you can get in trouble.