All Forum Posts by: Mitch Coluzzi

@Noi K. a lot of brokerages have gotten aggressive with their listing rates, which vary SIGNIFICANTLY between brokerages and even agents within those brokerages depending on level of autonomy. Every brokerage offers different components to their marketing package, but most include MLS and professional photos. Majority of the MLS systems I work with integrate directly with Zillow/Trulia, and some folks syndicate to hundreds of other sites as well. If doing a virtual tour, get an example of what they are doing... There's a big difference between a photo slideshow and a full-blown 3D Matterport.

Lastly, some of the flat fees (not all, just some) are not cooperating brokerages. As such, they do not list on the MLS nor do they compensate out-of-brokerage agents for producing a buyer. That just means you are working exclusively with their agents and buyer pool. Triple check this before making a decision on who to list your asset with.

It is worth a conversation with conventional brokerages to compare services... Equally important is the actual agent you sign on with at that brokerage. :)

@Alan Grobmeier just my two cents, but I take the opportunity to reverse prospect. We do the same thing when we receive postcards. The wholesaler that is contacting you generally also will be selling homes, not rehabbing them. This isn't always the case but majority of the folks contacting me this holds true for.

Instead of wasting your time (and theirs), break the script and try to pull value. Be very up front that you are an active investor, also looking for opportunities and are therefore not interested in selling. Most GOOD scripts have this in their process flow. Explain that if they have any opportunities in these neighborhoods you would be willing to consider purchasing or at minimum doing a boots on the ground review. Likewise, if you hear of anything that doesn't fit your criteria, will will pass it along to them.

Mutual benefit can go a long way... If you're spending the time to torment the virtual assistant anyways, might as well pull value.

@Allen Lundgren

I am all for charity and helping folks but keeping rents at a substandard rate and thus diminishing the potential reinvestment into your property is not a sustainable solution. I say that, to say this: landlords have an obligation to keep their rental rates and rental standards at or near the market threshold. Their properties and by extension the tenants who occupy them have a direct impact on all neighboring properties in their community. As a responsible investor, your obligation is to your community before it is to your tenant. ((Legally speaking, you have an obligation to your tenant as well, of course))

Your a Realtor, how many times have you shown a SFD surrounded by nearby multifamily units to have you client say "is there a lot of rentals around here?" ... I can tell you I lost count about 8 years ago (and I don't represent homeowners anymore). Couple that with substandard management in a neighboring property and your buyer has lost majority of their interest due to location.

In the case of a trailer park, neighbors and prospective neighbors often instantly associate a stigma. This is not right, but it is a reality. Then you add in a SIGNIFICANTLY below standard rental rate like this property had... In practice the former operator likely wasn't picking the top candidates (because everyone can afford, thus more folks qualify).

Your initial post assumes that the landlord was money hungry. Frankly, as an investor that is absolutely a consideration and a right that we are paying for. We should not buy anything we cannot make a SIGNIFICANT profit off of. From a practical standpoint, a phased in rate increase would result in less move-outs, but that slow change might not be best for the community nor the investment model.

It sucks for the folks moving, but by accepting a month to month situation that is the risk they accepted. There are plenty of parks that prefer 12-18 month minimum lot leases. But it's a two way street, both sides are committed to the rate and the term.

Thanks for the shout out Michael.  I would encourage everyone, from the folks thinking about getting into the business to the hardened veterans, to check out the monthly meetup at Ingersoll along with the IAREIA meetings.  There's something for everyone at these events.

There is a ton of knowledge and education being transferred through the basic networking the community around these groups.  I know for certain that people are forging relationships and growing their business with the connections they're making here. 

As far as showing you the ropes, if you attend the Ingersoll meetup feel free to track me down directly.  We can chat and I'll introduce you to a handful of folks that are specifically doing what you want to do. 

@Jim Goebel

Don't make a mountain out of a molehill. This (per the above) is not an excessive amount of money. It will cost you significantly more to hire an attorney to resolve, and in the end no one will be happy with the outcome.

Best bet is to reach out directly to the owner. Schedule a time to face-to-face and get it hashed out. Put the ball in their court on collecting payment if a resolution cannot be met.

You have better things to be doing than arguing over a few hundred bucks (or even a thousand). If operating is running that tight I would suggest reviewing your criteria ;)

I am in the DSM market almost exclusively.  It's been steadily growing in terms of population, rent rate and appreciation.  Vacancies are down to almost nothing and we are starting to accumulate a wait list.  Of course, this depends on your unit blends... 3 beds are in HIGH demand.  4 beds are instant refills (and warrant annual rate increases).

Hubbell CBRE puts out a rental report every year.  You may want to dig that up to get a feel for the DSM metro market rate unit rentals, vacancy, etc.  If memory serves they break down by quadrant and unit type.

@Virginia Jones there are three primary reasons for NOT accepting cash.

1) Scalability - if you get to the point of having a lot of rentals, accepting cash becomes a significant burden. Money orders and checks can be electronically deposited (or mailed), thus no need to count it, check it, and make a special trip to a bank over it.

2) Safety - rental offices are an easy target. Generally speaking your tenants all know that rent is due on a specific day. Pretty easy for other folks to realize that also! If you start getting large sums of cash in, that quickly becomes a security concern. Gas stations get robbed all the time and their average transaction is a few dollars... they have time-lock drops, vaults, and protocols. The other "safety" concern is simply fake bills. If you take in rent from more than one person, getting passed a stack of fake $5s or $10s becomes quite a pain.

3) Trackability - money orders and checks allow for very easy paper trails. Every party has a receipt and every party has a means to verify where funds came from. "Proving" you didn't receive cash can be a real pain... Last but not least, having check records also gives you a possible place to start for garnishment list should you ever need to enforce a court approved judgement.

We don't accept cash... neither should you in the long term. If you plan to grow and scale, break the bad habits now.

@Roger Steciak interesting. I will look into this out of sheer curiousity. I've heard the rumblings of several states pushing for time limitations and out-right disregard for history but hadn't heard of anyone pulling the trigger (pun intended) quite yet.

I would be happy to share our published rental application standards (defined for central Iowa, reviewed and approved by local real estate attornies) if anyone is in need. We are relatively strict, but it has worked great. There is some behind the scene magic (decision matrix for conditional approval) that I won't share publicly, but the standards are still useful for defining your own!

@Eric McAtee welcome to the site Eric! Here is a link to the next meeting which is Feb 21 at 6:00.

http://meetu.ps/e/FZHqJ/lTKpq/d

@Shayna Hatcher in this case I would take a pass. But that pass should be based on your WRITTEN AND AVAILABLE rental standards. When it comes to criminal history, that is not a protected class... yet. So define what you find acceptable and publish it to any and all prospects. If they feel they meet the standards you have defined, accept an application and issue a decision.

My suggestion is to find 5-7 local applications (and application standards) in your geographic area from experienced property managers. Compare, contrast, and then define your own policies utilizing common sense.

You must proactively defend your decisions. Eventually with any degree of volume, someone WILL claim you discriminated for a completely unrelated reason. The burden of proof is going to be on you... It will be frustrating and even more frustrationing is that... without a written policy, it'll be extremely difficult to explain that you didn't discriminate.

Sidenote: We send application standards BEFORE they schedule a first showing. In fact, we ask them to confirm they've read the standards before confirming the appointment. We also reiterate (and make available) rental standards and application process at the showing. We found most folks can read the standards and do not bother applying (paying the application fee) if they do not qualify.