All Forum Posts by: Ed O.

Can anyone refer me to an experienced, investor friendly realtor in St. Louis, MO? 

Thanks!

I have been using buildium for a little while. Lot's of great features. It's a well designed program - keeps things clean, neat and efficient. For me, it's all about minimizing the time needed to make the management side work. 

The downside is continual fees, but I feel the benefits are there. Why would they sell it to you once if they could collect every month - I'd do the same thing. 

Good luck!

@John Gutman 

Thanks for explaining things further for me. That's an amazing rate, especially for State Farm. I had a couple of awful experiences with them in the past, in part I suspect, to the agent trying drive up prices, premiums and ultimately commissions for himself. 

I'm not a fan of ACV policies. Insurance agents love them and will speak about how great they are. 

I have no idea whatsoever how @Account Closed is getting polices written at state farm with those coverages for the price. I have to ask, in the interest of fair disclosure - are you or your mother an agent? I got utterly clobbered by state farm, for no reason - rates lept up 30-50% -due to "market adjustment." Needless to say, I'm not a fan of those donkeys. I no longer work with them. 

Bottom line, the insurance companies love it when a person overinsures. The more you insure for, the more they win. They know the odds and have the actuaries behind them. Just like how the casino will let you bet 10,000 on a spin of the roulette wheel - they know they will win over time. 

Many agents balk at selling acv policies, or make up their own rules, in an effort to force you to overinsure. You just need to find the right one that will give you what you're after. Personally, if I have total loss on a rental, I'd rather be out of it, than forced to build a new house from the ground up. 

There's a lot of people in Joplin that aren't happy with their replacement policies after the tornadoes wiped out their homes. 

Make some more calls - call an agent or two on the other side of your state, who may see you as bonus business, not a local customer to try and steer into a full replacement policy, unless, you really want to build a new home right where your rental is on the very outside chance there's a total loss. 

Good luck. 

This is a tough question to answer not knowing your short and long term goals. If you're wanting to leverage aggressively and accumulate units in the short run, this is a solid approach. A 30 year note will give you more flexibility, better DTI ratios, and better cash flow, which will allow you more opportunity to grow. If you're using 15 year notes, your payment will be higher and will adversely effect your dti ratios with each house.

If you're going to wash, rinse and repeat on this, it's critical that you maintain great credit. If you get a credit snag along the way, getting a cash out refi will become a lot tougher. I think it's safe to say, nearly all the time, on a 60-80k home, you're going to want to see better cash flow than $100 a month. 

On a high end home, disposals are probably a must - most of the time. 

In a non high end rental home, they have no place in my experience. Headaches, maintenance and, IMO, more clogs as people can get it through the disposal, but not all the way down the drain. 

FYI - icemakers on your fridges will yield the same pain as well. 

Good luck! 

Wow, I had no idea this happened until this was the top result on an entirely unrelated search. How sad and tragic. 

I was also one of the lucky people that got to meet Ryan at the Summit in Denver. I remember at the time, he was debating whether or not he would make the trip.

Along with so many others, I'm really glad he did. His presentation with Aaron was great. Afterwards, we talked for an hour or two and he was kind enough to answer a lot of questions I had about his wholesaling operation. He took his time and was so generous and willing to share his experiences. 

Some 6-12 months after the conference, I had a few other questions related to working with a partnership and doing wholesale deals. I sent him a text asking if I could talk to him for a few minutes. He called me right away and we talked for over an hour about some of his experiences and he offered me a lot of ideas based on what he'd experienced. He was honest about the good and the bad and quick to point out areas to be extra mindful of. 

I'm very thankful for what Ryan was kind enough to share with me in the short time I knew him. An all around good, generous person. I hope his family and his children are doing ok. 

@Uwe K. 
Sorry, just now saw your question. 

It was no risk - if they win, I split the savings down the middle with them for 2 years. 

I hit 833 on the TU a few months ago. It said the top of the scoring model in play was 839. The scoring system is a lot like the SAT - a measure of how well you take their test, moreso than your real creditworthiness. 

Of course, it does point out serious risks, but I think it's rotten at estimating from 675ish up. 

I'm trying to find a good pm in Akron, OH for a friend of mine. Any referrals would be greatly appreciated.

thanks!