All Forum Posts by: Stephanie Dupuis

Pretty much sums it up - it applies to almost anything (perhaps anything, I haven't thought through enough, but perhaps anything).

Tanner -

I've had agents disclose that they are in fact representing me, yet still fill out the P&S agreement in the sellers favor (I refused to sign and I fired the agent). It turned out the property I was offering on was owned by a family member of the agent (nice, right?).

I also had an agent lose my EMD (it was found 3 weeks later in her desk!). I patiently waited to get my EMD back, then fired her when I got home that night.

I eventually went back to the same agent I started with when I was 27 yo (beginner's luck?) - The guy is golden. He is honest, ethical, experienced, keeps deals together, and I trust him entirely - that's worth the world. He's not very investor-savvy. But, he listens to me and learns. I feel better off with an ethical, hard-working agent over an "investor-friendly" agent. Well...he is investor-friendly in a way b/c he lets me place a ton of offers and is willing to learn what I'm doing. Investors are quirky, and my agent didn't get this at first, but he's never been frustrated with it. He's had a growth-mentality about it.

In my state, we're required to sign Agency disclosure before every P&S agreement - making such disclosures has not made an ounce of difference with the poor quality agents following their agent duty to the buyer (sadly). I'd recommend finding a good agent and then pledge your loyalty, b/c a great agent is also very loyal back. They may miss some stuff b/c they're human, but they'll also catch some stuff that you'll never have a hope of catching, and it'll save you $ and time. My .02. You might also want to look for an agent with ABR certification.

You can look up the owner of the property once the sale goes through. Contact the person/company and see who their agent is.

Every experience we have in REI is a learning experience - good and bad. Thank you for sharing this with us. That is generous of you and I appreciate you sharing this. I've learned from your post and the comments.

I just uploaded the evaluator I use to Fileshare. You can access via my profile or Fileshare. It's titled "Rental Property Evaluation". I've emailed it a few times already this week, so now it's posted. Hope it helps.

lol...I often return to #1 : ). I have yet to see #3 in REI (at least intentionally).

I'm with the rest on this one, too.

My first thought was, "Budget for the property manager!" FYI. I never planned to used a PM. Then, this summer we had the best...weather...ever!! And tons of things went haywire with my rental and other stuff (b/c everything bad, annoying, costly and "time-suck-ish" needs to happen at the same time). Then it occurred to me, "Hey! I can hire a property manager!" Bam - I had tons of free time on my hands and the money still comes in.

@Shaun Reilly brought up a good idea about asking a local agent about the value of the lot.

The way you know how much things (such as acreage) are worth in your area is through practicing comps...experience. Doing this over and over until you get a feel for the value of items after comparing property after property.

This is a great comp to practice with. To begin to get a feel for the value of the lot, you need to create your own estimate. To get your estimate, compare properties that are similar in every way except their lot size (acreage). The difference in sale price will start to tell you about the value of the lot. Do many of these, b/c you will see that it's not a simple, per acre formula.

Mistake: I didn't know how much could be missed in an inspection and how costly that could be (chimney replacement - ouch! Furnace replacement - ouch!). Inspectors don't catch everything and they don't know everything. Every inspector I've used (except one - a guy I had to hire b/c no one else was available, and I plan to hire him next time) has missed something important (expensive chimney issue, ant infestation that I found but the inspector missed, etc.).

What I've learned from this is two things:

1. Inspectors will miss things. Don't rely soley on the general inspector. Have an HVAC guy come in and inspect the furnace before purchasing (they'll often do this for free). Hire to have to have the chimney inspected, no matter what. Even if it is new construction. Just do this. Have the plumber and electrician stop by and inspect things (mine will do this for free, but others won't - this varies). But it's worth paying for if you're unsure of what you're looking at. I'm fine looking at the plumbing myself at this point. But if I have concerns about the sewer line, I'll hire my plumber to camera the line to check it out before I buy.

Also, look around yourself - do your own inspection. I always inspect my own properties in addition to hiring inspectors (look for frass, stains, soft spots, dipping roof, go into the attic, rodent feces, foundation cracks, soft wood around windows and window sills, water stains in the basement by the furnace (often a sign that the chimney is leaking into the furnace - a huge problem)etc.). The more experience I gain, the more I see and understand. When I view properties, I inspect them a bit if I'm interested in purchasing. It's good for my REI mind.

2. Almost everything is fixable. It may cost some $ - but it can be fixed. Also, with rentals, not everything needs to be fixed immediately.

Things I did well:

I've screened tenants well so far. I read a ton on screening and simply did what experienced LLs recommended. The learning steps are:

1. Copy 2. Internalize 3. Create

I'm on the "internalize" step right now. Sometimes I'm still on the copying step. So...it works. Copying successful people works.

I have a similar problem. Two large trees that blow onto my property. Will not buy near trees again if possible.

Yes, if you can get on the roof with the leaf blower, that's the fastest method. Also, I take apart as much of the downspouts as I can and clean those out (leaves get stuck inside).

I cannot get on my personal residence roof with the blower, so I just get on the ladder and inch across with my gloves and scoop the leaves out with my hand. That's faster for me than any tools I've found. I can scoop my house out in about an hour or less depending on how motivated I am.