All Forum Posts by: Kevin Polite

@James Hamling I think it also depends on the price point. All of my tenants paid the last 2 months except for 1 that paid 75% due to a layoff. The remaining tenants all work from home and are still employed. 

Posted my upcoming rentals on Zillow early thinking I'd would get much response and it's been more than ever. With the number I won't have a problem renting them out. Once tenants move out I"ll do a video and post and limit the number that we do actual physical viewings. I wish Zillow would move the "Request Tour" from the top of the listing. I put in all of my qualifiers and no reads the ad and just clicks tour. I'd rather get 3-4 actual potential residents (we don't call them tenants) then shuffle through 50 to get those same 3-4. 

@Kevin Ogbu check out @Eamonn McElroy

I've been through 4 Accountants over 10+ years in business and find he's been the best

Demarcus, welcome. I noticed you have Stone Mountain grouped with Hapeville and East Point. Was that intentional or those are 3 separate areas you’re interested in?

@Kelly N. thanks for the update. It is per listing not per company. I knew soon or later they'd monetize that service and I get the best applicants from them as I don't do craigslist anymore after getting ghosted twice were crooks copy your ad with a much lower price and try to get the deposit from that person. Because I'm an agent and all the rules on privacy I don't ask for SS# number anymore. Too much liability if you're hacked or something. 

Zillow is starting to charge $9.99/week, but adding it city by city. Yes, it was free, but now in Atlanta at least they starting charging here in a February. It’s great to hear they allow tenants to use that application for one month. I heard from another investor that it’s not as thorough as the others, but  like to see more opinions. Cozy.co is free to a collect rent, but takes 5-7 days to deposit to your account. E-rentpayment was great, but had a hiccup a cou-Le of years ago where rents that were paid were taken. 

Lima One has both good and bad. They do have fairly decent rates and points for experienced investors.Even rental rates are decent if you're over the 10 for loans in your name and need/want to put in your LLC. A couple of things to be mindful of:

1. Closing with them is a minimum of 3 hours. No joke. See why below.

2. Use a closing attorney that has worked with them before. Not the guy/gal that does your retail closings. They scrutinize to make sure every i dotted and t crossed. Their closing requirements for the attorney are like none I’ve seen. Some attorneys won’t work with them. I almost lost a seller because he wouldn’t leave the table until he, understandably, got  his money, 4 hours later with lunch in between. 

3. On rental mortgages they now keep in house instead of selling the mortgage and it’s a mess. You don’t get a monthly statement...unless you request and they send some weird “statement of account.” Note due on the 10th of the month, late on the 11th. 

4. They don't send a 1098 on rentals at the end of the year if you are a multiparty LLC. We have just 2 members and they told me just look on your statement of accounts.

5. 5-year prepayment penalty on all rental loans. This isn’t discussed unless you ask so make sure it’s at least a medium term hold. 

6. Sales Staff is generally nice, but they were growing fast and seems like a lot of turnover with inexperienced  staff. Service staff depends on who you get, but if you have a question on, say your escrow, good luck. Call, don’t email or you won’t get an answer.

7. Expect a low ball appraisal. It’s there way of protecting themselves. Just part of the game. 

8. Make sure you have enough cash to start you're flip as, with most HML, you start work then get draw. They give you 5 draws at $200 each.

@Mikael Winkler how’d it go? 

@Jay Ragland how long did the project take to complete?

@Jim Young they changed this on GAR forms in 2019.

This new rule is stating that the seller is not warranted the title in case something comes up. That's why you buy title insurance. always.

Most Georgia agents were unaware of this. As long as your client purchases title insurance your okay. 

Decatur 30030 and 30032 and East Atlanta 30316, both still have a lot of appreciation potential on the rental and flip side. Both have been good for me for both flips and buy & hold. Low vacancy, good tenant profile, low crime rate. It may be a bit more difficult to find deals now but I wouldn't rule out an entire area depending on your investment strategy and anticipated ROI.