All Forum Posts by: Jake Johnson

Connect with property managers in the areas you are looking to invest in. They have their ear to the ground. They have owners who are thinking of selling all the time. Especially if you will have them manage it, they will want to help you find a good home.

An excellent alternative is a single family home with a garage with an apartment over the garage

Hey Allen. I own two PMI franchises. The great thing about the PMI franchises is they are all run very similarly using the same software. The owner of PMI Fairfax is John Malatesta and he does an excellent job. I recommend contacting him to see if he is the right fit for you.

Contact PMI Richmond. They are a property management company in the area and they may have some good info for you.

When looking for vendors we typically go off of google reviews and work from there. The good companies will care about maintaining their status on google.

You may need to allow this tenant to cooperate with you via the gov2go program. If they do not cooperate this should mean you have a clear path for an eviction. This may be a better option because you will collect rent and hopefully not pay for an attorney. I recommend speaking to an attorney who specializes in evictions in your area. I also see you are in Richmond. Call PMI Richmond. They are a property management company there and they may be a resource for you.

If you will not be near the property I highly recommend getting a good property manager. This will save you money in the long run. I have owners that have tried to do this and the work is done poorly and they can never find the guy who did the work to fix it. A manager will be able to keep an eye on things for you. 

Andy, 

An excellent goal. Your network is your net-worth as they say. I recommend finding a good management company and sticking with them. This will help your journey in the long run.

I recommend using the VRLTA. This is the most surefire way to have the lease enforced. Should you ever need to go to court, judges are most familiar with this document. Use this as the base and create an addendum for additional terms.

I guess it depends on how tough evictions are in your area. In VA it would be difficult to evict a tenant like this. It would likely go to court so weigh the costs of that vs renewing her at a lower rate and continuing to collect rent.

Look for programs that offer degrees in real estate. This is becoming more common. Virginia Tech offers a degree and you can pick and choose which classes you think you will benefit from the most. You can go business heavy or space it out a little and get some construction if you want.