All Forum Posts by: Jane S.

I would never close on a property with tenants unless they are M2M so i can have access immediately for rehabbing and getting market rate rents, eliminating animals and squatters etc. Long term tenants think they are entitled to do whatever they want to the property including locking out the owner, messy painting, aggressive animals, the list is long.

Hi Nate,

Welcome to a crazy world. Investing in RE is a wild ride with all kinds of hairy scary competition! Get on to realtor.com and sign up for emails covering sales and rentals. Also I believe the MLS has a site where they list current rent levels by area. You might consider getting a real estate license which gives you access to all sorts of data. There are social media groups where For Rent ads appear and you can contact owners and pick their brain.

Here's my take on your 3-4 rentals acquisition. I dont want to rain on your parade but you've gotta hit the street and learn whats going on in the grass roots rental markets you are interested in, and find a lender with the right experience as well as a broker who knows the current insane investing facts, which include cash flow is extremely difficult to achieve and slime ball tenants are just waiting for a newbie like you so they can move in to your place and quit paying rent. And they own weapons and will threaten you and yours. Do a Google search on bad tenants and murdered landlords.

Watch out for condos and townhouses, the maintenance will kill your cash flow. And you've got NO control. The "committee" has their hands in your pocket at all times!

Driving around and parking the car to talk to people residing in an area, if you have a dog its easy to start a chat. Find a dog park and take your dog so you can meet people. everybody likes to talk about real estate.

Yes its a lot of shoe leather--who wears leather shoes anymore? BUT it will pay off. Figure out how many hours a week you can devote to building your foundation, whether its 5 or 50, and write it on your calendar, you know the drill ...

I decided to do a DST since there is not one piece of RE in my "farm" zipcodes that makes sense. Also the CG on this one I sold after 13 years of aggressive depreciation would have been painful. The 1031 pays me every month, about what I would net on an overpriced rental with scummy tenants and costly repairs, taxes, insurance, and there is NO STRESS!!!!!! my kids can deal with deciding what to do when the 1031 matures if I'm not around. ... I agree that hiring other folks to handle the transaction, that's not great for a solopreneur. I worked with proven experts from this group. BTW Amazon and Walmart are offering pretty good deals for DST product. Now the only unfinished piece is getting the IRS to OK it.

Also, see if you can involve the seller in the deal more actively to take on some of the due diligence. Most properties are FS because the seller messed up. Smart investors really need to find out what happened. Sellers are good at spinning tales that seem reasonable Dont fall for it.

so true the stress from bad and dangerous tenants can make LL's very sick.

thanks everyone

i have better things to do than get angry about this allover again. they'll be dead soon anyway.

THE quicker the job the higher the cost. Contractors are now aware of their value to investors and it shows in their huorly rates and some wont even spare a half hour to look at the work. On a $250 paint job in a vacant house I had up to $1500 estimate. I wish these guys would just say no they dont have time. ... or interest, rather guzzle beer & watch CNN...

You love your high paying job? why pivot into one of the most risky industries for a beginner? How about becoming a "bank" and loaning out some of your cash to another investor, and start learning about the nitty gritty that way. Or, maybe just start out with a small condo with reasonable monthly fees and let the tenant pay the loan. (Take care you study the condo rules & regs carefully, because THEY are in control.)

When I started out I limited my out of pocket severely but that was 2008 and I could grab distressed foreclosures. And my goal was "one at a time" ... and still the hassle with contractors was unbelievable. Many did NOT want to be working for a woman. Nowadays its SOOOO much worse.

Or find a rehab & work on it weekends. ... but make sure you are aware that everything costs more now including all licensed trades like plumbing & roofing etc.

BUT dont do it just for money. There's ALWAYS a shark out there who can do it cheaper. There are better reasons for getting into investing in RE.

Let us know how you go!

dont buy in a worse location it may be on its way to the bottom, only time will tell. Make sure your numbers on the cash flow are reality and get the seller to provide hard copy maintenance and remodeling as well as late/no pays. and not just for this year, going back at least 3 years. 43 units is huge if its not behaving itself!

They left it in a totally trashed condition but i did upgrades that i had deferred so the insurance deductible and drywall 15 sheets is about the extent of my loss plus the sheriff fee, bad choice of attorney, and paying for removal of their crap. I laid Pergo on the main floor and it definitely helped me get a great contract. When we pulled the 3-yr-old electric range there were dead mice and droppings. 

I've been busy with things I love to do so didnt want to deal with these scum of the earth, sorry an insult to worms. Then since COVID is heating up around here because folks are so resistant to getting vaxed, I could stay in and prepare the docs for the small claims case. also, i heard that a collection agency has the power to garnish wages. So I thought that would be another option. Plus my 1031 is paying me monthly. I'm sure Judge won't understand/appreciate that deferral of cap gains. Y'all are correct, just put the docs in the shred box and continue doing what I love.