All Forum Posts by: John Ford

Crystal, what's your target tenant? If you were airbnbing it, it sounds like it's a condo that might appeal to young professionals. If that's your market, I'd look at the sites that allow you to setup online applications. Paper is a turn-off. On MySmartMove, for example, you plug in your applicant's email and the site sends a link to the prospect to go through the process. 

At my local REIA meeting, I recently found a tenant screening site that's a mysmartmove affiliate. What I like about them more than using mySmartMove directly is they also have state-specific leases available: RentMarketplace

Good Luck and enjoy the learning process.

@John D., I went with these cameras. PoE means "power over ethernet". So they only need the one wire and both data and power goes over it. And ethernet is easy to crimp. So the electrician was able to pull the wires without plugs on to make smaller holes, then crimp the ends on after the wire is in place. If you go that route, though, you have to make sure to either get a PoE capable DVR or a PoE switch.

I agree with checking the laws. As for the installation, you'll minimize both cost and hassle by having a low-voltage electrician do the wire pulls for you. Then DIY mounting and connecting the cameras. The guy I hired charged $50/camera to pull the wires through the outside wall, through the attic, and down into the closet where i have the recorder installed. It would have taken more than $50 of my time per camera to manage the professional looking job he did.

MLS shows less square footage than the county? I don't see what the problem is. If the county is correct, you got 100 more sq/ft than you expected. If MLS is correct, you got exactly what you expected.

I think the main thing new investors (including myself) really get unrealistic about with brrrr is timeframe. Rather than thinking, "I'll do one deal my first year and nurse it for a year or two while I figure out my systems and processes, then refi, pull some cash out and do deal two..." people seem to think they can just jump right in and do a deal every few months or so right off the bat. 

I think there are many reasons for that, not the least of which is the podcast always feature these Golden Child investors who did eleventy-billion deals in their first few years. The thing to remember is those people are outliers. That's why they're on the podcast! I'd love to hear more discussion with regular old mom & pop investors who have ground out a deal every year or so for the last 5 years and hear how they managed it.

cozy.co is free if the tenant uses ach, tenant pays 2.75% if they use a credit card. One thing, if the tenants are paying in cash, they may be unbanked and not able to use any online service. In which case, maybe setup a PO box to allow them to mail a money order. Or you could do what a friend: on the side of her multifamily home, she put a locking mailbox for tenants to drop their checks in so she could pick them up on her schedule.

You probably know that an agent has to pay part of their commissions to their broker. But did you know agents with rentals have to pay their broker a commission on every signed lease? Pay a commission for renting out your own properties! That alone was a deal-breaker for me, just on principle.

Yeah, I'd be very wary. Granny doesn't want to evict because she still sees some value in the relationship with the grandchildren. She wants to sell the property out from under them and then claim "there was nothing I could do" and lay it all at your feet as the bad guy. Once the house is sold, in order to try and mend the relationship with the grandkids, she might even go to court on their behalf and lie for them against you. Definitely keep everything legit and cover your six if you move forward.

Hey Chanell, welcome! Less than a year ago I was sitting where you are. Last month, I collected my first rent check. You picked a good time. Bigger Pocket Podcast 200 just dropped and I wish that had been the first one I listened to. Go check it out!

Also, tomorrow night, GAREIA (georgia real estate investor's association) is meeting near 75/285. Come out and network. It's $25 for non-members but I've heard a rumor that they'll let you into your first meeting for free (that could be false, though!) I'll be there for the networking and may or may not stay for the speaker. It looks like a good talk, it's just not related to my niche.

Do you have any idea yet what you're interested in doing in real estate? Buy & hold rentals, flipping, etc...?

Cozy.co here, as well. Payments are free if the tenant uses ACH, Tenant pays 2.75% fee if they use a credit card. Plus many other nice features like tenants can schedule individual payments in advance and I can see who's scheduled a payment and who hasn't so I know who I might have to remind. Last, it has the best user interface of all the online processors I looked into. Not a huge thing for me but I target young tech professionals as tenants and they like stuff like that.