All Forum Posts by: John Fider

Thank you Joe. I don't know why I feel awkward asking for all 3. The rent is 1200, so times 3 I'm asking for $3600. Just feel weird asking all that money upfront. But I'm doing it. Fingers crossed I don't scare everybody off.

Thank you Eric. I will be self managing. I've got the time to do it and also I figure I'd learn a lot about real estate by handling it myself... at least in the beginning. I might have a friend who would need a property manager soon so I'll send you a message now. Thanks again.

 Thank you Bjorn Ahlblad. Thats very helpful. I'm concerned the high required payment would scare all renters. But I'm gonna try it and hopefully just weed out the more financially risky tenants. 

This is a townhome in Middletown that I'll be renting out. Is asking for security deposit, plus 1st and last month rent up front asking too much? How do you set up your upfront cost requirements from your tenants? 

And once you receive the money, where do you put it? A separate savings account where you put all your tenants security deposit and 1st and last month rents? 

Thank you!

This is a townhome in Middletown that I'll be renting out. Is asking for security deposit, plus 1st and last month rent up front asking too much? How do you set up your upfront cost requirements from your tenants? 

And once you receive the money, where do you put it? A separate savings account where you put all your tenants security deposit and 1st and last month rents? 

Thank you!

Just ripped out the old carpets and have all these annoying staples that are ridiculously labor intensive to remove. Do you know of an easy way to remove them? I'm prepping the floor for vinyl installation.  

I'm thinking maybe I can use a gravel stamper to just quickly flatten them out...  any other ideas?

Bought a property that I just started renovating and I noticed the railings seem short. Pic below. The height is 30inches. Is that legal?  If not, any recommendations on how to fix that affordably? My budget on the reno is tight. 

I'm shopping for flooring for a rental. I'm leaning towards floating vinyl. What thickness should I get? Also, any brands you usually go for? Finally, Home depot, Lowes, Lumber liquidators... where do you shop for good savings and good quality products?

My goal is to protect my personal assets from lawsuits on my rental property

Is it possible to, after closing, once the deeds has been transferred to our names, is it possible to transfer the deed to an LLC while keeping the mortgage under our names?

Can the liability insurance coverage alone protect us from lawsuits? Do you recommend getting an umbrella policy?

Starting as an LLC right from the start doesn't seem possible because of the cost involved. What would you recommend?

As an outside the box thought, if I was married, would separating our assets protect them. Perhaps have the personal home be under her name, and the rentals under mine? If a tenant were to file a lawsuit on the rental, would that protect our home?  just a thought. 

Does your entire portfolio go into 1 bank account? How do you know how much money is allocated in each property so as to not use up funds you saved up for rental A, to pay for rental B's expenses? How do you keep it all straight? Do you have everything mixed in with your personal finances?  I appreciate any advice. 

My goal is to organize my portfolio finances so I can determine at a glance if I have enough money saved up for upgrades for a specific rental... or quickly determine if I did not allocate enough funds for maintenance for a specific property at the end of the year.