All Forum Posts by: Jordan Jones

@Drew Sygit who said the new PM isn't guiding me? Lol. You're making a lot of assumptions. The old PM wasn't small or "fly-by-night," and the new PM has been a tremendous help and a wonderful guide.

I thought I'd reach out to this community because there is so much experience here, and wanted to get more helpful input from folks who have been through it. 

What is not helpful is thinly veiled condescension, and self-promotion :). Your sales pitch would be better minus the (wrong) assumptions and condescending tone.

Thanks to all who responded constructively; it is helpful.

Thanks all! 

Hi all,

Hope everyone is doing well! I have a difficult situation and I wanted to see if anybody has successfully navigated something like this before, and how. I had a property manager for just about three years for some SFRs in Michigan. She started out great, but the last year or so, I started catching accounting discrepancies, and she started generally doing a poor job. I gave her the benefit of the doubt, but as time went on it was becoming clear that something improper was going on.

At the end of November, I gave her 60 days notice of my intent to terminate the relationship, per the contract. Since that time, she has fallen off the face of the Earth. I'm owed rents from December and January which haven't been disbursed to me, and she still has the keys and tenants' deposits. She is not responding to me or my new property manager.

I'm going to send a demand letter, and I'm also considering reporting her to the State of Michigan licensing body (she's a broker and has a real estate license). At this point, I mainly just want the keys and tenant deposits. Has anybody had this situation before? How did you work it out?

Thank you in advance!

Jordan Jones

This is a great question I think it's situational. Personally, right now, I want cashflow because I'm scaling down my law practice. So looking at money coming in every month, rentals have better cashflow (provided you buy and manage right) than stocks. You can get a stock dividend, but dividends are like, 5% on the higher side. And if you're properly diversified, you probably won't even seen 5% dividend yields. 

You can get properties that COC return better than that. The tax advantages are great too.

The other side is you have a lot more liquidity with stocks, and it's not leveraged unless you borrow against it. Stock is probably easier too-- just pick an index fund and let it ride. There are plusses to both and I think it truly depends on the individual, like anything really.

@DeJarian Dickson Graham hey bro, thanks for taking the time to respond! Yes, it's crazy in Wayne County right now. Courts were supposed to open back up again on March 16th but they canceled it because our covid number spiked. Stay safe!

Jordan

Hi @DeJarian Dickson Graham, so one year out how is it going? I'm thinking of jumping in over that way too. I used to live in 48236 but I'm curious to know what's going on in 48224. Thanks! Hope it's going well!

Jordan

All my tenants (3 SFRs) paid 100% through the whole pandemic. Two of the homes had essential workers. The third did not, but still paid timely. My non-essential tenant asked for a 2 week extension on the water bill, which I agreed no problem, as he's been an awesome tenant. But otherwise, everything went very smooth.

I think the stimulus money and unemployment benefits really helped when Michigan was on lock down. It will be interesting to see how things go the next few months in general, but as of right now all of my tenants are back working full time and (thankfully) did not lose their jobs.

Hi Paris. Based on what I'm seeing, single families are moving pretty good right now. 3/1 and 3/2. I look at Wayne County almost exclusively. Good luck!

Yes, my price point is quite a bit lower. You can get really solid properties in MI for significantly below that price. Good luck on your REI journey! If you're ever in MI feel free to reach out!

@Matt Nico I invest and live in MI -- metro Detroit area. I don't know that there's a "hard way" or "easy way" in real estate -- I think there are different ways that work for different people. I have been very fortunate in my law practice, so 20% conventional works for me. It's easier for me to find a house that needs light rehab and get it for a little bit under market on a conventional loan than to do BRRR. I don't have to do creative financing, I don't have to give up ownership via partnerships, and my rates from the banks are second to none-- so seller financing doesn't really interest me. I recognize there are methods that don't eat up as much cash, but this way works for me because it's more compatible with my lifestyle and goals. If that makes any sense?