All Forum Posts by: Karl B.

We must know: After the podcast did you and Brandon ever make fun of any Podcast guests off-camera? :-)

I left L.A. a few years ago but mainly due to taxes, pollution and traffic. 

I'm back in Erie now and see Lake Erie as a great, amazing asset. 

We have them. It starts of once a year and after a few passes it goes to every two years. I think it's a good thing overall but there are some inspectors who are such sticklers that it's insane. Like receiving a conditional pass because the plastic light switch cover has a quarter inch crack in it. 

I know there are some landlords in my city who have failed to pay the yearly registration fees as well. One would think the city would go after them but as of two years ago I was told the city wasn't doing anything about it (my city also had over a million dollars in unpaid parking tickets but they're finally beginning to boot cars with some frequency so hopefully they get on the bad landlords as well).

Real estate is my ride or die. 

When a tradesperson does me dirty they get bad reviews and I never hire them again. Luckily, most of the people I deal with are decent; it's amazing how many tradespeople enjoy working with me but I reckon it's because I'm super nice to them and pay them quickly. 

When a tenant sucks I get rid of them. I bought a few properties from a guy 10 months ago and one of the properties (a 4-unit) had the Suicide Squad living there. All law-breakers. I've given three of them 30-day notices and one's out, one has a date with the constable tomorrow and the third will be out at the end of the month (if he's smart).

If you have a bad tenant don't accept their nonsense - instead tell them, "Bye, Felicia" and don't renew the lease.

Crap happens in real estate but much of the stress can be removed when you get rid of the bad tenants/tradespeople and replace them with good people.

I'm pretty good at placing solid people in my rentals and I deal in C-Class. 

Most agents suck and I have considered getting my license so I can view properties faster. So if you have had trouble with agents (you alluded to it) consider getting a R.E. license.

Again, get rid of the clowns and be selective with who you have move in. Scour their social media to make certain they're not drama central. 

And most tradespeople will recommend other tradespeople they like working with. When this occurs I read online reviews and if all looks good I give them a try. 

What keeps me going is the first few days of every month when my tenants bless me with monthly rental payments. I can deal with some stress and drama because in the grand scheme of things these people are paying off my properties and are making me a wealthy puppy. I would much rather invest in real estate and work for myself than work a 9-5 for someone else and make them wealthy. 

Having a high threshold for pain as well as dealing with undesirable circumstances (two things all the Jackass guys seem to embrace) no doubt comes in handy as a landlord. 

I can totally imagine his tenant sitting in the family room on the couch and Ehren smashing through the front window, hitting the floor, doing a roll, putting out his hand and calmly saying, "Rent's due."

Finding a good contractor isn't easy, especially when you're not living in the area. But here's my advice:

1. Message local BP members and ask for recommendations

2. Check review sites like Yelp, Angie's List, etc. I don't put much stock in Google reviews as they can easily be faked. Yelp reviews are much harder to fake as they tend to get filtered. 

3. Once you find a few verify their license and insurance and then get bids.

That's an open-ended question but for me - and I invest in mostly C-Class - prior to buying I look at:

-Crime-Mapping (one can also call the local police dept. and ask about the property in question - they'll connect you with an officer who works the area and can give you the reality of the crime and if it's getting better or worse)

-Literally drive to the property on a Friday or Saturday evening and sit in the car for a bit to get a feel of what goes on

-Look at the rents. Are they superior to what you would be getting in a nicer neighborhood? For me, I can buy a property for less than half and get a similar rent - it's just harder to find good tenants, which leads me to...

-...what's the rental demand in that area? Check Facebook marketplace, Zillow, and Apartments.com to see how long listings tend to be active before a renter is found

-I pick up a lot more garbage at my C-class properties. And neighboring buildings are often not taken care of compared to a higher-class property. 

And of course, do what you would do with any rental in any neighborhood: know the taxes, local laws, etc. 

I would likely side with your wife's argument on this one. But of course I have a bias based on my rental market and experience. 

I deal mainly in C-Class where I covet a good tenant who follows the rules and pays on time. 

To sum it up: In my local market it's not easy to find good tenants. And I value a tenant who doesn't do stupid things or stress me out. I like to maximize my happiness and part of that is giving the tenant the impression I like them (which is often the case as most of them are nice enough people) and I'm loyal to them (I know, I know - a rental increase shouldn't be viewed as being disloyal to a tenant but one must put himself/herself in the shoes of the tenant; there's a reason why a rental increase is the #1 reason a tenant moves from a rental). 

A large rental increase will kill that 'loyalty' and they'll consider me greedy if I bump their rent up hundreds of dollars, even if it's still under market and they'll be much more likely to move. 

I have several tenants under market rent (mainly those in my larger units as they tend to stay longer) and haven't raised the rent on them as each take care of their unit, pay on time and don't do stupid things to clutter or damage the property.

PS. If I raised rent on tenants I would also do a few modest improvements to the property as well. 

In March, a selling agent and I viewed a 3plex (I wasn't interested in it) and she told me about a single-family house her childhood friend was considering selling. It was off-market and I quickly got it under contract as the price was great. 

This was the first off-market deal a realtor has ever brought me. I would love more!

Well... that is depressing. I would:

-Call the cops and have them create a police report

-Get a surveillance camera pointing toward yard where the damage took place and add a few 'Smile You're On Camera' signs with one facing the neighbor so he/she gets the idea

-Have the pizza oven repaired

-Tell management to make an effort to do property checks so if something is damaged they discover it sooner rather than later. They get paid for a reason and they should take an interest in the property and not just the paycheck