All Forum Posts by: Chase Keller

My property manager told me Iowa law caps residential leases at 12 months.  I haven’t looked it up myself to verify. If that’s true, I’m assuming other states will have caps as well, trend setting is not an Iowa norm...

There’s only a grace period if you give them one on your lease. Nothing in the law about requiring a grace period. 

@Nicolas Conca

You have a good mindset, looking at all the options in front of you and not just jumping into the first shiny thing you see. You definitely have the potential to get more for your money if you wait until the recession. But if that’s not for another couple years, you’ve missed out on a lot of time value.  Another huge factor is that interest rates have the potential to jump up, and financing is much much more difficult to acquire in a recession.  So you could have to wait until things are starting to move up after the downturn anyway.

I was just at a commercial real estate conference yesterday and there was inevitably a lot of this conversation. As always, the consensus is 1) it’s inevitable and 2) it’s not here yet. 

The bigger questions lay in your personal investment philosophy. With your $60k are you able to move the needle towards your short and long term goals. I like that you are looking at Des Moines, it’s where I moved to build my business and I work with a lot of out of state investors that are in love with what this area has to offer. 

Let me know what questions you have. How I can help point you in the right direction, introduce you to the right team, help find the right property.

No PM is going to be perfect. It’s not a fun business. I have been through multiple managers that I’ve had to let go. I ran a PM company myself and wasn’t perfect, ask @Alecia Ashby  

What is important is finding someone you can work well with, has a good track record and can run your type of property in its current situation the way you want it managed.  The wartime general is quickly replaced once the treaty has been signed.     There was a very different general  on the Western front than there was on the Pacific front. 

I may be able to help guide better knowing more about your situation. Feel free to reach out!

Hey @Craig Fitzsimmons,

I use Top Shelf for all of my properties. I have everything from single family, small multifamily and large MF, he handles it all. 

I’ll PM you his info. 

Hey @Grant Campbell,

Congrats on making the plunge into Real Estate, It's a fun journey!  Finding a partner or hard money lender depends very much on your personality, goals, risk tolerance, current position.  Lots of self discovery will help in that process.  I'm sure anyone who has ever partnered up in the past will agree that the right partner is extremely important; having a bad partner is a huge headache. 

I'd love to help you, if nothing other than asking some questions to get your mind working in the right direction.  

Hey @Kyle Stueven,

Congrats on the success so far!  I used quickbooks for years.  Using the Class system, you’ll be able to keep the properties separate. I had up to around 70 units before switching to a full property management software (I was managing all of my own properties at that point so the transition made sense). Keeping separate entities is a little more complex, but it is possible and I figured it out.  

I know a guy that owns several hundred units in several entities and he still uses excel.  Quickbooks is good for the money. There’s a lot of other more expensive products out there, but not absolutely necessary. 

Hey @Bill Plymouth,

@Charles Willie Harris and @Darson Grantham probably have a better grasp on the Marshalltown market, I've only had 1 property there.  DSM is my bread and butter, so I can definitely help more here.  Very stable, we didn't have much of a downturn the last go-round and we have seen a very steady rise in both asset values and rents.  You're very smart for starting to research markets well before you're going to buy.  That takes the emotions out and puts you in a better situation to make a good business decision.  Let me know where I can help; finding property, management companies, contractors...

Marshalltown is pretty rough, but potential to make some money. Des Moines is solid and growing, good appreciation. Prices are high recently, but isn’t everywhere?  The markets are very different from each other. What exactly are you looking for?  I’d love to help you with a lot more detail and get a better feel for the markets. 

Hey @Account Closed,

I’m an investor and a realtor here in Iowa, let me know if there’s anything I can help you with here.