All Forum Posts by: Kevin H.

Google voice gives you a separate phone number that can ring on multiple devices. It is free as well.

@Kevin Phu @Jenifer Kynor Thanks Kevin, I made that update in the doc.  I am shooting for 3X their monthly income.  I was initially shooting for a monthly number, due to having college students or recent grads applying.  Where they will be splitting rent with two other people.  So the 3X  income would vary and someone who wouldn't qualify on their own.  May qualify with 2 other people.  That's a great point on checking out their car.  I never considered that aspect of pre-screening.  I appreciate everyone's feedback.

Kevin 

It should cost you between 3-5k depending on the product you decide to use. I would buy the product from Home Depot or Lowes and find a contractor to do the installation. You can negotiate better pricing in Home Depot by going to the bid room. I'm doing a flooring project in a bit and was able to knock off 35% of list price. All thanks to negotiating with a Home Depot pro in their bid room. I'm doing the installation myself to cut down on the cost.

There are a lot of good answers. As I stated I don't think there is a right a wrong answer. He stated exactly what you said, when there are downturns and people are leveraged and rents go down due to low demand and high supply. People lost everything and walked away do to being underwater and not being able to pay the mortgage. Though I don't think being able to payoff one property and then purchasing my next property is the best idea. I believe getting to 4 and using the snowball method on paying off a property as soon as possible, is a method most likely suited for me. I know debt can be good, however I hate the feeling of owing someone.

So I work in the MRO industry dealing directly with multi family management companies. A lot of the owners started out with owning properties and growing them to owning thousands of units. I was talking to one of my customers yesterday who runs over 6400 units. I was talking to him on my goals and inspirations. How I am closing on my first rental and plan on trying to purchase a property every year. He brought up a very good point that I never really thought about. He stated instead of leveraging yourself and creating more risk. Why not pay off your first property as fast as possible. This would increase your cash flow eventually, lower your risk/debt and make managing easier; being you have fewer properties. He stated that this method shows the banks you're a sound investor, protects you during down turns. Once paid off or a substantial amount of equity. You can take a line of credit on your property to finance your next project. Though I believe no answer is right or wrong. I am curious your thoughts on this process. I know everyone is all about owning as many properties as possible. However isn't the goal to have a high passive income, which grants you the freedom to choose how you live your life? Appreciate all your thoughts.

As the one poster stated, with your price range; your options of finding a duplex are limited. Germantown, temple area, possibly east falls. Manayunk and roxborough would be great for you. Since you don't own a car and are right next to the norristown line. I just don't believe you can find a duplex under 250k. Norristown is also quite affordable from what I have heard. It all depends on if you would be comfortable living in areas with higher crime. Good luck on your search.

Look at setting up a Home Depot pro account. You can go into the bid room and negotiate better pricing for projects. Home Depot also owns Wilmar which is only focused on the Multi-family industry. You can basically get everything you need through one provider at a great cost, next day free freight. Home Depot has the pro desk that will also help you with sourcing products and working on quotes. That's where I do all my purchasing for getting my MRO items.

Port Richmond is starting to get hot right now in Philadelphia. Pt Breeze is where a lot of gentrifying is currently happening. As people have mentioned Philadelphia is very neighborhood segregated. The benefit is any new construction or major renovations gets you a 10 year tax abatement. Plus property taxes are already relatively cheap compared to the rest of the northeast. If you're willing to take some chances around temple. You can find some multi-family properties for almost nothing. I believe that eventually that will be the next hot spot in Philadelphia. However it is currently a war zone.

Thanks for your suggestions, there are so many laws and protections for tenants. That I want to try and find a tenant that will hopefully pay on time and take care of my property. Without me discriminating or doing something illegal. Appreciate everyone's help. Kevin

Good Morning Everyone,

I am about to close on my first SFH in Roxborough Philadelphia this September. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I have been scouring the boards trying to learn as much as possible, when it comes to being a Landlord. My biggest fear is I get a nightmare tenant and I want to make sure I do everything possible to try and weed out the bad ones. I got this idea from another poster and thought it was a great idea. They stated that before they show a tenant a property and have them fill out an application. They make them take a Pre-Screening Survey. All done through Google Forms, which is free. I have put my own survey together and want to know if I am violating any FHA laws or illegal requests. If a tenant fills this out and meets my initial requirements. Mainly having a credit score over 600, 3x monthly income, no felonies, no evictions etc. I am then willing to setup a appointment to show them the property and move forward with the screening process. I would appreciate everyone's feedback on it. Letting me know if I need to make changes to my survey, if I am breaking any laws or if this is a smart way to pre-screen tenants through the screening process. Below is the link to my survery:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd3d4rV-g... 

Looking forward to some feedback,

Kevin