All Forum Posts by: Kristin Kiddy

If the first agent you were working with was a good agent, just not at the level you wanted, you could have asked the second agent to accept a referral from the first agent.  It is usually a percentage of the selling (second) agent's commission on anything he sells to you.  It's done all the time.  For example I can do a referral to my broker if I have a big ticket commercial client and I don't have enough experience to go through a multi-million commercial sale.  Or if I have a client who wants to look in the county next to mine as well, I would do a referral to an agent who knows that area better (it may also be a different realtor association and mls that I don't have easy access to).  I will still get a percentage of the commission for finding the buyer, but I know my client will be in good hands (and I will be following up to make sure they are satisfied).

If you decide to go the LLC route, make sure you request an EIN (it's not automatic in FL). You will need that to open a bank account in the LLC's name. And you definitely need to have a separate bank account. You should be running your rentals as a business and keeping all records separate from your personal activities.

There is a difference between a member of an LLC and the manager of an LLC. They can be the same person but they can also be different. As far as I understand it (we have rentals under LLCs and this is what we do) the landlord is the LLC and the manager of the LLC signs the paperwork for the LLC. You need to find out who is listed as the manager of the LLC. If the "owner" is listed as the manager, he should be signing. If he doesn't want his name anywhere, then he should designate a new manager.

I use cozy.co.  renters can pay through the site too. 

Wise agent is really affordable. 

BP landlord forms are FL lawyer approved.  Very thorough.  

Florida is a big state.

@Parker Eberhard Wow!  That's a new one!.  @Cody L. @Gary Siver you're right, I might be a little high on my roof estimates, but in the episode I watched they replaced 80% of the underlayment as well.  I found a local contractor's website that said an average shingle roof cost 300 a square but that is only removing old shingles and putting on new paper and new shingles... not doing any repairs.  I think it's better to go in higher than lower when looking at costs.  I think what is so frustrating is how deceptive it is, especially to new buyers, who don't have any idea what some repairs (or remodels) will cost.  

@Theresa Harris I'm not sure what part of the country you are in, but it something you have to be very careful of in Florida when looking at property.  Roofs here are very expensive due to building codes and demand for roofers after every hurricane.  The other thing you have to be very careful of is the age of the roof.  After about 15 years and "30 year" architectural shingle roof is considered near its life expectancy by many insurance companies.  Sometimes it is difficult to get a loan to go through because you can't insure the house due to the roof.  

@Gary Siver you're a lucky man!  13k maybe gets you a rolled roof on a 1200 sf house here.