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All Forum Posts by: Linval T.

Linval T. has started 2 posts and replied 1292 times.

Post: New member from Washington, DC

Linval T.Posted
  • Investor
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 1,350
  • Votes 688

@Lenzy Ruffin- Welcome to BP. After reading your dissertation I see that you have entered boot camp and now ready to take action....lol.....that's fantastic.

i am sure the BP community will benefit from your exchanges as you look forward to ours.

Good luck and best wishes with your plans. Now, you are on your way to recouping all that money you wasted (more than $20K).

Post: what classes/degrees should i go for

Linval T.Posted
  • Investor
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 1,350
  • Votes 688

@Account Closed - You are welcome. That was a well written post that deserves more exposure than it initially did.

Frankly, you took the time and effort to put that masterpiece together and it's well worth it.

I will definitely revisit it as my continuing education :-)

Post: what classes/degrees should i go for

Linval T.Posted
  • Investor
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 1,350
  • Votes 688

@Anthony Hartzog - Welcome to BP where you will find a trove of info and near real time help to your inquiries.

I found a response to a similar question by @Nancy Neville and it has a lot of salient points that will start your education in REI and the road to being a landlord.....here is Nancy's response which is a course outline in itself.

This is a very good question and one I feel strongly about when new investors are interested in becoming a landlord.

First of all you must accept that this is a business of evictions, damages, fires, tenants not paying rent, and more. This is a business of people management. We are responsible for other people's lives and their families. Yet we seem to just jump into it without any knowledge or Continuing Education Courses required.

The media, the courts, and the neighbors, and sometimes family and friends view us a the "Dastardly Landlord" who only have broken down homes for rent. We care nothing about money and my mission has been to change that mindset for a very long time. So let's begin.

This is a business of

*Fires

*Damages

*Vehicles left behind

*Clutter left behind

*Hoarders

*Dirty Carpeting and walls

*and Left behind vehicles

*Not to mention really nasty stuff that smells bad!!!

Once you accept this as part of being a landlord and view your home as a "tool of the trade", although and expensive one, and that this is a business of damages, repairs, fixing up your home, evictions and doing it all over again and again, only then will you be a true landlord!

So the bottom line is that you need a plan

You need to know the things that you don't know.

You need to know the following:

*Location, Location, Location, How much rent can you collect in this location? What are the rents going for in this location?

*Take into account, Cash Flow: Mtg pymts, Property taxes, Property Insurance, Normal Repairs, Damages, Vacancies, Tenants not paying rent, Evictions.

*You need to know the landlord/tenant laws of your State and the City Ordinances of your rental properties.

*And you need an EXIT PLAN! Even if your young!

*You need to know how to advertise and words you should use.

*You need to setup your office (whether home or building) with the right equipment, such as a color printer, computer, Internet, webpage, vonage phone, stamps.com, etc.

*You need to screen your tenants and know what to ask them.

*You need to have a rental criteria

*You need to have excellent curb appeal

*You need to have an appealing open house, application forms, good setup, with card table and chairs, pens and paper, receipt book, etc.

*You need a legal binding lease agreement. You need to know whether to rent your homes out month to month or annual and know the difference.

*You need to attend some court sessions to see how the court system works.

*Purchase as much landlord information as you can as you can write it off.

*Purchase a good financial software program.

*Study the legal forms and know what they mean and when to send them.

*Take before photo's prior to you renting out the home and photo's when they leave. Have the tenants sign the before photo's at the signing of the lease.

*Once the Eviction has been started, never never never try to interfere with the process after such as locking a tenant out, going to the home, harrassing the tenant for non pay, even if they are DESTROYING YOUR HOUSE!

The eviction process is a sad and dangerous time. If you take matters into your own hands you could lose you case, you could lose everything you own, you could receive jail time, and more importantly you could lose your life. That is why we have a court appointed official called a Bailiff to handle this matter and NOT YOU!

I hope I have helped you and I wish you good luck.

Nancy Neville

Post: Broke but determined

Linval T.Posted
  • Investor
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 1,350
  • Votes 688

@Shane Rostad - Welcome to BP. Actually, I found and old post response below that addressed a similar question and shows a list of ways to get started. Since you mentioned your lack of cash as a deterrent from REI, #5 might be your best bet.

Originally posted by @Andrew Syrios:

There are lots of ways, depending on what you are looking for. Here's a sampling:

1. Hard money loans (high interest and points)

2. Bank Loans (need a down payment)

3. FHA Loan (only for owner occupant, but only 3.5% down)

4. Partner (need to share the equity/profit)

5. Private Lender (need to find some ma' or pa' willing to loan you money, I do 9% no points)

6. Creative financing (subject to, contract for deed, seller finance, etc.)

7. Control without Ownership (lease option, master lease option)

Good luck and keep us posted about your success, as it will be an inspiration to others.

Post: Tenant Occupied Property

Linval T.Posted
  • Investor
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 1,350
  • Votes 688

@Dwayne George- Congratulations on you taking action and welcome to BP...yeah!

At the closing you will get the tenant's security deposit passed to you.

Upon change of ownership you need to introduce yourself to tenant as the new owner. 

Their existing lease must be honored by you as required by law.

Oops! sorry @Steve Babiak and thanks for the correction.

@Jeremy Jackson - Great thought provoking question. But as @Steve Babiak said and I totally agree with him..."if it weren't for mom, you wouldn't be here! :)"

In mom's case she would get a pass as it would be handled differently. In other words I would absorb the loss.

This is similar to lending money to friends and family, in which case my theory is that I normally don't, due to past experiences and if the rare decision is made to do so from my heart and not my head, only money that I can afford to lose would be given.

Post: Poof - 2 years of cashflow on 3 houses gone in one day!

Linval T.Posted
  • Investor
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 1,350
  • Votes 688

@Jeb Brilliant

Yes, absolutely I use two providers for my properties so that I am not tied to one company. The first https://www.ahs.com/ 

averages $55/month with a $75 charge per dispatch and the other

http://www.hwahomewarranty.com/

averages $48 per month with a $60 dispatch charge.

Of course, these are all tax deductible charges and the service saves money and time. 

Seeing that I am in New York and my properties are in metro Atlanta, they are only a phone call away and very reliable.

Post: Full time investor in Atlanta

Linval T.Posted
  • Investor
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 1,350
  • Votes 688

@Aaron C.

Welcome to the BP community. Your experience and skills are an asset and you can use them to ramp up your networking shortfall that's identified and you hasten to correct.

We look forward to two way exchanges and wish you much success in the future.

Post: Newbie saying hello from Orlando, FL!

Linval T.Posted
  • Investor
  • Bay Shore, NY
  • Posts 1,350
  • Votes 688

@Denise Chester

Welcome to the BP community. Ok, now that you have taken your initial step, below are some quick links to get engaged.

REI can be very daunting, but, before you go searching for that 1st buy, please take a few minutes to bone up on the tips in link below.

http://www.realestate.com/advice/buying-your-first-investment-property/