All Forum Posts by: Lynzie Mackey

@Stetson Miller  Thank you!

My tenants are ending their lease at the end of Feb.  I have the Lease Renewal Form from the Book on Managing Rental Properties which I'm filling out.  Rents have increased significantly here but I like my tenants and want to keep them.  Current rent is $1650, and I'll send them a 3% increase on renewal, so about $1699.  How much do you typically raise for a 6 month lease renewal or month to month?  Fort Myers, FL

We have two owner occupied loans and my lender said I cannot get into another owner occupied (5% down) loan, even a year after our last purchase. He looked at our financials and said it's because we have a couple of LLC's, which one is labeled Vacation Rental Manager and said we look too much like investors and will need 20% down on our next loan. We are wanting to move on something, and have the 5% down for a new property, but not 20%. Any advice?

Hello!  I've had great success with Airbnb and VRBO with two Short Term Rentals which are tiny houses on wheels.  I have one long term rental and we just purchased another property close to the beach that we live in and rent short term during the high season here!  A lot of this is all thanks to Bigger Pockets!

 I've automated a lot of my processes, so see very little purpose in giving away my money to a vacation rental manager, or other company, but managing these 3-4 properties with 3 little kids becomes a bit challenging when issues come up.  

What unique strategies do you use to keep an eye on your properties?  Does anyone use a HomeWatch company or something similar?

Does anyone pay someone to handle issues that come up without paying the vacation management fees?

Looking for any insight on how to handle the work that needs people on the ground at the property, so I can focus more on purchasing my next vacation rental!

We recently rented our first long term rental and got a message from our tenant that they had a family emergency and that they needed to get out of the lease after only 4 months.  I reviewed the lease which states that they have a buyout fee of two months rent or $3200.  Two days later, they told me they have family members interested and are wondering if they can transfer their lease to them given they are qualified.  Should I charge a fee to transfer the lease?  Should I send a cleaner in between move-in and move-out if they are qualified?  What policies do you have?  Can I start a new 12 month lease with them or do they need to take over the existing lease terms?

We're looking into raising money and purchasing an apartment building.  If I were to purchase a home again where I live in Southern Florida, I would buy on or near the beach, because I see the value in location.  Does it matter as much if I'm looking into buying an apartment complex?  Part of me thinks it could be better possibility of appreciation, but not sure if it matters.  Also, I know if the rental market for some reason goes down, they are already higher rents on the beach, so would it be affected negatively in that case?

Thanks for the quick responses! We are trying to get an offer in today :) It will be owner occupied and is our first deal so it sounds like to put the least amount down it will have to be an FHA.

Just talked to my lender who said I HAVE to put 15-20% down for a conventional loan on a duplex.  Is this accurate?

@Joe 

@Joe Krevinghaus We just put an offer in on a Freddie Mac home that gave priority to first time/second time home buyers for the first 20 days, and offered over, but the bank accepted another offer. We talked to a guy who owns a lot of real estate in the area, and he suggested we buy a SFR and sell it in a couple of years because he thinks the market is going to rise, but from everything I've learned on bigger pockets, that's supposed to be the icing on the cake, not the purpose of your buy... I have been looking at bank owned properties though.

@Seth 

@Seth Nadreau  Thanks for the advice on contingiencies!  Haven't thought of that really.  What segments of North Fort Myers do you recommend?

@John Thedford  What exactly do you mean by having financing set up?  We have a pre-approval from a bank...  Also, what methods are you using to finding off market deals?

My family moved to Fort Myers 6 months ago, and have rented a place so we could get to know the area. I've been studying and looking at multi-family homes here, San Carlos Park, Bonita Springs, and Cape Coral. Haven't really found anything that cash flows. We put an offer in on a multi-family that looked like like a good deal as well as a SFH, but were beat out because we do not have cash (we're looking for our first property). All of the multi-family homes that would cash flow, are not necessarily areas I would like to move my family to (including a 2 year old). I've also been trying to find single family homes in good areas that we could move into for a year or two, and that would cash flow afterwards. Prices still do not seem to be in our favor. Any advice?