All Forum Posts by: Mark OGara

Screen your tenants carefully and establish written criteria to accept an applicant.  For example, one criteria could be no delinquent credit lines. 

@Timothy Church

I was just taking an online real estate modeling course and I think the leveredIRR and unleveredIRR would be good models to optimize paying off the loan.  

Bellevue and Avalon are good areas and both boroughs continue to trend up.  As @Gary Swank stated, there is a large number of rental properties in both Bellevue and Avalon.  There is also a large number of absentee landlords, according to local borough sources, so that might be an opportunity to find some multi units.  Of course you would be competing with a lot of wholesalers for the properties.

Bellevue and Avalon properties have appreciated well over the past 5 years and finding buy, fix and hold properties is now a crowded field.  Turn key properties are commanding higher prices and still below areas like Lawrenceville.

Hi Cory

The first review I would suggest is compare the old lease to the terms and conditions in your standard lease.  

Next I would look at what is standard deposits and fees in your state.  A pet fee is paid upfront and can offset repair costs on the back end of the lease and a deposit is returned if there is no damage.

I would also suggest you do a move in inspection of each unit and document the current state of the property - floors, walls, ceilings etc. We use the HUD inspection sheet for all our tenants on move in and move out, a little harder to do when you buy a property and inherit a tenant towards the end of the lease. Hard to defend a repair when the tenant says it was like that when I moved in!

On the month to month or year lease, I would opt for a year lease and you can always have a 30 notice clause in your lease.

Good luck

Hi Patrick

I think you are correct (think = I am not a real estate lawyer in PA) that a partial owner can manage properties.

 I  have thought about offering/engaging with other investors to buy/manage properties.  We have 60 units in Pittsburgh and we manage all everything.

Hi Dolores

Pittsburgh is an interesting real estate market.  There are plenty of opportunities to buy a multi unit property in a good neighborhood.  Attending a RE Investor meeting is always a good idea in a new place, so agree with @Josh Caldwell, great way to meet people who can help you.  

Good Luck

Mark

@Arifa Khandwalla

Hi Arifa - I just went through the assessment process for one of our properties.  

Give me a call (724) and 687 we can discuss 0536

@Jordan Martin

Hi Jordan

I would recommend you join a local real estate investors club.  Great way to meet people from all aspects of the real estate market.

@Yan Kang

I agree with @Kenneth Garrett, always have a lawyer draft the documents.

I would make sure I had a builder I trust walk through the property to insure the repair estimate is correct.  If you do not have enough capital to fund the acquisition and the repairs, I would recommend you find another deal.

An added layer of protection, in addition to the mortgage, is to get a personal guarantee from the borrower.

Good luck

Mark

Hi 

As with everything else is real estate, you try something, learn a bit and then try again.  So we use Equity Trust as our custodian for our IRAs.   We had two quotes from Home Depot and Lumber Liquidators for kitchen cabinets and flooring.  So I executed a bill pay from Equity Trust and had the checks made out to the respective retailers.  Well the problem is that the checks were not supported by Telecheck - the service the retailers use to insure the checks are good.  So, we went with plan B and had Equity Trust cut us a cashiers check.  The cashier checks worked well and there was a high transaction cost ($60).