All Forum Posts by: Matt Leonard

@Christian Nachtrieb

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT put in the listing that it is "ideal for 1 person or couple" you will get your *** sued so for discrimination so fast it will make your head spin (or at least flagged on CL).  The square footing listed in the ad tells people exactly who it will fit.   Your timing isn't good, in my experience in the area, august and September are the peak times to move, so that is probably hurting you.  See if your potential tenant is willing to do a 10 or 11 month lease to get you back in the sweet spot.

Are you doing individual appointments or group showings?  I find that having a couple "open houses" that gets as many people there as possible is the best way to go.  Cuts down on the time you need to be there and hopefully you get 3-4 groups show up at the same time to create a little competition or urgency.  I tell everyone that come through "This is going to go fast.  if you are interested let me know ASAP, because I am renting it to the 1st qualified tenant that gets an application in"  IF you use Cozy or another software, you can do a background check, e-sign a lease and collect payment  within 15 minutes.

Is 1st, last, and sec deposit standard?  I've always done 1st months rent and security deposit at time of lease signing, but I might be the outlier.

I would also put some info in the listing about what your background/credit check requirements are... I.e. min 650 credit score, no felonies, no prior evictions, proof of income... whatever your criteria is.

Good luck & welcome to the club!

@Robert Motch Good advice!  I don't intend to be a property manager, might as well get their feet wet on day 1.  I have 10% property manager costs factored into my expense calculations, so the cost is not a concern.

@Chan K. I don't have any first hand experience with section 8 inspections, but am closing on a property with section 8 tenants at the end of the month.  I picked up The Section 8 Bible Vol. 1 & 2.  While I don't agree with everything in the books, they are very entertaining and the guys lived the Section 8 Landlord Life successfully for a number of years.  In the books, he mentioned getting a copy of the Section 8 inspection code book and having it on hand at the inspection so you can politely ask them to point to the section of code that is causing you to fail. 

If this is going to be a continuing problem, could you tear the deck off and throw it in a dumpster?  That would DEFINITELY get rid of the stain!

I am under contract on a 4-unit investment property and want to use a property management company.  I am wondering when is the time to bring them in.  I close at the end of the month, so it isn't a done deal yet.  Should i bring them on prior to closing on the property or wait until I have it in hand?  I am thinking that I should self manage for a couple months to get a better understanding of how things work with the property, but don't know if that will make the transition more difficult or not when I do hand it off to a management company.

So, when you have acquired a new property that was going to be run by a property management company, when did you bring them in?

Some more details... It is my first property in the area and is about an hour away from home.  I have a handyman/contractor in the area that could handle routine maintenance and repairs.  I currently have multifamily that I self manage with no issues, but it is in a B+/B area with A/B class tenants.  The new property is in good shape structurally and aesthetically, but is in a C class area and currently has 4 Section 8 tenants that I am inheriting.  The seller claims they are all wonderful, from what I have seen this could be true.  I don't have time to be involved with maintenance or collecting rent, I have a FT job that keeps me busy 50-70 hours a week.  

Mike Staehle you're doing fine! You have a house that you are living in for almost nothing (by my calculation) once your tenant moves in. It took me 6 additional years to be in the same position. It took you 24 years to get the first one, i bet the next one will take less than half that. I would go find a good local bank and make an appointment to meet. Tell them what your goal is for your next property and ask them what ways they could work with you to fund it. That will give you a baseline of how much of your own $$$ you will need to save up before you are ready to buy.

I also find that people replying to posts aren't answering questions or adding anything of value, just jibber jabbering. ;)

@Gary Cooper

Assuming it is listed on the MLS, and therefore getting pushed out to Zillow, Redfin, Trulia. 2 offers in 5 months would tell me that the price is too high and/or the house isn't desirable compared to other properties. Sorry, I know no one wants to hear that. If it is in fact a great house at a great price, there key be something else wrong.

Did you hire a professional photographer to take the listing pictures?  

Are there 30 bright and awesome pictures on the listing or 10 dingy ones?

Is the house staged (assuming you're not currently living in it)?  

Did you rely on the realtor for the description in the listing or did you write it yourself, pointing out all the awesome features that the new buyers will love?

DId you review the listing to make sure that there is no incorrect info like room sizes, tax amount, lot size, etc,

How many open houses has the realtor held?

Have you tried calling on the realtor from different line to see if he picks up and is helpful to assist a showing?

Hope that helps!

I bought a house through Hubzu 2-3 years ago and while I didn't like the process, I am very happy with the outcome.  I was able to get in the house prior to bidding, but it was gutted to the studs due to the baseboard heaters freezing and bursting, causing massive water damage.  So not much to see other than it needed everything. 

 I had set it up to auto bid up to my maximum, which just happened to be where the "other bidder" chose to stop.  They claim they don't run up auto bids, but they do, so be prepared for that.  The closing process was painful, I think I had to pay extra to Hubzu to use my own closing attorney and title company.  Good thing I did, because she told me that they were the worst closing she had ever done, as someone else mentioned, final docs were sent less than an hour before closing.  I paid cash, so i dont know how having a bank/underwriters would make the process, but I would would assume worse.

I think that the listing price in the MLS was the reserve price of the auction, but that might be a local thing or it might be different now.

I would do it again if the right deal presented itself.

Not sure what is available in your area and/or price range, but maybe you could find a mutli-unit property that is multiple buildings on 1 lot or detached in some way.  That would allow you to still somewhat house hack while still getting an owner occupant financing.

@Joshua D. like others have said, don't rent with a pool.  Maintenance, water bills, liability, etc. 

 If I am reading your post correctly, you are into it for $55k.  Is that your total cost including purchase price, or just what you spent to fix it up?  If you are all in for $55k and it will rent for $1000/mo, I would just get rid of the pool and keep it as a rental.