All Forum Posts by: Michael Badin

@Amad Osman thanks for the vote

@Amad Osman More than cost you should be concerned with coverage.  You want to get replacement cost coverage.  It will cost more but if a fire or other catastrophic loss was to occur you will be glad you have it.  You want to make sure the coverage you get is enough to actually rebuild the property in the event of a fire and not simply cover the cost of your mortgage.  Again this costs more, you need to evaluate cost vs coverage and get a good balance between them.  Go heavy on liability.  If you have a primary residence and are buying the rental in your personal name get insurance for both properties with the same company.  Find one that will allow you to "stack" your liability coverage.  This means your liability coverage from property A will also cover property b when property b's liability coverage runs out. You will also want to get at least a $1,000,000 liability umbrella policy on top of that.  I go heavy on liability coverage.  

Make sure it also covers any personal property that you have at the property such as refrigerators.  Get your tenants to get their own renters insurance and have them sign something confirming that they understand your policy does not cover them and that they should get their own coverage.  I have this as an addendum to my lease.

what you are looking for is a "Builders Risk Policy". You will likely have to pay for an entire year premium but once your renovations are complete and you get a regular policy the unused monthly portion of your premium will be reimbursed. There are many companies that provided this coverage just do a search for builders risk policy.

Looking for a good property inspector for a 32 unit apartment complex in Bucks County PA.  I have a good property inspector for smaller properties and I have a call out to him to see if he knows anyone for this property (or if he is able to do it) but came across this company online.  Does anyone have any experience with them?  Any recommendations of other inspectors you have used?

@Levi T.

Thanks for the reply.  That was one concern about the vending machines I had but have never done it before and I am not familiar with the way it works.  Do you lease the machines and buy the product to stock the machines?  

Wow $7 to wash & dry?  You found that charging the higher amount, most people still used the machines?  You said "Lower usage" so I assume a drop of in people using it.  How much increase of a return did you see by doing the increase even though you saw a drop off in use?  (Which I guess could save money on repairs if you own the units.)  Did you notice any drop off in tenant relations/ Tenant retention? 

No, as I said it is only one of the ideas. Main increase will come from rents. Current rents at the property are under market between $50-$100 Per unit. Property will need a little work before I just slam some rent increases on people but bones are good, I plan on repositioning the property. It is a C property in a B area.

So I am looking at the possibility of purchasing a 32 unit property.  (Still very early in the process.)  One of the value add ideas I am tossing around in my head is Vending Machine's and or an ATM being placed in the property.  Does anyone have any recommendations for a company they have used for vending machines?  Did you approach a bank directly for the ATM rental or a 3rd party company?  What experiences have you had with them?  What kind of return did you experience with how many units?  

Should the deal work out and I actually purchase the property I also plan on rehabbing both existing laundry rooms and replacing the old outdated machines.  (From what I understand the current machines breakdown often.) What do you recommend, coin operated or card?  Other suggestion?   I think owning the machines is probably better but what are your thoughts on leasing and profit sharing?  If you have done both, (Owned machines and leased machines/ profit share ) which option did you prefer?  

Has anyone ever put a pinball machine or something of the like in a laundry room?  Thoughts?

Thanks All!

@Trudy Ellison

I am not familiar with NJ eviction laws but here in PA I would start the process. First I would not accept a partial payment.  That is in the past.  You say she paid Partial for September but has paid October.  How do you do your accounting?  When my tenants pay me all funds received first pay off any outstanding late fees, then it is applied to the oldest outstanding rent due.  It sounds like you have not applied any late fees and have applied the entire second payment to the October rent.  

You are letting the tenant dictate the terms.  That is not the way it works, you have a lease for a reason.  Make them abide by it or kick them out.  I have learned this the hard way myself, the sooner you stop the bleeding the better off you will be.

Originally posted by @Justin Westmoreland:

Originally posted by @Michael Badin:

@Justin Westmoreland

Are you a licensed realtor?  If not you can't get the commission split that Brian is talking about.  The realtor can only split their commission with another realtor.  With that said, I was starting to look into this myself.  It does not appear to difficult to get your license, you can take the course online then take the exam.  I believe you need to get a broker to sponsor you as well to get you license.  I haven't finished my research yet but I also haven't started my mailing yet either.  If you have active leads coming in I would jump on it if I were you.

 I am not currently a realtor but it doesn’t sound like a bad idea especially if you can make the money spent on getting a license back with just one deal.  

 Agreed, if you pursue it, good luck!

Originally posted by @Bryan L.:

@Justin Westmoreland and @Michael Badin - It's common for a Realtor to split their commission with another Realtor in this way on a closed deal.  That's the key though.  It's a closed deal rather than just a "lead".  I also spend a few minutes on the phone with the lead, coaching them to list with my Realtor partner and I spend time with my Realtor partner, coaching them on how to convert these types of leads.  I have found a great Realtor to work with and we get probably 50-75% of these leads converted and closed.  It works out to be great money for me on a per-hour basis, because I am already talking to the sellers on the phone anyway (they have called me to see if I will buy their house).  I just spend 10-15 minutes doing some pre-qualification and coaching of them.

 Couple questions if your don't mind.

1. What is your process of "coaching" them (property owners) into listing with your Realtor/ partner?

2. What is your process of "coaching" your Realtor into converting this type of lead into a listing/ sale.  

3. Also what type of leads do you go after?  Pre-Foreclosure? Tax delinquent? Something else?