All Forum Posts by: Michael H.

To the OP, if you want to profit from it, become a divorce lawyer. 

If you talk to 10 investors you will get 75 different places. Might be easier to help if you give an area of the country you want to live.

It seems silly to me to basically rule out half the population for something so trivial as politics since political affiliation has no bearing on ability to pay or if he/she will be a good tenant. 

Some people have mentioned investing it because the return is greater. The problem with that is it is not accounting for risk. There is zero risk in paying off your student loans. The stock market/real estate is not risk free by any stretch. And even if you made 8-10% in the stock market or real estate there are tax consequences and commission charges that will bring your return down. Not saying we are going to have a correction but it has been awhile since we had one. Pay off your debt and you will look better to a lender and will have a weight off your shoulders.

thanks @Lois Ginter and @Adam Juodis! That really helps!

I have a quick question. When you are verifying employment by calling and verifying prospective tenants employment, do you ask to speak to someone in hr? Are you asking them how much they make? I am just wondering why they would give that information to me over the phone.

Thanks Michelle! That's what I was thinking. I have a W2 job so I don't really talk landlording on there and it is not linked to my BP page. 

I did have a prospective tenant ask if I had Facebook. Weird since she wasn't even a tenant. I just said my Facebook is pretty private. 

Hi BP, 

I have a tenant that is a college senior. He sent me a LinkedIn request to connect. I realize he isn't about to graduate and is trying to network. Since I'm his landlord I'm not sure if I should accept. I will usually accept anyone on LinkedIn (Facebook I wouldn't), but this might be blurring the lines between tenant and landlord.

Question - do you connect with tenants on social media at all? 

You really should pay off your credit card before investing in real estate. There are many RE investors that underestimate the risk of RE and if you have credit card debt you have no business investing in it. Just trying to be straight with you so you don't ruin your life. 

I would factor in transaction costs too. You might not have any when you buy but if you wanted to sell after three years, you will have those costs which can really eat into your profit.