All Forum Posts by: Mickey Harrison

I used to have a provision in my lease that says tenant waives rights to eviction process if lease is violated unto LA code......(need to find how it was written)

However, I took it out. It seemed to scare qualified tenants and took longer to rent out my units rather than going through an eviction. Not sure about Shreveport but in St. Bernard parish it can take about 2 weeks to reposes a property (10 businesses). The thing I learned in St. Bernard was instead of ME giving the 5 day notice (judge told me this didn't count as official start of eviction process.) Was to go right the the constables office on the 5th day file for eviction and have them take over. The constable delivers that 5day notice and then after that a court date is given within 3-5 days and then you get the property back.

I do know if you want the provision in the lease the tenant would have to sign and initial BY the provision that says they waive their rights to the eviction process. You can't hide this in the lease and waiving rights scare people. That's what my lawyer told me but dbl check with yours.

In regard to the abandonment clause like someone said above I doubt a few hours would hold up in court as abandonment.

Hello from the Big Easy!!! Welcome to the site. Read as much as you can and ask questions.This is a great place to network and learn. Are you going to Nicholls Sate (Harvard on the Bayou)?

2005 Schwinn cruiser (black on black including fenders but white walls)
2006 crew cab Tacoma

I must admit the Schwinn gets great "gas" mileage but sucks for my Rework unless it's "cruising" for dollars.

Cash Flow from landlording. Mainly because it's a consistent source of income.

I pay someone to take care of my 3 rental units. The person I use is a college student trying to get a lawn business off the ground. I get a good rate and as I grow my business, I'll be helping him grow his. Here are some others reasons I do this:

- It's personal comfort to know that all my properties lawns keep the neighborhood looking nice.
-I ask my grass guy how the places are looking so he's like and extra pair of eyes for me. (this has paid off- 2 examples..Tenants were parking on the lawn grass guy calls and says he can't cut the grass because of the cars on lawn. I call Tenants tell them read the lease if it happens again they're going to be charged. Another time/tenant had trash/couch in the back yard. Grass man calls saying he can't cut cause of all the filth. I called tenants problem fixed. Best part I didn't have to go to the properties to take care of the issues because of my "extra pair of eyes")
-Tenant's don't seem to cut the lawns until I say something. In order for me to say something means more frequent check ups on the property...During the summer grass grows crazy down here in NOLA = more time spent inspecting lawns.
- Use this as a pitch when renting out the units.

welcome Thomas! I'm down in the big easy

Yes one thing I forgot to add.. make sure whom ever you pick is familiar with doing taxes for Real Estate Investors. I happened to get a referral from someone at my local REIA same goes for the RE attorney I'm starting to use. I basically, asked him a few questions about clients he has (does he prepare for RE investors). I'm also familiar with some basic tax strategies that apply to RE so when I mentioned them and he knew what I was talking about, I knew I was sitting in the right office. As strange as it might sound, a simple question that I asked 2 other CPA's in my area was about 1041 exchanges. They knew what I was talking about but didn't seem confident in the answers they were giving me. I passed on them.

Yes, it will hurt some when you feel you could have done he same work for less or in your case did 90%. However, I feel I'm building a business and I need a strong team to back me.
"“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins "championships.” - Michael Jordan

Bienes,

I'm like you for about 5 years I've done my own taxes with Turbo Tax. However, I'm onto my 4 rental unity and decided to get a CPA this year.

Reasons for this:
-I asked my boss, that is a developer and multi business owner, what do you recommend a good lawyer/cpa? He said "CPA because they deal with your money and tax structure. A good one will have lawyers they work with to structure your business in the most tax beneficial way. Trust me I'm made some business decisions before consulting my CPA and ended up paying more in taxes when real I shouldn't have."

- Pay people what they are good at. A CPA is good at taxes, I'm getting better at finding RE deals. The less time I spend doing taxes the more time I can spend with the family or looking on the internet for deals.

-Some of my rentals I may not hold long term. Would like someone to give me my best options when selling as it pertains to tax strategy.

-I plan on moving into not just rentals but also wholesaling/flipping maybe 1 or 3 houses a year.

- I can call my CPA for advice before I make decisions to know the tax implications.

Welcome Parish! I'm down in New Orleans. You should check out the local REIA in Baton Rouge here's the info:

Meeting Address: 2834 S Sherwood Forest Blvd
City, State Zip: Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70816
Meeting Time: 2nd Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.
Phone Number: 225-907-8392
Web Site: www.Meetup.com/thering

Thanks for the response