All Forum Posts by: Nathan Gesner

You can read up on the zoning laws for your area then check the county zoning maps to see where it's allowed. This can be easy or difficult depending on your municipality/county.

The easiest would be to visit your Planning and Zoning office and speak with them face-to-face. They will probably be happy to show you how to figure it out so you can run on your own.

Agree with @Ivy Flowers. We can't answer without knowing how you are involved in real estate or how old your kids are, but here are some ideas:

1. Filing

2. Cleaning

3. Painting

4. Inventory

5. Inspections

6. Landscaping

7. Direct Mail Marketing

8. Walking neighborhoods

9. Evaluating deals

Contact the County office and they can help you conduct a review of the property to check for liens.

You can get a high equity line of credit (HELOC) using your existing properties as collateral. That will free up plenty of cash to qualify for another loan or three.

I agree with @Jerry W. in that the greatest risk lies with you. There is risk involved with everything, including walking to the local deli for a sandwich on your lunch break. If you educate yourself, you reduce your risk. If you work hard, you reduce your risk. If you don't panic but work through difficulties and overcome obstacles, you reduce your risk.

I don't know how to quantify it on a scale because every deal and every investor is unique. With 10 being the highest risk, I think it's a 2.4 for me.

Originally posted by @Thomas S.:

All my tenants are on M2M and have been for years. There is no down side and all upside for landlord with M2M. Tenants are still required to give notice and generally do give plenty knowing they are not breaking a lease. Tenants on a term lease either give very short notice or do a midnight run.

Tenants move when they need or want to, collecting early termination fees is rarely done.

I give my tenants to options: they can pay the early termination fee or they can remain responsible for rent and utilities until a replacement tenant is found. They pay the early termination fee about 90% of the time and some of them even pay the equivalent of 2 months rent.

With 300 rentals, I haven't had a tenant abandon a property without notice for almost 2 years but that's always a third option.

There's no perfect answer so everyone needs to see what works best for them and their situation. In my case, my owners are making a lot of extra money with one-year leases and early termination penalties. Your mileage may vary.

I think it's a great idea as long as you go in with eyes wide open. Vacation rentals have the potential to be very lucrative.

@Tim Collette it's definitely different than buying your own home. Deals can be harder to find right now. So many are investing because it's hard to lose money right now. Loans are cheap, homes are appreciating, rents are jumping, etc. When the market corrects, and I think it is due any time now, a lot of investors will jump ship and more deals will be available. I could be completely wrong.

Welcome to BP!

Good for you that you're sticking with it despite the mistakes. Are you reading books, analyzing properties, or taking other steps to educate yourself? 

I'm in Cody. Give me a shout if there's anything I can do to help.

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