All Forum Posts by: Nathan McQueen

@Watson Hilaire I don't own any shipping container properties (yet), but the idea is very intriguing. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this thread to see who else chimes in.

From the little bit I do know about them one of the hardest parts is working with the city/ zoning, so the fact that its already built sounds like a big plus!

@Watson Hilaire I don't own any shipping container properties (yet), but the idea is very intriguing. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this thread to see who else chimes in.

From the little bit I do know about them one of the hardest parts is working with the city/ zoning, so the fact that its already built sounds like a big plus!

@Jacob Sampson I'm beginning to think that. I was spoiled by the PM managing my property in NC.

@Caleb Heimsoth I'm pretty sure the tenant is an enlisted soldier, but with a family. Its a 3-2 that rents for $900/mo so its not at the top and not at the bottom of the market. So far I've been fortunate on the turn costs. 

@Charles Biter thank you for your feedback, glad to know Clarksville is working out for you. 

Overall I'm not too pleased with this PM for the very reasons you mention. I have had to pull info from them more than they've given me. 

I looked at a lot of things when I selected Oak Grove, but schools was not one of them (I don't have kids so its not something I think about, still bad on me). In Oak Grove I found a better price to rent ratio and lower taxes as pros over Clarksville. For the intermediate late rents I'm guessing the PM didn't reach out to the tenant's First Sargent because the rent did eventually come in that same month (I may be giving them too much credit). As for the last/ final late rent on the 1st tenant I asked the PM to contact the tenant's unit, but was told that since they PCS'd the old unit couldn't/ wouldn't help us so now we're getting attorneys involved. 

So I bought my first SFR near Ft. Campbell (Oak Grove, KY) last year in September. Since then things have not gone as smoothly as I'd like so I wanted to reach out to other investors to see if its something I'm doing, the area, my PM, etc...

I closed on the property in mid-Sept, it needed very little to get it ready for the market, it was officially on the market in early Oct. Our first tenant moved in around Thanksgiving (60ish days on the market). Their 1st rent payment was late, they blamed it on their BAH being messed up. We did eventually get paid in full and things leveled out for a bit. Then Feb rent was late, I reached out to the PM they said, Oh, we'll look into that." We did eventually get Feb rent on like the 20-something of the month, but I'm like WTH guys....? The fun keeps coming, in mid-April I get word from the PM that my tenant has orders to PCS (he's military) and will be moving out in 30 days. I checked the orders and they were legit. Then May rent was late, we think it was because the tenant put down a deposit on another place (still not a valid reason). 

The only saving grace (I thought) was that my PM placed another tenant 10 days after the 1st one moved out. I was feeling quite relived, the first tenant, despite not being the best at paying rent, moved out left the place in good condition so another tenant could quickly move in. I was thinking things are looking up! Yesterday I get word from our PM that the new tenant hasn't paid June rent.... (when it rains it pours!) Once again the tenant is blaming their BAH getting messed up.

Finally here's my question, I'm asking other investors in the area (or similar military towns), is this the kind of thing I can expect renting to predominately military folks, or are both of these experiences a fluke? I feel like my PM may be adding to some of the issues here, but I don't want to blame them entirely.

Any thoughts or opinions from other investors in the area would be greatly appreciated.

@Josh McQueen

@Ryan Luby I'll share what I've done in my partnership, which is a bit different than how you're structuring yours. Also you may be further along in your real estate investment journey that I am so take this advice/ experience for what its worth. 

My partner and I bought out first (joint) property last year, each of us are 50-50 partners and put down 50% (each) of the purchase price in cash (combination of helocs, cash and a small personal loan). We had an attorney draw up a partnership agreement, but we didn't lay out roles and responsibilities for each of us (so far it hasn't been an issue but its something we're working on). We have an umbrella insurance policy to cover us from liability so we didn't go the LLC route ( at least not yet). Come tax time it was super easy, I sent all our income and expenses to our CPA and he issued us both a K-1 Form which we included on our personal taxes. As far as emergencies/ repairs we hold a portion of each month's rent in a joint bank account to cover any future expenses. 

This was just our first property so we may want to look into an LLC in the future but for now we feel secure with the umbrella policy. Question to you Ryan, what are the fees like to set up and maintain an LLC? The umbrella policy costs about $400/ year, so I may be better off going the LLC route and didn't even know it.

Next, as I mentioned above we don't have a loan out on this property (yet). I'm curious to know how other partnerships structure a joint loan. It sounds like you each are on the loan and your individual LLCs are worked in there somewhere too?

Hope this was helpful. 

@Andrew Korver other than the "hiccups" you mentioned surrounding the PM how has the rest of your experience been with Bridge? Checking in about a year later is the same tenant still in place? I've heard stories of about tenants other turnkey providers place not panning out, essentially they just threw any old tenant in the property and then turn it over to you and its your problem. That doesn't sound like the way Bridge operates, but I just wanted to ask anyway. 

Overall it sounds like you had a good experience with Bridge. Would you purchase another property from them (or have you already)?

@Cade Andrew Howe not to beat on this too much but I would also recommend upping the PM to 10%, that's what I'm paying for a PM for my property just across the state line in Oak Grove, KY. Otherwise looks like a solid 1% deal.

@Michael Workman good idea on checking the BAH for the zip. I just looked up the BAH for this zip and its $999 on the low end for an E-1 without dependents, although I'm not expecting a single E-1 would be our target group. Our property manager has been showing the property so I'll have to reach out to them, but that's also a good idea. Thanks. 

Earlier this fall I purchased my first investment property with a partner @Josh McQueen, a 3-2 single family near Ft. Campbell, KY. Then spent a few weeks getting it ready to rent, and put it on the market. As of today its been on the market for about 6 weeks and still not rented. We have it on the market for $950/ mo, which our property manager says is the market rate. We have had quite a bit of interest but for one reason or another still no tenant. We even had a serious "bite" that almost moved in earlier this month, but didn't sign the lease.

So my question is, since we are about to enter the worst time to get people to move (holidays). What kinds of incentives or any creative ideas should I try to get a tenant to move in? I'm thinking dropping the rent to $925 and offering 1/2 off the first month's rent if they move in before the end of the year? 

Any and all ideas are welcome.