All Forum Posts by: Nicole Heasley Beitenman

What's their reason for wanting to leave early?

I listened to a BP podcast back in the day (like Josh and Brandon days, I think) where the guest joined the HOA board to give himself control over rental policies. That's the only way I'd be comfortable operating any kind of rental, LTR or MTR, out of a condo.

Quote from @Michael Smythe:

@Joy Li

Recommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.

Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.

I'll add local meetups to this list of resources. That's always been my go-to for finding any kind of service. But @Allen Duan is also a wealth of knowledge, so it's good you're connected to him now!

This group was established to help real estate investors and other real estate professionals in the Mahoning Valley grow their business through networking. We meet on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at Buffalo Wild Wings in Boardman. While you are welcome to bring your deals and services, there will be no sales pitches by the organizers. Our only aim is to help build connections within the Youngstown real estate community.

We welcome current and aspiring real estate investors, contractors, agents, lenders, and anyone else who could benefit from connecting with like-minded individuals.

There is no structure or agenda--simply come in, grab a drink, and a grab a seat next to some one new. Bring your questions, your deals, your business cards, your contractor recommendations, your needs, your best practices, your experience, your lack of experience--whatever you have (or don't have!). Find a partner, a mentor, or just a new friend. Share, learn, and grow.

Join us on Facebook to continue networking outside of events! https://www.facebook.com/groups/ytownreconnectors/

Quote from @Jim K.:

Quote from @Steve Vaughan:

@James S. congrats on what looks like a great plan.  I would probably borrow a little more than $100-$150k if I could to keep more reserves.

All I can do is mention my favorite fellow long-term operator and handyman in P-burgh @Jim K.. Hopefully he has a minute to chime in.  

Best wishes on your worthy project👍

 Sorry, James and Steve, Hermitage is another one of those "own little world" kind of places in Mercer County, PA. I know less than nothing about new construction loans for duplexes, let alone how to operate up there, in what is essentially a Pennsylvania suburb of Youngstown, Ohio. Good luck to you, James, because it does sound interesting, and I hope to learn from you in the future.

James--you'd be welcome to join our Youngstown (Boardman) meetup and see if you can get more feedback there. If you're interested, I can message you the details.

But doesn't using it hurt your credit? I have about $125k of sellable equity between two properties I'd love to use to either fund down payments or fund the entire purchase and then refinance out, but I don't want to put $20k-100k or more on a CC and find I can't refinance out because I tanked my score 100+ points. 

I spoke to Melio, which is similar to Plastiq, and they said, "If it is for paying the title company to close, then it should be fine. However, it is not okay if it involves a credit card payment going to an escrow account." I'm assuming the declined transactions have something to do with how the payment it set up because it appears that some folk are still using this method.

What did they say you did wrong? According to Melio, "If it is for paying the title company to close, then it should be fine. However, it is not okay if it involves a credit card payment going to an escrow account." Not sure how that's supposed to work. 

When I was starting, I found a resource in FF that suggested pricing $300-500 above LTR rates. I started at $500 over LTR rates and bumped it up $50 in between each tenant until I felt like I hit the ceiling.

Quote from @Bonnie Low:

How creative! Personally, I'm not willing to deal with the headache of constant switching, especially since my market allows me to flip to STR to fill awkward gaps. If I didn't get a switch initiated in time for an STR guest's arrival, I could put myself in hot water.

I wonder if this tactic could still work if you set rent at $2300 utilities included or $2000 with utilities billed separately through RentRedi/Tenant Cloud/Whatever You Use? Then they're still paying the bill but you don't have to deal with multiple account switches every year. That's how I billed my LTR tenants for utilities without actually putting the accounts in their names. Leases stated that rent payments were applied to utilities first and rent second.