All Forum Posts by: Philip Williams

I have had tenants screaming at us. Asking why the realtor was knocking like he was the police. Tenants like you refusing to show us the place. Nothing crazy but definitely a hindrance. Coincidentally I've never bought a property after a showing like that. Not on purpose just how it turned out.

Hey I have never had this problem but I'll see if I can help. The first thing I would assume is that these are happening during the nighttime. I would install outside lights first and foremost and not the motion ones the timer ones. From dusk to sunrise you want light around a property that I'm assuming is in a bad neighborhood. Installing a quality fence stronger doors etc....your not trying to make it Fort Knox but rather not worth the trouble. 

@Ben Leybovich Of course not I would love for you to use this to help out others. If I can be of any help please let me know. I don't mind sharing the exact numbers rents etc if it would be of assistance? That's exactly the post some people myself included need to hear to learn and grow in there careers. 

 @Michael Henry         oh I agree those things can and do happen! If for instance 20k in repairs happened to pop up I would just shrug and take care of them. I have adequate reserves actually 3 of our building are owned free and clear. I wasn't really questioning @Ben Leybovich logic rather trying to get him to explain his reasoning. I know a lot of people get over extended don't plan for maintenance etc....so when someone posts something I almost always ask the reasoning behind even if I already know the answer. My logic is many more people than just those commenting are reading all the posts trying to learn. 

@Joe Demonte  Hey joe it was actually organized by a bigger pockets member @Brie Schmidt I'm not sure when the next one will be but i'll pass along the info!

Hey alex hopefully I can help out, the easy answer is no you won't be approved for more. If you had previous experience in being a landlord 2 years specifically then yes you could be approved for more. Banks aren't going to bet on you being a good landlord, in there eyes you could be a horrible one. You could chase away the existing tenant not fix up the property etc. Once you have that two years under your belt have a rent roll some history then you can start going down this road. So more than likely you will still be approved for the same amount don't be discouraged though! A lot of people have gone down this path in fact if I can find it i'll link a great article that outlines something similar to what you are planning to do. I hope this helps, leave a vote or a comment if you liked :) 

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2012/12/12/make-a-million-dollars/

@Aaron Mazzrillo I am focusing on buy and hold at the moment and by at the moment I mean the next several years. I have never had any flipping or wholesaling aspirations but of course if the opportunity presented itself I would pursue it. 

Aaron Mazzrillo thanks for the advise, I have certainly considered this. I don't have a day job so I have a lot more free time to research than the average investor. I am very familiar with my market average rents, good areas bad areas etc. my plan was actually to sit and collect rent for a year before expanding anymore. The last three buildings literally fell into my lap and are under contract about 20% of there actual value not arv. So if I felt the need all three could be resold for an immediate profit if I felt I was stretched to thin.

Excellent question I'll do my best to help. You have a good situation going, iI wouldn't change anything. Your property is cash flowing nicely. With a long term rental talking ten years or more I'm assuming your doing this for long term wealth. Would you really care if property values dipped slightly? Appreciation is always nice but if the area rents are 1/3 higher than your mortgage. Even if they dip slightly you will still have a nice cash flowing property.

So glad you avoided a potentially nasty situation! Do you have an application fee to help cover the 50 screening cost? We don't have a screening fee but we get a lot of applications and I wouldn't pay 50 per on 20 applicants you know?