All Forum Posts by: Phillip Vera

Branden, I think I've seen or heard about every creative lease clause...also heard some of the horror stories that go with them.  

Yes, many landlords will put in a clause for a Masters rental. Most offer a free month of rent for the month of April.  I've also seen where landlords allow their residents to handle the Masters rental and take a cut (risky business).  All can get very tricky.  @Paul Rush  makes a good point that you have very little control.  Are you swapping out the furniture?  What about damages?  A lot also depends on the amount you could make during Masters week or weekend.

We helped a landlord facilitate this, but he also owned a large hospitality house with major income.  It made plenty of sense.  You'll have to weigh if the juice is worth the squeeze in terms of moving one set of residents out, prepping the home for Masters guests, facilitating a week long stay, and then getting everything back in order for your long-term resident.  All depends on what you can rent the property for and how much you're willing to deal with the hassle.  

@Paul Rush

You can absolutely still find them in Augusta, GA.  More than likely, you can still find them in many markets if you’ve got someone looking for you off market.  

@Branden Kline I’m a little biased, but I’ll PM you about Auben Realty as one option in town.  Thanks.

@David Kuhlke hang in there.  I've seen this play out many times and most likely you can come back in a couple of weeks when it's still sitting on the market and get it for less than you had it under contract for before.  

If the seller is lying and unwilling to cooperate with the due diligence findings, imagine what else they might know that they aren't disclosing.  

Wait it out and that property could still be yours at a discounted price!  Good luck!

Paul, as everyone has already mentioned, security deposits are a big deal and they belong to the resident.  They need to remit these to you immediately or it's worth a demand letter from an attorney and filing a complaint to your local/state real estate board.  Landlord expenses should be handled between the PM company and the landlord, not the resident's security deposit.

@Rob B. I see that you're on the self-manage side.  I'm obviously on the PM side.  I have to agree and would say that a good PM company can easily bring more value than the cost of their services, even when managing one property.  For experienced investors, sure, but it can take a lot of their time.  

@Brian Levredge would love to connect next time I'm in Chattanooga.  We have a small PM office there as a satellite branch and looking to learn more about the Chattanooga market.  I've actually considered flipping in the area.

Plenty of deals on the MLS, just means you need to act quickly because lots of other people have access, get e-mails, and search the MLS non-stop. Any good deal that I've seen on the MLS in my market (strong seller's market right now) is under contract within a few hours so you've got to be confident in what it is you want, what you're looking for, and running your numbers.

@Thien Nguyen sorry to hear about your troubles.  This is all too common in real estate investing.  The biggest lesson I've learned is a simple one, you always get what you pay for.  I second that buying the properties right and hiring a professional is the only route I'll go.  

Also, you want to make sure you always have a contract and a draw schedule is clearly laid out for work completed ONLY!  For us, we require permits in the window before work can start.  I'm in the process of revamping my entire reno process and pay structure.  On my rental properties and flips, I will be meeting with the project manager or GC bi weekly.  Once for a property check and once to go over invoices/checks and draw schedule/timeline.  

My business partner is an attorney in the Augusta area and I'd be happy to connect you with him.  He goes after crooks like these all the time to ensure they don't continue to screw people over.  Let me know if you need recommendations on contractors as I'm happy to recommend some reliable ones, which are hard to find.

I'm in the Augusta area so not too familiar with Beech Island rental rates, but $650 for a 2 bedroom/1 bath is in line with some of the lower income/class C areas.  With proximity to SRS and Bridgestone plant, I'd have to imagine you could push the rents higher than that.  

Also, I don't think GCs realize how much cheaper they can renovate/build things than the average investor.  I've looked to get my GC license because the savings is incredible.  That said, I've looked into building some new construction and $50k seems tight, even on that small of a footprint in my opinion and experience.

Another thing on new construction is that because everything is new, you can typically push the rental rates higher.  To me, you could easily buy a property and cashflow $650 that it doesn't seem worth the headache of building a home for that little amount of monthly income.  I like the idea of building on a lot near your home and utilizing your skills, but I would recommend double checking the numbers and ensuring the juice is worth the squeeze.

Ben Braxton with SME.  I know several local and non-local investors using him with nothing but great things to say.