All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Great idea for a discussion! One tool that I didn't know we would need (and I sincerely hope others don't need it as much as we have) is an infrared thermal imaging meter. We've dealt with a lot of rain and water damage, and the usual fixes didn't work until we did an investigation with an infrared meter into the source of the leaks.

I use Innago for ours. Transaction times for tenant payments are only one business day, which is great. Background checks are a pretty standard price ($30 or $35 depending on level of screening).

I definitely want to see more numbers, but my guess is that the vacation side of the Airbnb and Hospitality business will take some time to get back to the numbers we were seeing before. I think this timeline will depend a lot on people's level of worry around Covid, as well as what state and city specific regulations still in effect. I've definitely heard some horror stories of hosts in the Airbnb business the past few months. I'm curious to hear other people's responses to your question. 

This is one of those design decisions that's not necessarily going to dramatically make or break the value of the house. I've seen both ways - the sink on the island, and the sink against the wall. I personally prefer there to be window if the sink is going to be against a wall, but I've also seen it done well without a window. @Patricia Steiner has some fantastic advice about searching for new construction/top-priced homes in your area for ideas. The more area and price specific you can be with your search, the better. Getting an idea of what people are looking for in your specific market is one of the best things you can do. 

Wow, beautiful transformation! Great job, and it sounds like you got a lot of great experience with your first project, including that eviction process you probably didn't start out planning on having to go through. 

@Monica Lauzun Congratulations, and what an amazing reward for all the hard work! What were some of the biggest changes you made to update the property? What were your favorite changes?

If you live nearby, this is your first investment property, and you have the time to learn and manage the property, I would suggest managing on your own. This will give you experience, help you save a little bit of money, and also allow you to see if you want to continue to self manage or use a PM in the future. Everyone is different, so it depends on how much time and energy you want to invest into learning and managing a property. For some people, hiring a PM is totally worth it. 

I couldn't have said it better than @Daniel Kim. Investing out of state is not something I usually recommend for your first (or first few) purchases. I'm not saying it's 100% not advisable, but there is already so much to go through just investing locally, and going out of state adds a lot of extra research/stressors/unknowns on top of that. That being said, New Jersey is definitely not the best place to invest for cash flow, and so out of state may be your best bet in this situation. 

Hi @Oladimeji Morgan , that's wonderful! Like @Mike R. mentioned, Brandon Turner's book on rental property investing is a great place to start, as well as his webinars, like @Narges F. noted. When you're starting out, I recommend learning as much as you can from reading books and articles, and listening to podcasts and webinars (Bigger Pockets has some great ones). This will help you narrow down what you want to focus on in real estate, help you learn a lot of important information, and also help you see what areas you have specific questions that need further answering. The forum is always a great place to ask questions too!

@Ahmad Nassar I love this! I also like that you've informed your tenants, because I'm sure that helps them feel a little bit involved, and also appreciative of your leadership in this area.