All Forum Posts by: Randy Gutierrez

I get the point but I don't know if fear is the correct word, I don't think RE investors are fearful when it comes to real estate, otherwise they wouldn't be investing to begin with. Nervous, anxious, uncertain....absolutely. 

Fridge and oven should be included I would say, never seen a rental that didn't have that included. Depending on the class neighborhood you can just get away with finding something on Facebook marketplace, they are dirt cheap and in decent condition. I paid $250 for a GE oven, and it came with an 8-month warranty from the FB seller. As for microwave, washer, and dryer, I'd say those are dependent on the market/competition and proximity to laundromats.  

Just sign a new lease with your name and the tenant and make sure to have it written in there that you are not liable if something happens. If you want, you can require renters' insurance on top of it. Tenants willing to buy such items are more than likely willing to stay long term, personally I'd be more concern about the rent they are paying. If they refuse to sign a new lease, then just give them their 30-day notice to vacate.

I wiped out my IRA, bought 1 property with it and about to buy another with what is remaining. Traditional IRA's are a total scam. 401k where your employer matches your contributions is not the same though I will admit. I would say see what happens with the first refinance and go from there, I think then you will have a better idea on what to do next.

Being that it's your first property and one that you will be living in I would say yes. I would schedule a bunch together, perhaps over the course of a weekend. Once you have a team in place such as an agent and inspector you trust and are familiar with the area and the homes - you can just have them send you pictures or do a virtual tour.

My brother-in law who lives in a 40+ unit building had this issue. He was actually the one that was being complained about as he has a 2 year old that is very playful and is just doing what kids do, play. It got to the point where the attorney that represents the owners of the building got involved and was sending legal notices out between parties. Ultimately they sided with my brother in law and that the downstairs tenant was being unreasonable and was told to leave. 

I would issue a fair warning to the tenant making the noise and tell the tenant that is complaining to expect noise during the day.

I had a 20' sleeve liner replaced, heating appliance(s) connector replaced, top support plate installed, and chimney cement crown repaired on my primary residence for $1,700. The materials alone are like $700 max, the rest is labor. However it looks like he's going as far as to repoint the chimney from the roofline/base to the top which seems like overkill unless it's absolutely necessary and the chimney is about to collapse, this I'd imagine is where most of the cost is. This is way beyond the repair/replacement of just a chimney sleeve.

If you are under contract, your real estate agent can refer you to someone they work with. If not, all you have to do is contact any insurance agent or insurance company to get started.

I'm confused about what is confusing. The seller has no reason or incentive to sell it vacant, on the contrary it is more of a hassle. You're already under contract but generally speaking such a request makes your offer less appealing to the seller.

Originally posted by @Rachel Hong:

Agreed with other comments above, hire carefully and fire quickly if things are not going in the right direction. 8-10% of rent for PM monthly management is standard plus one month of rent for placing new tenant. Other variable fees may apply. 

Save yourself the headache early on by vetting PM carefully -- making sure you know what they will get your approval on vs. not. A lot of times, these PM firms that own their in-house maintenance/contractors rip you off by sending their people constantly to your properties to look for things to fix and charge you on. Be very careful on that.

I'm a new investor from Jersey City, NJ so wanted to share the mistakes I made early on. I bought my first rental property in Allentown last year through an agent affiliated with Steel City Realty. Their agent was solid so that's why we decided to work with Empire Property Management, their sister company, which ripped us off on the PM aspect of the business by frequently and overcharging us on many maintenance requests (they have their in-house contractors). We lost a lot of $$ by working with Empire Property Management so I had to fire them eventually. Kristina from their company was supposed to be our PM but she was really just managing the monthly statement to owners. Their teams are silo-ed and as the result of that, you always find out about the issues after the fact. They never sent us work orders and get our permission before fixing things. They just charge us on the monthly statement without advanced notification and communication. Very poor PM management services. I just switched the property management firm off Empire Property Management due to their unprofessional practice. The most ridiculous thing they did was placing a charge of $900 on some emergency prevention best practice installations that were never communicated to us directly and clearly overpriced based on the nature of work. When I called Kristina to ask about this, she claimed it was mentioned in their monthly newsletter (assuming you subscribe to it and know you're supposed to keep track of important issues like that). I had sleepless nights due to poor PM.

good luck on your search!

My goodness, sorry to hear about your troubles. For that reason, I'm so hesitant and resistant on getting PM, I just feel like I would never see my money come in!