All Forum Posts by: Jeff N.

All, Thanks for the input.

Steve, I definitely like your strategy using a PM website as a holding for all your assets.

Mark, I have a website develop business that focuses on backend databases as you mentioned using MYSQL. Using a login system for tenants and prospective renters is doable but I dont know how effective it would be since it wouldn't be optimized for search engines with everything locked down.

Rob, excellent job with your website, seems like the way to go with just listing available properties and not your entire inventory.

BTW, check out this portfolio, I guess he isn't afraid of lawsuits:

http://www.trump.com

Over the past year I have been considering developing a website that lists all my rental properties. That way when I list vacancies on 3rd party websites I can link to my own hub site that will include a lot more detail and photos of the properties.

If you list your entire portfolio on your own website, does it open yourself up to more fraud since your assets are listed in one place for the world to see. As it is now, a tenant at a rental I own in one development has no idea I own 2 more in the same development.

Definitely agree with Matt. Sounds like you will come out ahead if you just pay her from your pocket.

If you don't currently have payroll setup on your business for other employees your going to create your own paperwork nightmare to start payroll for just your wife.

Some of the penalties in some states for payroll mistakes are huge. For example, in NY you are fined $250 for each day delinquent on workers comp. In NY, they also do not recognize LLC's as a separate entity in the event of mistakes like this, they will sue the LLC members directly, not the LLC. Sorry, a little off topic, still venting from a mistake I made a few years ago.

Each year I tell myself I'm going to get my rental unit heat and air units inspected by a professional, but I never do. I have been taking the approach of only getting them serviced when they fail.

Do you pay for yearly service checks on your rental HVAC's?

My position is that I feel I'm going to get screwed out of a few hundred bucks a unit per year of unnecessarily expenses.

If she is not a member of the LLC then one disadvantage of not having her on payroll would be no stated income.

You will not be taxed twice since it is a payroll expense for your LLC. But you may be responsible for your share of unemployment tax, Social security tax, workers comp, state and county employment tax, etc, for this employee.

John, Yes, I agree that Elance has its share of unscrupulous providers. But you can filter these guys out fairly easily with the feedback system they have.

I have built a portfolio of providers over the 10 years i have used them, so I rarely seek new ones.

Recently, my only complaint is elance interface. It can be confusing and they seem to change things around on you fairly often.

The bank may ask for bank statements to determine qualification for going short. If you show funds in other accounts it going to be more difficult for the bank to qualify you.

I suggest you find a website with the look and features you like. Then post a job on elance.com to have it made using the website you like as an example for the programmer, you can also include additional features you require in the task list.

They have tons of Indian programmers (dot, not feather) on elance that can build you a custom website with a database backend very inexpensively. I use Elance on almost a daily basis for everything from website design, data entry, guest blog posts, SEO, marketing, media kits, etc. It's a nice feeling to wake up in the morning with an email from elance with work that was done while you slept.

I have been using Elance for over 10 years, the quality of work and price is unbeatable.

What criteria are you using to value this property as cheap?

Biggest Mistake:

Taking professionals for their word. I learned quickly after my first purchase that you never take an RE agent, contractor, PM, etc for their word no matter how professional they appear. Always get verbal promises and fees documented.