All Forum Posts by: Richard Sherman

@David R.  I agree with @Mike McCarthy   .  I would be VERY surprised if there was any difference between how you treat a Month to month (TW) and a standard lease.    Whatever the last lease they signed is what is in effect just one a month to month basis.  When we buy a new property we give any month to month tenants the option to sign our new lease or to lease (and they get the correct amount of time-based on what state it is in if they choose to leave.

@Blake Burnett be prepared for them to say it is a service animal in which case you are stuck.  MAKE all your tenants get renters insurance and provide you proof as a 1st line of defense.

@Aman A. we just did LVP in one and we are moving all units to it as they turn over (we have done 4 so far in total.)  Here is my recommendation.

1. If you intend to keep the properties long term, find a commercial installer (someone who does larger projects, retail etc.)

2. Get a higher quality material.  We got 12 mil wear layer 30 year commercial (this is the stuff new apartments are getting, retail etc) we paid about $2.85 a SF, we could have gotten it for as low as $2.50 if we bought more than 2000 SF, which we will next time.

3. All in for install (we did the tear out and hall away) was $4600 and change, this was a 900 SF townhouse with stairs (needed carpet) and lots of cuts due to closets, 1.5 bath etc. so install was a bit more involved than single floor units.  This works out to $5.10 a sf give or take.  

This material will outlast me probably. Nice gray wood grain color, looks amazing. Expensive up front but water proof, looks great and NO MORE CARPET ever, so the ROI should be pretty good and we can rent for more.

@Sarah Young my tenants have no chance to be disrespectful to me as they have no clue I own the properties and I do not deal with them directly.  Anyone who asks, I just tell them I am a "construction manager for the company that owns the properties."

I agree with @Thomas S. and @James Wise   thicker skin, but also controlling communication method.  She is a shrewd negotiator, she has you afraid of her and that gives her power.  That being said, it is your life and if she sucks and you want her gone, then get rid of her because that is what having control and freedom is about..but do not think that you will get a better tenant. I will take rude and pays the rent over super nice and is a flake ALL day long.  :)  Get the book Boundaries by William Cloud as I imagine you are a SUPER nice person and might have other people in your life who also walk all over you (like I used too.)

@Jay Hinrichs but would they be better using it as a downpayment on a nice 4 plex owner occupied 1 unit near where they live....haha...  Devil really is in the details.  

I agree that for many people, they think they are the first one to figure out that D areas of (insert several midwestern cities) pay 12 caps...and that they are going there and going to scale...those rates are there for a reason...no one buys them, even people who live there don't want them.   Doable and easy are two very different things and I firmly believe that most people getting started are best off, even in an expensive market, doing some kind of a small multi-unit live in rental to cut their teeth.

@Account Closed Depending on the paneling and condition it could look really nice and less likely to get holes etc  Try some paint on it, probably primer first in a closet or behind a door and see how you like it.

@Kyle H.   I talked to several brokers, PM and inspectors first and identified some properties, then went out and walked various properties with them and selected the people I wanted to use.  I was buying multiple properties at once though, so it made sense to do it that way.  Ideally, just 1 trip to get going unless you like going there.  

@Greg M. I think what @Mike McCarthy is saying is that EVEN if you HAVE an easement, the other party can simply not honor it and enforcing it can be a pain....we had an issue with an easement for access to move cattle...and sure you can get nasty..but that is how you end up with your cows being used for target practice....i.e. sometimes you can be right and it won't matter.

@Kyle H. I went to the market to make sure I liked it, but you want to rely on a local team (PM, realtor, inspector etc) so you do not need to go back and forth all the time.  TAKE your time and if there is a way to do something within and hour of where you live do that first even if the return might be lower.

@Kyle H. I would be looking to househack or STR where I lived and raise (save) cash to see what was happening in the market. Gun to my head.....I am picking markets with population growth. Places like St. Louis, Cinci, maybe DFW or smaller markets outside of some hot markets like Austin, Portland, Denver if prices make sense. Your biggest limitation is your knowledge of the market, which usually means I like investing near where you live.