All Forum Posts by: Ronda R.

@Jerad Miller It seems you have an advantage starting out in that you and your father in law can do most of the work and then you already have a contractor you can trust who can not only give you advice but do work you can't. Sound like a great situation. That is a great starting point. My thought as I was reading through this thread is that you should start out flipping. Leverage what you have, buy in the best neighborhood you can, flip it and build your reserves. Use the profit for buy and holds.
Wishing you great sucess!

Congratulations! It turned out great. I have a son your age and he is wanting to get started. I am sending him a link to this post. It will be encouraging for him and others your age to know it can be done. 
I too love the finishes and as I look at your pictures it makes me realize how much I love rehab. I have yet to use the LVP but believe I will be trying it soon. I am looking for a house to flip right now and working on finding good subcontractors or a great GC to take on my projects. Would be a lot easier with a GC. Finding one is the problem.

I use Cozy to place ads for vacant properties and screen potential renters there. I field the calls via google voice so I have a local area code (they don't know they are calling California) and then I pay someone to show the house a flat $25 every time they show it. I also pay them to do a walk through and then send me the signed lease agreement after they sign. They send it to me, I sign and then email a scanned copy back to them.

I have been there so frequently in the past year that I hadn't thought of having someone do walk through occasionally. That is a good idea.

@Brian Olson I have my tenants send me a picture of the problem. I call the contractor, let them know what the issue is, give them the tenants contact info to arrange a convenient time, they send me a quote or if an emergency call me on the spot, I authorize the repair or get more quotes and then they email me receipt and, as prearranged, I pay by credit card over phone. It doesn't happen that often because I buy low, rehab and then rent out, so a lot has been taken care of. Those few hours a year that I spend arranging repairs myself save me over $5,340.00 in management fees a year. Worth it.

@Kayla V. I am sorry I just now saw your comment. I am still looking for a good investment realtor. I have used a couple and tried working with a few more. Personalities didn't match or they weren't that interested in working with lower $ properties. I totally understand but there has to be someone who loves the challenge and appreciates a customer that is constantly looking and buying. The woman I am currently working with may be a keeper. The jury is still out.

As far as property manager, I don't use one. I did that with my Oregon rental and hated it. I manage long distance. If there is a plumbing issue, I call a plumber and send him over. It can be a little challenging but I have worked with handy men that work for management companies and they did less than stellar work. In addition I was told at the REI group I attended that there weren't any good property managers in town. Right now I have a friend that I pay to do odd jobs like mow the lawn, hang address numbers, hang blinds, etc. He does it as a favor but I am looking for a good handyman that I can call to do odd things like that. Self managing has worked out for me so far but I only have 4 properties/6 doors. It may be different when I acquire more.

@Sam Stout what class and price range do you usually buy in? I am looking for a realtor too but it is hard to find someone who is willing to deal in a lower end price point. After looking at her website it looks like she is more of a owner occupant type realtor.

I have found a couple of properties that I have missed out on because my realtor was slow to respond.

@Bill McCartney just wondering how this all turned out. Did you buy it?

This looks great! I love how much lighter the rooms look, especially the bathrooms, going from dark tile to white. Looks very spa like.

 It is called German Smear and I have been reading about it and wanting to give it a try.

Is that where you live? Sounds wonderful!