All Forum Posts by: Rony Mueller

Some out of the box screening ideas: 

Does he have a business with a physical address? Drive by it if that's the case and even enter it with the excuse of "oh, I forgot to give you such and such form or whatever" and draw some conclusions of what you think. 

Is it a service business, meaning, no physical address? Then have someone of your trust call the business, put on speakerphone, and ask for services and listen how the services are presented. 

Either will tell you some idea of how the business is run, which is ultimately what will pay rent. 

Needless to say, personal references, tenant history (call previous landlords), all business and tax documents.  And make sure that they seem appropriate for the type of business and not drawn up. If you know another professional who you trust in this business' industry, ask if the numbers seem to be ok. Ask an accountant of your trust as well if you need to. 

Hope some of these ideas help! Good luck! 

Hey future snow bird (maybe) @Brian Holmes! What area specifically in South FL?  If you're living 6 months of the year in here, do you expect the other 6 months to have a vacant unit or to rent it out on shorter terms, maybe even AirBnB? 

 I like that last line about painting the closet! Great idea! 

I read a lot of books too because I like to put marks with paper clips and also underline important things, but I know what you mean with your joke. Have you tried audiobooks by any chance? Any good ones on this topic, if you have? 

I used to work for HSBC, and one of the most important clientele we had was the Premier clientele. I know that based on their relationship in other parts of the world, Premier Clients can speak with a Premier Relationship Manager here in the US and transact business, including mortgages, while maintaining the balances on foreign accounts. I know it's not a Canadian bank per say, but HSBC is a bank that will consider relationships in other parts of the world as part of their qualifications. 

I'd love to tell you go big if you have the chance, but it depends on your ability to take on the task which will bring success or failure to you. In other words, What is your professional background and which skills do you have to manage such a large apartment building? 

It's an important question to consider, because if you tell me you've been a property manager for 7 years and managed 300 units then what are you waiting for. You will probably apply your knowledge and experience and will be just fine. Not that you don't have a chance to fail. But if you say, "I've been a little league soccer coach all my life" I'd say, well... Consider than you don't know anything about this business and you are more likely fail tremendously.

Hey BP Community!

One of the most interesting things to me in RE is flipping. But there are some minimum required construction skills when doing a rehab, that an investor should understand, in order to at the very least communicate with a contractor (or even help doing some things, thus saving $$$). So I figured I shared some of my ideas on how I learned some of the DYI skills. 

1) Volunteer at Habitat for Humanity. Not only you'll feel great about your community service (you get to meet the future owners, and see how you're helping make a difference in their lives), but also you'll be given assignments for framing, insulation (not all Habitat chapter allows volunteer for this one), sheet rocking, roofing (if allowed), painting, and many other more valuable parts of the construction on a home. Above all, you'll understand how contractors think and work, and you'll learn about their time frames. Ultimately, you'll learn how to deal with contractors better, and make sure they do the job on time and as requested. 

Needless to say, a lot of RE professionals show up to Habitat, and it's a great place for networking. 

2) Home Depot seminars

Check Home Depot's website for their free classes, and you'll find that your local Home Depot has something going on every Saturday. Did I say free? Yes! And they will teach you how to do small things like changing a faucet, to creating painting designs (for a featured wall), to big things as installing an irrigation system in your backyard, or a water heater system. Just like in Habitat, you can't beat free, and you can't beat saving money (because you'd pay someone to do these things for you in your REI). Plus, consider the networking opportunities. Maybe you'll find motivated sellers in Home Depot, trying to fix a few things up to sell their home.

3) Ask your contractor to teach you a couple of things while working at your house/rental/flip property. The construction workers won't mind giving you a couple of tips if you ask genuinely and honestly ask them to. In fact, they will be flattered to teach you, as long as you don't interrupt their work flow and become the reason why the job is taking longer. 

4) Community College. For a cheap price (about $200 in my area) and 3 hours a week you can take a class in plumbing, or electrical. Now, this takes time away from your real job, investing. But doesn't it connect you with young future contractors or HVAC repair guys? How about with plumbers? Further, it gives you the knowledge to understand that YouTube video you watched and messed up the wiring job. You almost burned down your investment house for not understanding simple terms!! Some people learn better on an organized class structure, and such can mean a lot of money saved in the future. 

I hope this post was helpful, it is my first thread I ever created here in PB. 

Anyhow, those are some of my ideas. Do you have any other ideas you'd like to share on how to gain some DIY skills? 

I'd certainly separate some money to become the bank, meaning,  hard money lender. 

Hi @Mar Maldonado! And welcome to PB. My name is Rony and I'm a new member to this community as well. I'm also from Miami, and currently after my very first deal! What's the part of real estate that attracts you the most? Buy and hold? 

Best of luck!