All Forum Posts by: Sean Thompson

@Jared Viernes, I will definitely start looking for a local real estate association that I can go to and start making some connections. Jeff Greenberg , I appreciate the advice. I was not planning on quitting working and become a full time investor. I was just hoping that I could trade my current job for a similar paying job in a different industry.

Hello Everyone!

My wife and I are Investors here in the Kansas City area. We currently have a duplex, and our primary residence. We have had that duplex for over 3 years now, and I would like to change my primary focus to real estate. 

I am a automotive technician by trade. I started 5 years ago when I decided that I wanted to work on cars. Without a degree, I went and got a job at a local tire shop. Worked there for 6 months, and then moved up to working at a chain store here in the midwest called "Tires Plus". Over the years, I have changed jobs a few times to take advantage of more learning and higher pay. I have gone from $8 an hour at the used tire shop, to over $28 per hour as a qualified and certified Automotive Technician. This was due to being a fast leaner, a hard worker, and always negotiating for higher pay. All of this has been without going to school to get a degree in automotive. I just figured that I could learn more by actually doing it, and immersing myself in the industry. 

Unfortunately, I have reached the top as far as technician pay goes. Not many technicians make much more than I do. I could try to get a couple more dollars per hour being a technician, or I could change my style of job and maybe become a service advisor, but honestly I have become very burnt out of the automotive repair industry. 

I would like to take the same enthusiasm, hard work, and quick learning that I put towards automotive, and do the same with real estate. I have found that when you immerse yourself in an industry, it is the fastest way to learn and succeed in that industry. 

I have been doing research into jobs that are real estate related, and I am having a hard time with finding something that meets the financial needs of my family. We are a single income house hold (my wife is a stay at home mom) and I make sound 48K per year. We have tried to adjust our budget to try and cut down on spending, but even then I would still have to make at least 42K per year to cover our family expenses every month. 

I have looked into different jobs such as Lease Agent, Real Estate Agent, or a maintenance guy/handy man. The issues with these is that  (from the research Ive done) the starting pay for a lease agent is too low, real estate agent takes a while before you start making a decent income, and being handyman/maintenance guy isn't much different than what I do now.

So, Im turning to the Bigger Pockets Community for suggestions! I need a job that is in the real estate field, that makes at minimum 42K per year. I can literally do anything I set my mind to, I just need a direction! Any ideas?

Thanks for the responses guys. I agree with you that thus far, we have made a few key mistakes with managing this tenant. We would like to evict this tenant, but like I said, we have contacted section 8 numerous times and haven't been able to reach them. Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed from here? Should we go into the section 8 office in person? Should we continue trying to contact different people (ie, our case workers supervisor) and keep going up the ladder till we reach someone?

Hey all! My wife and I have a duplex that we rent here in Kansas City. On one side of the duplex, we rent to a Section 8 tenant. We have run into a bit of an issue.

The tenant is a single woman, around 55 years old. The issue that we are having is that she has been in the unit for 3 months now, and has yet to change the water bill into her name. We have repeatedly reminded her that she needs to get the water bill put into her name. The last few months, we have been simply forwarding the water bill to her and she has been paying us the amount of the water bill. A few weeks ago we firmly told her that she needs to have the water bill changed into her name by June 1st, no exceptions. 

Our concern is that she may accidentally run the water bill up to a few hundred dollars and then tell us she is unable to pay it. The lease clearly states that the tenant is required to get all bills changed into their name. 

The other issue (though not as major) is that she recently asked us when we would be sending someone by to mow the lawn. We reminded her that before she had moved in, we told her that she would have to be taking care of the lawn. We also emailed her the digital copy of the lease that she signed, and highlighted the part that states "the tenant is responsible for the upkeep of the lawn... etc". 

Her response was "oh, well I must have overlooked that when I signed the lease. I don't make enough to pay someone to do it, and since I am on disability, I can't do it myself. I will not be mowing the lawn."

These are only two of the many issues that we have had with this tenant, and frankly, we are fed up. We have tried contacting the local Section 8 office to try and find out how to proceed with evicting the tenant. Unfortunately, after 3 weeks and over 6 phone messages, we have yet to get any response from them. 

How do we proceed from here?

@Devin Haertling , Thanks for the advice Devin. We will try structuring it like that for the next round of showings. 

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

@Dan Krupa , We are going to be self managing the duplex. And the new house we are moving into is  Located near Baytown.

@Michelle Krupa , We are currently looking in the Raytown market because it is an area we are familiar with. We would be interested in properties in other areas (lees summit, independence, grandview, etc), but we don't know the numbers in those areas as well.

Jonathan Schneider , thanks for the offer! We would be looking into buying houses that require renovations and trying to use the "Brrrr" strategy.

Thanks for the input everyone! I think that when we show the property again we are going to set up an open house type of showing. Do you guys tell each person "this is an open house showing so multiple people will be there." Or do you just let them figure that out when they get there? Fortunately, one of the two people that showed up for their appointment is potentially a keeper. We still need to run background checks, credit check, verify their income, and call previous landlords. However, so far they have been polite, on time, respectful, organized, and have cleared all the application screening questions.

Thanks for the suggestions! I have another question for you guys. Do you have people pay an application fee before you show them the property? I felt that it was silly to charge them before they even see the property. What happens if they decide the unit doesn't work for them? Am I being too "nice"?

And Mackaylee, thanks for the welcome!