All Forum Posts by: Steve Smith

Good start. For the next, I could argue to do your own management... MUCH better, but you need to learn how. Also, rent out on a two or three year term (with option to cancel), and with good tenant selection, you'll minimize tenant damage.

And next time around (if the marker softens a bit) consider seller financing on your next house.

Good start!

So, you're going to buy and resell with terms? Gotta ask why? Gut feeling there's better things to do.

I've never shown a rental or sale home to someone. I always use a lock box and give them the combo after I've qualified them. They have to fill out a reasonable app with info, SS no. and a copy of their drivers license first. Never had a problem with that. I do change the lock box combo occasionally.

Interesting ideas. Best to find one with an ADU already built in, or very easily converted, preferably separate entrance and parking. Another option is look in the USF area for a larger home with extra BRs and a rec room and rent to students. A bit more hassle but you'll probably have a better tenant and much easier to collect the rent (semester to semester in advance).

Live there a year, and buy another one for yourself, and keep the other for income. Buy another the next year... etc.

Goal would be to get 10 houses free and clear, and get out of living with a tenant asap. 

You'll want to have YOUR lease with all your tenants, so you need to get all of them on your lease. May take some time, but easily done if you offer some incentives. However, having the lease signed gives you control over how they behave, and would address the unregistered car. And you can have a long term lease with the option that either party can cancel it in 30 days notice, perhaps with some conditions.

My tenants know to fix their own plumbing problems, it's in my lease. And I give them a discount for doing that. Most comply and I never hear from them. I'm not in the business of doing maintenance on their rental when they are suppose to to it. You must train your tenants properly or they will walk all over you.
If it's an issue that I'm suppose to cover (spelled out in the lease) I have my handy man jump on it NOW. Personally, I don't do maintenance work... their are handy men, tradesmen that will do it much cheaper than I will. I make money buying and collecting rent, not doing low cost work.
Over time, I reward the good tenants and get rid of the bad ones.

Dylan,

You want to find the guy who can make the decision to sell, and/or the guy who will be responsible if there's issues with it. Make calls and ask questions, and keep digging until you find someone that can help. Then point out that you're in the real estate business and perhaps point out the negatives to keeping the property that you could solve. Sometimes you can get the persons name, but hard to contact them, so write them. Send a pix of the house showing it's disrepair and that it's a risk for code compliance, vagrants and other issues. It takes some effort, but does work.

Originally posted by @Lorenzo J Uribe:

@Lieren Schuette We save our money in a whole life policy. The life insurance portion is good but the reason we own a few is for the cash value and the cash accumulation with a guaranteed interest of 5%. Way better than any bank or saving institution and less risky/volatile than the stock Market.

Would love to give you or anyone else more info.

Yes would like more info.... thanks.

I've funded a few short term (year or less) investor projects, for other investors... not quite hard money but well secured and with people I know, but a bit of work in setting it up. The return (around 10%) isn't bad but not instantly liquid. Had to scramble several months ago when I found a deal on some oil leases, and would have liked a few 100k more.

Still don't have a great answer.

So, what's an ADU?

For beginners, I could argue strongly to get some education first, and the BP Pro is a good start and cheap enough. Aim for a strategy of buying and renting single family homes, long term. Go to a seminar or two that teach the, and ONLY go to ones that the guru has done what he's teaching and has good references. And expect to pay in the $300 a day for a course like this. Also, get a few good books that teach the same. You need to know the following before buying house no. 1:
How to buy right, and hold the property in a trust.
How to buy the house that attracts good tenants.
How to finance your house.
How to manage and rent your house.

Buy one a year or so. After a few years you'll be armed with a LOT more knowledge, and during this time, attend a few more courses. And eventually you'll want to learn how to structure your deal, how establish entities, tax plan, better protection strategies, etc.

I'd avoid mutli family, commercial, out of state, land, slums, and real expensive stuff. You want your house to look like a good beginner home, or a step better.

That LAST thing you want is a failure on your first investment.

Just looking for info on folks that are providing professional services to RE investors that may not be available locally. Just finished a webinar with Anderson Business Advisors that have a program for RE and stock investors. Membership based... $3K to get in and $35 a month for unlimited questions to the pros. They have a library of info on different subjects, specialized info on specific items like structuring entities, trusts, asset protection, tax, etc. They also provide professional services at additional costs. Kinda like a all inclusive program for the RE investor. Looking into it, there are always goods and bads, but overall, looks interesting for the folks that want an all inclusive approach. The founder also has Infinity Investing which offers similar.

Are there other competing organizations out there? Would rather find one where one could pick and choose, so if you only need one item like asset protection, you could get that (realizing there's a lot of overlap).

Often hard to get the nitty gritty and the best way to handle RE investing issues.