All Forum Posts by: Shaun Hunt

That's awesome that you can pick up both places.  I am stuck for a few months or years.  I was able to pick up four houses and a duplex over the past four years. I now owe $700K on a school teacher's salary.  It's tempting to buy another, but I'd better pay down some of that debt.

We were also able to pick up these homes at a great discount.  The last one we picked up was out of our comfort range, but the numbers were able to work out just enough for us to pull the trigger on it.

Do you manage your own properties?  We do.  We take care of all maintenance, including yard work.  It gives us the opportunity to pay our kids and teach them how to work.

I think it would be a good idea to swap ideas and stories.  The only mentors that I have had are books and bigger pockets podcasts.

Cedar City is a wonderful place. 

As of now, rentals can be hard to find. SUU students were/are having a hard time finding a place to rent. 

The helicopter school has added a lot as far as taking up apartments and adding to the economy. I rented to students from Upper Limit Aviation for two years.

I have six units here. I am been lucky enough to have my places full right now.  

I have had a few set backs. The biggest is when a tenant had a SWAT team standoff and burned my home in the process. $65,000 in damage.

A local family is investing millions of dollars into new student housing. The latest is a huge complex at 200 N 300 W.

If you can't buy both sides of the town home for $136, the $196 home sounds better. 

There is a shortage for homes in the 100-200 range. One Realtor had nineteen homes in December and had no problem unloading each of them.

Is there any give on the $196?

Have you had any trouble keeping your other properties filled with tenants?

@Jacob Anderson I am in Cedar City. Let's do lunch in August.

Thanks for the reply.  I'm not sure whether it would or wouldn't benefit me.

It seems like some of the podcasts that I have listened to has members that had property and were property managers.

I did some more looking and it is possible that I would need a realtor's license or even a broker's licence if I wanted to add other properties that weren't my own.

If that's the case, I may not do property management for a few more years.

I have purchased six properties. They have been assigned to my LLC, Hunt Family Properties LLC.

I do my own property management for those properties.

Would it make a difference if I started a property management company and hired myself to manage my own properties? Would it be a wasted effort if I did?

As of now, we pay our kids to collect the rent each month. They are paid through a DBA we started.

Also, unrelated, how do I keep my profile picture from rotating 90 degrees. It will be ok one day, then flipped the next.

Thanks!

@Marcia Maynard The former owners/tenants paid rent for March.  They paid about $830 for March as a pro-rated rent. They ended up buying a house, instead of building. Originally it was going to be for a few months, so I was surprised it happened so quickly. They closed on their house two weeks ago.  

In the mean time, I was able to list the property for rent. I showed the house a few times and settled on leasing it to a lady from out of state. I had to coordinate showings around the tenants schedule.  I didn't get my own set of keys until April 25th.

As we speak, she, the tenant from out of state, is packing up her items and will be heading this way on Thursday, April 28th.

I paid the owner/tenants $300 to buy out their lease and asked that they leave on April 21st. They finished up removing everything Saturday morning, April 23rd. I now had a few days to have the place ready before the 28th. 

I have very little spare time, so I am doing what I can, burning the midnight oil, trying to get it ready without hiring out too much.  

My family and I hit it hard on Saturday.  They had a dog.  We filled a 30 gallon trash can with little presents it left behind. The lawn was mowed, a lot of weeds and trash were removed, enough to fill a fourteen foot trailer.  The purple master bedroom was finished on Monday after two coats of primer and two coats of paint.  One other bedroom was painted and the rest of the house was touched up. The carpets are being cleaned today along with several other things. New blinds have been ordered and I hope to install them tomorrow morning.

We are finding that they had/have mice problems.  I hope it isn't a problem for the new tenant.

What do you do for mice?  I am thinking of placing glue pads and then giving $5 for every mouse that is caught.

This last forty days have been very busy.  A tenant at another rental got arrested and will spend the next few years in jail.  I had to move her stuff out and helped move another tenant in. That tenants job fell through so he had to move back.  I helped him move out.  Another tenant moved in to that spot last Thursday.  I acquired access to this latest house on the same day and I have been trying to get it rent ready before Thursday.  I am pulling 16-18 hour days.  I'm not sure if the family can continue to support that.

Things worked out. The two tenants, mother and daughter, are still in jail and will probably remain there for a few years.

Two beautiful children were removed from their care and sent to live with their dads. It was sad to see.

Turns out there were, again, heavily involved with heroine, perscription and other drug use.

I was able to contact her son. I helped him move their items into storage. It took me a day to pack her items and another afternoon to haul items off.

I really did try to give them the benefit of a doubt. The neighbors informed me of possible drug activity, cops came and cleared them several months ago then next thing I knew was that they were in handcuffs.

It took me some time and effort to get the place ready again. Someone moved in from another city because of a promised job. That family lasted only two weeks. Turns out that the guy who previously had the job, then was promoted and moved to Las Vegas, he didn't like Vegas and wanted his job back. The job was not awarded to my tenant, so he had to pack up and head back to where he came from. I helped him move in and out. :)

It is now rented to a family on a month to month while they build a new house. They started the lease, 4/23/1, a few days ago.

I have had some weird things happen while renting to people, just like everyone else. Just two years ago, one tenant had a issue with his wife so he locked himself up, had a SWAT team standoff then burned the place. $65,000 in damages. That particular tenant was placed by a property manager. I don't know how he passed their check. He has served prison time for doing the same thing in another city.

Once again, thanks for podcast #83! I learned a lot and hope to use it as I build my company.

Tenants just got arrested. I just placed a three days to vacate on the door. I hope to start eviction process asap if they remain in jail.

I wasn't expecting this. I new they had problems in the past, in fact I called the cops on them several months ago. They informed me that tenants were good and were actually acting as informants. Well ,I didn't get the memo that things have changed.

Remind me what needs to happen before I can "move" their belongings. Where do belongings go? Dumpster or storage.

Thanks!

Well, I signed for the house today, it should record tomorrow, 3/4/16. This is my first, of seven, purchase that was FSBO. Yes, a Rwaltor would have helped things go somewhat smoother, however I now know it is possible to make a purchase by myself.

Some of you may have seen Quigley Down Under. The lady he hangs out with had a nickname. Without being too mean, seems like the sellar may have some similar attributes.

I found out today that seller had some interesting conversations with both of those I signed with today. One was my mortgage guy, the other was my title guy. 

All in all, it was a good ride. Buying this house has taught me a few things. One thing that I learned was to Keep Calm and Carry On! 

I am going to allow seller to live in home until they need to be somewhere els. The time changes every time I speak with them. It will be a month to month, with no deposit because that is offensive. I have discounted seller's stay. Market rate could be $1,200, however I will charge $1,000/month starting in May. We had arranged for $960 for this month, but seller wants it prorated for three days. I gave seller five days, instead of three. Holy cow!

I thank everyone for their words of wisdom and ask that you help me out again next time. 

Well, today is Wednesday. The closing deadline was Monday. I think the seller has calmed down a bit and realizes that the delays were not my fault. 

As of now, we were able to get disclosure statements, or something like that, signed on Monday. Then there seems to be rule that I need to have those documents three days, in hand, before I can close.

Looks like we are setting up to sign papers tomorrow and it should fund and record on Friday.

We did add an addendum extending the closing date until March 11th, but it should be done by March 4th, four days after closing deadline.

The seller continues to maintain a lot of stress! I couldn't function like that. 

Plans are to rent the house to them until they build or close on another house. Seller really took offense that I asked for a deposit when she signs lease agreement, then they wanted March pro-rated at a discount. :)

I tried to keep the seller calm. I even quoted from a respose that was written on this post from @David T. "A contract takes the emotion out of a transaction." Seller said it was a slap in the face and I shouldn't question their integrity because she is from the South and is honest........ I shook my head and said to myself "I wonder why I should question your integrity, it may have something to do with you wanting to back out of the contract and relist it for more money after I have put escrow down, paid an appraisal and have many hours invested into this transaction."

I guess I have had worse renters, but that is a different story.

Once again, thanks for all of your advise! I really do enjoy this real estate game. I know I can get better at playing the game by listening and learning from others that know more than me.