All Forum Posts by: Amy A.

Make sure you check their credit and previous landlord references.  Googling them is good too.  Make sure they actually lived where they say they have.  The credit report will verify previous addresses.  It might be okay.  Several of my friends have moved to NC even though they have no connections there.  It makes me want to buy an apartment complex there...

"Can you rent to my brother/cousin/friend who just got out of jail/fired/evicted?"

I can get a non paying tenant out in about a month and a half for less than $300. Just follow the law to the letter.

This is a very good question!  My goal is to purchase a property that's large enough to have on-site management and maintenance staff, but with the liquidity and net worth required by lenders I don't know if I'll ever get there without partners or a syndication.  I guess I could be considered successful because I can live off my rentals without other income, but I'm still involved in the day-to-day management and maintenance and don't want to do this forever.  I've tried giving a few units to off-site management, but it didn't go well.

My dad is executive director of the manufactured housing assn. Connect with me and I'll connect you with him.

For flips, if it's an old system (you can find out at the town office or maybe online - some states publish engineered plans online) and you're buying at auction so can't inspect, assume it needs to be replaced and set your price accordingly. 

If it's a property you want to flip and you can get it inspected, definitely have it done by somebody who will put a camera down it and into the leach field.  

As for rentals, I have a building on a septic system and it's a pain.  Tenants plug it up all the time.  Since it's shared, I can't pinpoint who it was who flushed the cat litter/paper towels/ big wads of Charmin, etc.  Mine has a filter to protect the leach field, which gets clogged by coffee grounds and especially cat litter. 

Yes, the clogs are easy to fix yourself, but very gross.  There better be great cash flow to make it worth it!  You really don't want to know that your tenant had corn for dinner...

Since you want input from those who survived a recession, I'll tell you that I thrived during the last recession.  When I bought multi-units, I listened to my own calculations and not to the real estate agents who told me that "cap rate doesn't matter" or to buy for appreciation, not cash flow.  When I started flipping properties, I listened to my calculations and not to my friends, who thought I was crazy to buy houses (price your flip to be the best finished product on the market in that price range and it will sell).  The bottom line is to stick to the fundamentals when everybody else is acting irrationally and you should be okay. 

We also must consider inflation during a recession.  We didn't see inflation in the last one, but it's pretty common to have high inflation during recessions.  The value of the cash we're hoarding to buy the good deals that come along during a recession could be eroded by inflation.  Government numbers don't say we have high inflation, but kids in high school are making $11 per hour working in fast food jobs, bad handymen are getting $45 per hour (and are in high demand), and I just paid $7 for a tube of toothpaste...  I don't have the answer, but I'm putting the issue out there.

The reason they want to rent from you is usually because they have a problem with their credit/income/landlord references.  I explain to them that by law I must have the same rental criteria for everybody so that I don't get in trouble with fair housing.  I tell them that sometimes they do audits or send "secret shoppers" and that I could get in trouble if I make an exception for anybody.  "You don't want me to go to jail, do you?"

Google Corey Scott. He did 2 of mine with what used to be Merrimack mortgage, but I think it changed names.

I want the tenants to think I'm tough enough to evict them on Christmas - but I wouldn't really.