All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Wendell De Guzman I wonder if that's really why he sells a lot of houses. Or is it because he prices them correctly and markets well? Could be a combination of all of the above, a well priced, well staged home doesn't need a lot of extra incentives to sell. IMHO, there are 3 major factors to selling a home: location, price and condition. You can only control 2 of these and if the other one isn't good, price will overcome.

Again, congratulations on a great marketing effort! It worked out well for the seller!

@Dave Charron could you work out a lease with the second one with an option to purchase when yours sells? Or make an offer contingent on your existing home selling? Contingencies in my market are hard for sellers to accept because homes sell so fast, but maybe they are more acceptable in New York?

@Dylan M. in our area, we don't really have to price homes below market for them to sell. If we are expecting multiple offers, we usually just post in MLS the deadline for submitting offers and when we will present them to the seller. If a home is in good shape and is priced correctly, it will get offers and nowadays will exceed the asking price.

@Wendell De Guzman As a broker, a 4% commission (or bonus) does nothing to entice me to sell a home. In fact, it makes me more uncomfortable because I feel like I am being biased and not acting on the best interest of my buyer. It's not about the money, it's about finding the best home for my buyer . I don't usually even look at the commission being offered until I write up an offer.

Congratulations on a great open house though! I hope you didn't spend all of the profit on that car and the real estate commissions.

@Karen Margrave I don't know if I would actually rent to tenants doing the communal living (too much potential drama), but I don't have an issue purchasing something that was previously used for that purpose as long as it can be repositioned into single family or multi family housing. Now some people on BP talk about renting to college students by the room, in fact my son is renting a room in a house near his university and it works out very well. But there is a "house dad" that lives there to make sure everyone gets along and respects the property. Without a care-taker, I think things could get out of hand.

@Stephen Bjorgan I am a broker in the Dallas area and I would say our MLS is ancient and anything but user friendly. It doesn't even work on my MAC. I have to use a virtual windows app to run it. And forget using it on my ipad or iphone. Even the data display on my website is bad.

Please develop something that is user friendly and more up to date....you might get rich :)

@Karen Margrave I am not an expert and am very new to investing, but I am currently under contract on a MF property that was used for that very purpose (more for people out of jobs being supported by their local church and the elderly), but the same premise. There were no actual rents or expenses for me to review. I had to do my own market research of the area (which I work in as a broker, so I feel very confident in my numbers, otherwise I probably wouldn't have purchased it). I am hoping mine is marketable otherwise I am making a very costly mistake. There is a shortage of available rentals in the area, especially in the price range I am targeting, so I feel pretty confident in my decision to purchase. It will require some marketing and repositioning but I don't think I will have any problems finding tenants. Ask me again in 6 months...

@Colleen F. has a good point. You don't need to run a credit check on every applicant. Just the ones that look good to you on paper. I would even check their references, employment and past rental history first. Then if that all checks out, run the credit check and let them pay for it online. That way, you don't have to worry about returning the money to those who don't get processed.

@Joseph Weisenbloom yes, I was talking about the TREC forms. Are you also an agent?

I would document by just keeping records somewhere for yourself, in case you are ever asked in the future. You can just tell the tenant you didn't accept their application and why (if they ask).

I don't have any idea about smartmove, but you can ask the tenant to pay for the credit check themselves on the site. Maybe that is a good option instead of taking the application fee up front. I've never seen one more than $40.

@Jason Prendergast I am a real estate broker and own several rental properties. I don't manage my own properties. I think my property manager is worth EVERY penny! I like having a "middle man" because I am too nice :) I feel sorry for people when their dog dies or they get all of their teeth knocked out in a car wreck (true story) and can't pay on time.

Also, on a more serious note, my property manager has processes in place to handle tenant screening, rent collection, maintenance calls, late payments, walk-thrus, etc. And, she is very knowledgable about tenant/landlord laws and attends meetings to continually stay on top of it.