All Forum Posts by: Steve Graves

I use erentpayment and cozy. Makes it easy. They get a notification that rent is due a few days before the first and if they're late on the rent they are automatically charged the late fee leaving you to not have to ask them for the rent and late fees. I used to collect rent and it was a real pain because some renters would give me the run around. Now I don't need to get involved until they're a few days late over the late period.

Buy now and fix the PMI later. Take all the rent you make on the property and pay down the principal until you can refinance and eliminate the PMI. You can keep on analyzing and possibly miss out on the opportunity. We all make mistakes on our first properties. Just how it is, the school of hard knocks. If you can get into the property and start cash flowing and you like the property I say go ahead and buy it. Like you said, you need a place to live any way, why pay someone else's mortgage.

This is a business and you need to make money. If they're a good tenant then they'll be reasonable and pay the $75.00 raise in rent. Do not get into a haggling match with them. Let them know it's going up $75.00 regardless and they're more than welcome to take 60 days and find another place to live.

If the code violations aren't too bad and removing the lien isn't too expensive that wouldn't be a problem for me. If the code violations are mold issues and/or asbestos then you're talking about a very expensive fix to remove the violation and I would make my offer accordingly.

This might be a long shot but I'm hoping there's some investors on here with property on the Colorado River in the  Mohave Valley. 

I'm looking at a riverfront property and am interested in using it for Air BnB or VRBO, etc. 

Trying to find out if it's good for year round or is it only busy during the warmer months? Are you getting a good rate for them during the winter months? How much do you think a 2+2 with its own dock would rent for by the day?

Any info will be greatly appreciated.

I have a tenant that has been paying late for 6 months and they end up paying the late fee so it really doesn't bother me. Now if they were lousy tenants and not taking care of the house I'd give them a 3 day pay or quit without hesitation. Every tenant is different.

@Christopher Surber  Over the years I've read many real estate books and have learned a lot from them but one book has always stuck with me. He talks in down to earth terms that make sense and easy to understand. I now own 8 doors and looking for another deal as soon as I sell the rehab I'm working on. The book is:  https://www.amazon.com/Start-Small-Profit-Real-Est...

Hope it's ok to post this book, if not I'll remove it but it's a great book and worth the read for new investors.

Whatever you decide to do, plan on doubling your budget and doubling the time you think it will take to do the full rehab. The best way to learn how this all works is to not analyze forever. Figure out how you can get control of the property with the least amount of money. You'll definitely make mistakes, we all do but they will be lessons you won't repeat on your next one. I have rehabbed a few properties and I keep them as rentals but that's just the path I've chosen. 

@Manolo D. , I don't know where you bank at but I use Chase and it works for me so I don't know why your bank doesn't allow using that method for a deposit. It's money going in. Now if it's money going out, it's a totally different story :-)

The best solution is to give them your bank account number without the last four digits. If you use a major bank then chances are they have one close to them. All they do is give them that account number and deposit the rent payment. I've used this method many times and just used it today because one of my  tenants owed me a balance on one of the utilities. Really easy for them and you get your money asap.