All Forum Posts by: Curt Smith

Not all state/counties make it easy for data providors to pull all the types of scenarios;  late on taxes, liens, divorce etc etc.  BUT of the tools I have trialed and or used I found propstream.com to be very good.   I repeat not all couties have the devorce data, or late on taxes etc.

Try a free trial and test your counties.

BTW, the harder it is to get data the fewer soliciations those sellers will be getting.   ;(  So going to the court house yourself for probate is a good thing.

@Mel Park Brandon rush framed it very well.

I self manage 35 doors few calls per month. I'm on vacation now, no calls.

But im very good at PM and rehabbing a house ti bullet proof standards, and have a queue of contractors I just sms... :)

I strong suggest yiu and others read Landlirding on autopilot. Fantastic pm training.

For a buy and hold business model read my paper linked off my bp profile, hiw to buy a bullet proof portfolio.

Don't self pm if you aren't going to decide to do it well and get ti be good at it! Ie the 10k hours of effort principal. Taje training, join your local REIA and find local landlords to learn from David Tilney is a national trainer (google) I've taken as well, very goid.

HI Kuba, I hope this doesn't get taken down.  I probably will.  BP wants promotions to be in the marketplace.  I agree that BP's site is not the best structured and it makes more sense for you to post in the marketing forum...  But BP is what it is.

I looked over the pricing subpage and the per RVM/SMS costs.  They are ok and the monthly for the middle package is ok too.   I have propstream.com ($99/mo), skip trace $25/mo, reireply.com (SMS etc $99/mo),  and a few other tools that are another $99/mo or more.   An easy $400 / mo in total.    Oh yes, about $600/mo for FB PPC ads.  ;(

I can see how reikit might reduce the number of subs/mo..   

The key to campaigning is lead managment, CRM.   Reireply IMHO is not good at all.  Hard to search, hard to add new fields.  The worst is the difficulty in searching on in field text or fields not in their std search.  ;(  Propstream's CRM is non-existent.  You mainly are just creating "lists" from very sophisticated and wide and deep data.  Propstream IMHO has the best and most extensive data about each address to build searches for that create lists.   Then postcards or RVM but no dynamic fields except on post cards.  So what good is a static RVM or believe it or not a static email?

What CRM features does reikit have?   I did not see any kind of write up off the site?   You might create a youtube channel and upload lots of videos.

Best to you.

Hi Landlords, Search the forums for other petscreening.com treads. I'm not going to cover old info or even what petscreening.com does. I have to share and help you re how to thwart fake claiming of ESA, support animals!!! FYI the HUD came out with a support animal guidance about 2 yr ago attempting to address the problem of fake claims. I read the HUD guidance I felt it was just mush, no fixing the fake animal problem. It said in a fuzzy way the tenants have to prove their animal is a real animal. So its upon us housing providers (the new and better name for our profession then the negative conotation of landlord) to have our own systems to screen pets!

My rental ad says, my lease says, I say during screening;   $300 per pet fee non refundable, per pet rent $25/mo.  No one complains, unless the rare attempt to claim emotional support animal.   Everyone signs my pet agreement built into the lease, even if no pets at move in.  Says;  if you get pets during tenancy you will owe:  $300 pet fee non refundable, $25/pet/mo additional rent.   This gets it on paper if the mystery pet shows up after move in. 

My ad in the requireements at the bottom;   All pets AND animals are screened at;  petscreening.com

This makes me look "professional", not a push over, you won't get away with claiming fake support animal.   My goal is to have the sleezy tenants not even contact me.  Ideally a good ad, will turn away the unqualified and attract good and qualified tenants.  I use zillow.com and I agree 99% of the initial email contacts haven't read the ad.  I reply via text looking up their phone and ask them to go back and read the requirements and I paste a URL back to the zillow ad..

Read up on petscreening.com, its free for landlords.

During the screening process I say I take pets, do you have pets?   I prefer folks with pets, they stay longer.   This family unit had 1 small dog.   But it didn't come out till the end of qualifying and me accepting them and calculating their move in costs that she was claiming this small dog was a support animal.  I say nothing.  I replied;  please fill out your support animal screening request at petscreening.com  and I stop texting. 

She comes back 2 days later asking the progress of them getting approved to get this place.  I say;  well you didn't complete the support animal screening at petscreening.com they and I need a copy of your support animal prescription from your Dr.   AND the vacination papers from your Vet.  (good pet owners do all the right things for their pets like get anual shots etc).

A day later she says she can't find her prescription, I say $300 pet fee non refundable and $25/mo added to the rent.  She said fine.  

==== Bottom line

By me presenting a professional process front to all tenants, (treat everyone the same), had a process THEY had to jump through.  Use a professional pet screening org (petscreening.com) and did not back down when she didn't finish (and get petscreening's approval) the support animal application.   This issue salvaged a good family and application that I would have blown off as not wanting to deal with applicants trying to claim fake support animals.  They moved in, all are happy.

Put in the bottom of your ad, under the "requirements" section;

- All pets and support animals must be screened by petscreening.com,  Pets are $300 fee per pet non-refundable,  $25/mo extra rent per pet.  No "bad dogs" in the insurance bad dog list.   List your weight restriction if you must.  I don't.  The best bread in the unverse are labradors and they can be 65#, so I don't have limits.  I've never had a bad damage problem.   The pet pee in the carpet was reason to keep the deposit and replace with an upgrade of LVT, which was needed anyway.  LVT is bullet proof and pee proof.

I view the advantages of taking folks with pets where they are trapped in my rental since so few housing providors take pets, especially big pets, especially pets on the insurance bad dog list.  Yes I take huskies, germans etc.  Even a few pits.   I meet every dog, if tries to nip, I say no.  I don't take dogs that bark insesantly either.  You can tell when you meet them.

There's NO reason why you should be frustrated being screwed by tenants claiming fake support or service animals!!!   Pets are a huge source of profit for us, not the fee but mainly in the longer stays and less hassels.   IE pet owners in my business have been very self reliant, and problem free, stay along time.

@Christian Rojmar Last year I had a couple of tenants lose jobs to the covid and said they couldn't make renthat they couldn't make rent I wrote up a rent rent deferral contract just make it up it's fine and I had them sign what rent they can pay everyone can pay at least 50 bucks no one can pay 0.. Then have them sign a rent a deferal contract that you say you can only allow it to go for at most 3 months And then she's gotta come up to full rent and start making payments on the rears.

You have to come up with a program where they agree they owe rent and they agree to how much they can rent pay rent today and at all non paid rent needs to be repaid through arearss payments in the future.

@Kyler J Sloan To me the question isn't offer a Jeep or not it's to closer night it's still not too late to back out.

A dangerous access rental is nothing but problems you'll be called at 2:00 a.m. every other occupancy and occupancy and the local tow truck driver better be 10 minutes away. I'm serious a dangerous to access STR will be nothing but problems.

@Sandra Helena Holtz Ivarsson  Try this punch list to find owners:

- google their name + address

- search in face book;  name + city

- Use free:  whitepages.com and search name + city + state.  Call the found numbers.  Follow relatives given and call those folks.

- Subscribe to the various "skip trace services".    I have and found premium.whitepages.com to give more consistent better phone numbers.    beenverified.com, peoplefinders.com, premium.whitepages.com and others but there's there a limit to subbing to these services theres only so much underlying data.  Any more then these given;  will just be giving y9ou the same phone numbers.

Some owners you just can't find.  But skip tracing and calling and calling possibile relatives you can find most owners.

Some are dead, in jail, sick in the hospital, in nursing homes etcetc.

Hi, for a rental business strategy jump start for everyone, I wrote up how we run our rental business.   Read the file linked off my BP profile 1st paragraph;  how to buy a bullet proof rental portfolio.

Join your local REIAs, for local boots on the ground investors, buy and holders to learn from.

At some point some folks create side businesses to create tax advantages and some to reduce costs;

- An in house property management co. Typically an LLC single or multimember (husband/wife etc) and you send in the IRS form to be taxed as an s-corp. You signn a PM agreement between your holding co (or yourself) and the PM co for a fee. That fee pays you a W2, an a K-1 to your 1040 or like me, I pulled all my Schedule E (rentals) off my 1040 up into a partnership LLC, multi member / husband-wife, where I file a 1065 and k-1s to my now nearly stripped of REI 1040. If you are only managing your OWN rentals you do not need a licensed agent/broker on staff.

- a property maintenance / construction co. Typically an LLC single or multi member, you'd also want tyhis taxed as an s-corp. Folks do this to reduce maint costs by employing (w2) handymen that just work on your properties, build, etc. At some point you can soak up excess capacity by offering to do maint on local investors/friends properties too. Now you have more income not just reduced expense to your holding companies ownership of rentals.

- I really don't hear of many getting licensed as a way to save money. I know flippers who are licensed who still off load to another listing agent. IMHO I don't view getting licensed as very useful to REI. You have to pay to hang your license somewhere, pay for CE credits/yr etc etc. But some do I don't see the value.

=== BTW the rumor of huge rental losses to be used to negate gains else where in your tax return needs to be studied. My portfolio of rentals all here in the South East (lower purchase price, hgiher rents, lower mortgages) have all been hugely profitable. No losses except for last year in 8 yrs of filing. Huge gains! No losses to be used elsewhere. I stopped claiming RE Professional, there's IRS/tax disadvantages if you get audited being RE Pro. My loose last year came from the same rental income (no covid drops), but a huge rehab at the end of year without any new income from that new rental. I did have some lower STR income and higgher expenses from the STR too. But normally my rentals contribute alot of income net on my tax returns. Owning older houses that need expensive upkeep, high purchase price for depreciation, hiigh mortgage and bearly cash flowing rent iis how I can guess you'd own rentals that on paper loose money. Most of us in the SE and I'll guess you in KS have difficulty loosing money owning starter homes y9ou rent to blue collar and DSCR >1.5 ideally 1.7. You WILL generate great returns when you can buy at DSCR >1.5 then it goes up with rent raises (mine are 7% to 10% this yr, just mailed them all out).

Best to all.

Update re home365.  I have 1 door on home365, I just got off the phone with one of the main guys here in Atlanta.  My interest in posting back on this thread is to offer general helps for folks considerying any PM.    BTW I am in a master mind like group wheree there's a few Atlanta area PMs I can refer.  Connect/PM me.

In general this is what I'm hearing AND yoou are hearing this in the news too.   Every growing org has staffing problems.  They are quiting, can't hire good folks, the hard work takes a while to learn, then they quit.   etc etc.  Heard a hair raising bad stories on NPR about summer camp staffing, not showing up, the kids show up, no staff, food can't be delivered, staff quits.  Kids are left alone, parents are called on a days notice to come pick them up...

Not too different in PM land, or running a restaurant etc etc.   These difficult work, but low paid roles are hard to fill right now.

My rambling post is arriving at this;   I'm not going to pull back this house off this PM, but what I just heard, what we hear on trhe news, I honestly can't imagine a single reason to trust putting your valuable and hard worked for rental on any PM,,, except the very very best run and highly established.  They will not do a good job, they are struggling!

What to do?

1) learn how to manage, screen tenants, work with contractors!!!!   You will be well served and as bad as y9ou might be, I'm guessing you won't be worse then todays struggling PMs.  

2) Buy and read BPs landlording, OOS investing books.

3) Join your local REIAs for local landlord support, local contractors.  Find these groups in meetup.org.  Most are on line today.  I'm a member of REIAs in other states.  My local Atl REIAs are on line and have members from around te country who own rentals in Atlanta.

4) Push yourself to be better.  You can't hire folks who care more then you do!!!   As much as you'd like to push something unplessant or difficult onto someone else (for a fee) today, July 2021, are very very unusual, difficult times for service orgs.  You are very likely to be better then the "hired help" maybe into 2022.  When we stop hearing of folks up and quiting and employers saying they are well staffed with productive workers, only then would I hire a PM.

Unless you have some longer term relationship with the PM and have insights into their internal staffing and capacity, I would not "try" someone new or growing.   My maintenance ticket has gone for 30 days no notice to me or a contractor to get the work done.  My attempts to pay failed... Their new portal is,,,, new.  LOL why did they turn it on then?

Even more so today;  only use trusted resources;  contractors, CPA, PM,  attorneys.  Find a grouip of experts and get referals from local experienced folks.

@Jackson Long and others

I quit my day job buying rentals but it was but it was here in Atlanta you're in Atlanta where I can both get solid solid cash flow and appreciation. 300 plus per door or after PITITI and since I rehab my maintenance costs per year is nearly 0 and because I bought 3 bedroom 2 bath houses in decent neighborhoods close to a freeway I have 0 vacancy as well and I self manage 35 doors some remote that I self learned and some off BP.

Today those through rent raises I'm making I'm making over 500 plus perdoor and you can live off 500 per door.!

:)

But I agree with everything that's been said about buying rough houses in rough areas with low rents. Cheap does not make a deal and Jackson has done a great job with the math that cheap low rent high turnover costs poor jobs is hard to make money.

For a solid business model on how to buy a great rental portfolio go to my BP profile and read the file called how to buy a bulletproof rental portfolio. Today I have to admit you can't buy any good school districts because you can't afford it so remove school districts from my list and focus on 3 bed 2 bath decent neighborhood close to a freeway where the rent is middle blue collar basically basically $25 an hour combined income times 2 people working times 40 king times 40 hours week times 4 / 4 is what the rent should be and an Atlanta that's around 1500 a month.