All Forum Posts by: Thomas Williamson

There are some places in Atlanta that you couldn't give me a home in, and Clayton County is one of those places.  Too much drama in that county, and way too much crime.  

@Rashad S. 

Just curious, where might those 30,000 turn keys with minimal work be found in Atlanta? Are they coming straight from the MLS, and are they mostly inside the perimeter (ITP)? I used to see lots of deals like that outside the perimeter in 2010 and 2011, but not any longer at that price. I'd like to hear your thoughts.

My wife just received her license and signed with Keller Williams.  They certainly weren't the cheapest and she's not looking to be an agent.  She got her license primarily to sell our properties, and make offers on ones that we want to buy.  The reason she ultimately signed with them, is this particular office has been super impressive with the in person and on line training they are offering her, and that she has already taken.  She was assigned at "training officer" for lack of a better term, and she meets with him once a week.  He's really pushing her out of her comfort zone (which is what she needs) and is giving her good advice.  We chose this particular office because it was very apparent everyone there was super professional, and very experienced.  They run they're own real estate school out of the same building.  Can't say anything negative about them.  

Man that's awesome!  

Just when you think you've seen it all......

@Bill S. gotcha, it was the first step that would be very concerning to me of viewing the unit on a lockbox, and then filling out application info.  It's funny the above thread really puts a spotlight on this issue.  It's been a great discussion, and I think everyone is gaining new insight as to best practices in dealing with potential applicants these days.  You just don't know who's really an applicant, and who's a criminal looking to use your house for profit. 

@Karen Margrave I just read that post and thought about this thread.  Here's the post that started the other thread.  I'll put the link up for that one.

"So I had one of my rentals on craigslist with a lockbox on the front door. I've been using lock boxes for 10 years. I had a rental on the market for a few weeks giving out the code to people to look inside. Yesterday I went to the house and there were clothes and boxes inside the house. A few hours later 2 people showed up with a uhaul truck full ready to move in. Could have been a disaster. They said they wired $1400 to a man in ohio and they had a fake lease on MY HOUSE. anybody else got a craigslist nightmare..."

Kris Haskins

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/140802-craigslist-scam-finally-got-me-good?page=1

Be careful with this.  I can tell you from personal experience with two different counties in metro Atlanta.  The tenants did not follow the clear guidelines set forth in the lease for early termination.  Both cases ended up in magistrate court due to the tenants moving out without paying rent on time, so eviction process was started to obtain a writ of possession in both cases.  Two different judges told me they really didn't care what the lease said as far as early termination, and what the tenant was supposed to do in a case of early termination.  The deposits were ordered back to the tenants, and they only had to pay half of month of rent in both cases since they ultimately vacated prior to the 15th of the month.  The reason I filed for eviction in both those cases was that the tenants were in the process of moving out, (had not given proper notice per the lease agreement) and had not paid the rent on time as per the lease agreement.  I wanted to protect myself and not just take the property back given the circumstances, so I sought a writ of possession.  

My best advice is get whatever cost you can workout with the tenant, but if you get too ambitious it might backfire on you.  Hope that makes sense, good luck.  

I always give the contractor the tenants name and contact number in hopes they can work out a time and day that works for everyone.  If they can't ultimately I meet the contractor there.  

@Bill S. I hear what you're saying.  I would preface my comment by saying if it works for you, then fantastic.  I just find it absolutely amazing though that people think that by simply interviewing someone over the phone, and having them answer a few questions over the phone sight unseen, makes them trustworthy.  I've  met hundreds of career criminals who were masters of lying in person face to face.  So I do chuckle when people think that's a great strategy.  I would never turn over an asset I just put thousands and thousands of my hard earned money into, or worse yet someone else's property, to someone just because they were good at answering a few questions over the phone.  Even if they provide a pic of a drivers license, how do you know that the license isn't fake, or someone else's that was stolen.  Not all criminals are stupid.  The thought of that just amazes me.