All Forum Posts by: George Smith

To each his own. To me, writing that in the listing that you have pets in my area  would attract far too many phone calls that I'm not spending time answering In which I then later tell we don't allow pets. 

I don't see how listing a no pet policy  and then through your phone screening asking them how many pets and what type do they have doesn't accomplish the same thing...without the additional 50 phone calls per unit. I've had so many people easily just tell me what type they have without even thinking of it. 

It could be very tough convincing her. My wife can see the big picture(fortunately) but it also helps to explain some of the shorter term benefits. I would use some of the cash earned early on to take vacations, weekend getaways, or small gifts where she could see the benefits it could bring. With that being said....I'm not sure there are too many women that would be comfortable house hacking multiple times prior to purchasing a single family home. They want to get settled in a place they can truly see as their own and be comfortable. As mentioned, you could let her add a few perks which I realize affects your bottom line but gets in the door on a 4 unit. Consider it a cost of doing business. 😀 Good luck!

If you don't want Pets are you saying to say that you do allow pets in the listing to find out what they have? Or was that a typo?

In what time period have you received these 40 responses? It could mean that your rents are too low. Did you check craigslist, rentometer.com, or a real estate agent? Make sure you verify multiple sources to get a more accurate market rent. I would also start out but creating a list of minimum qualification criteria(which you place in your ad) which can automatically weed out some of these responses. Then prescreen them over the phone. Ask them open ended questions such as what are you looking for in a home/apt? Why are you looking to move? When are you looking to move? What type and how many dogs or cats do you hAve? And who smokes in the family and how often? Do not ask them yes/no questions regarding pets and smoking if you do not allow them on your property. Also, run down your min. Qualifications regarding income required, credit score, etc. There are so many articles on this forum regarding screening including the guide to screening your tenants by Brandon. Use it. If you'd like to talk about the system I use when placing tenants, private message me and we can connect.

If you don't, you'll be getting a lot of calls. The way I see it is what damage can they do with it? It's not like leaving your tenant a mower that he/she can cut their foot off with.

Im currently shifting from a buy and hold to flipping and trying to create a physical filing system.  Outside of the typical folders: Funding, Purchase, Contractor, Schedule, Rehab Receipts, Materials, Comps, Sale, would anyone be willing to share whats worked for them in the past?

Thank you

I just purchased it 3 to 4 days ago. I did run the numbers from a previous spreadsheet on the last rehab into this one to make sure everything calculated correctly which it did. On top of the great layout and all of the checklists and reports...I had a few questions and Dave responded to me immediately the same day. You can try it out for free and there's a 14 day moneyback guarantee. So there is no risk.

I've recently opened an LLC and I'm curious how other investors handle their mail. Their is the obvious choice of a box at the ups store but does anyone use a mail forwarding service instead? Thanks

Not saying it can't be done, but if you're not partnering up with someone experienced, it might be tough to get a hard money loan without some kind of down payment. You could also borrow from family/friends which I wouldn't risk. Otherwise, I would save up enough to get 3.5% down fha loan with 3-4% of home value for reserves.

You have to check with your local portfolio lender/bank. They will typically issue a line of credit for anywhere between 70-90% LTV which means if your mortgage is in the amount of 257k and your arv is 340k, you're at 75% LTV already. At a 90% LTV, you could go up to 306k leaving you a line of 48k. It all depends on the lending environment and what your local lender can offer. If you can't find a portfolio lender in your area, ask local investors.