All Forum Posts by: Amy Verges

This role in residential property management requires someone who is reliable, positive, and confident with excellent problem solving skills. This is a great opportunity to learn about real estate, specifically investment property. Apply here: https://www.surveylegend.com/s/2zpb

@Jared Lomker I may be biased, but I think Baton Rouge is a great long term buy & hold market.  Overall we're very stable: we won't have huge year over year appreciation (or huge year over year depreciation for that matter), but historically rents and values slowly but surely continue to rise.  It's very competitive right now though, so requires patience and intentionality to find deals.  

Where in NC are you looking?  I've never bought outside of Louisiana, but if I did, I think I'd look at North Carolina.  I specifically like the Raleigh area, but I've heard it's tough to find rental deals there.

@Jared Lomker No problem at all!  I just finished up my first flip at the end of last year and now it's under contract and set to close in February. Fingers crossed that goes through as planned and it'll be a great start to the year.  Hope your 2021 kicks off strong too!

Here's a great a BiggerPockets article with 20 questions to ask when interviewing a property manager: 20 Questions to ask a property manager  I don't necessarily agree with all of the advice given in that article, but it presents a ton of great things to think about and discuss with a potential manager.

Yep! It was Prime + 1 when I did one last year, but it looks like they may have gone up to Prime + 1.5 for non-owner occupieds now. Still not bad considering how low the rates are right now.

Originally posted by @Jeremy Bailey:

@Tina Tsysh hit the nail on the head. Sounds like a cash out refi would be a great option in this scenario. I would recommend checking out PenFed. I was able to utilize a HELOC on investment property to do a cash out refinance (they used the line of credit to pay off the existing mortgage, then I had access to the remaining balance).

I just saw someone recommend Stessa on here and it looks like a good option (I've only done the demo so far though).

@Julie Hartman gave some awesome advice and questions to ask yourself. I own a property management company as well, but will still sometimes tell property owners that it may be a better fit for them to manage their own property vs using a PM. However, it only makes sense in very specific circumstances: when the owner has a flexible schedule (flexibility/ability to go to the property, answer phone calls, and more, all at the drop of the hat), plus has the right personality, experience, AND desire to deal with landlord tasks (scheduling & conducting showings, knowledge to avoid Fair Housing issues, telling a tenant "no" when necessary, going through the eviction process, etc). 

That being said, as an investor, I totally see the value in self-managing to "learn by doing." It just comes along with the risk/possibility of making some expensive mistakes. Good luck with your first investment!

Hi @Justin Sellars , I'm here in Baton Rouge, LA and would be happy to talk to give you some insight into our market. It's a little more competitive here than usual, but a great long term buy & hold market (in my opinion & experience). Shoot me a message if you want to schedule a time to talk.

@Russell Brazil  Ahh that makes sense. I had heard about them getting their license in most states, but didn't put two & two together.

@JD Martin I think their value is in the information and users. If they lose that, the site will no longer have value and will die. Advertising is how they make money. Facebook is a great example: Zuckerberg has gone on record stating that he'll never charge his users. He understands that the users and their data are what makes his company valuable. As long as that value exists, advertisers will pay. Zillow just has two sets of users, but in my opinion, it doesn't make sense to charge either of them if it's at risk of losing them.  BUT I could always be wrong. They've certainly created a flourishing successful business, so maybe it'll end up being the right move for them.

Side note: iTunes made a killing coming in as the paid version of Napster. Same with Spotify once streaming became an option.