All Forum Posts by: Elizabeth S.

Originally posted by Billy Rogers:

From the research I've done in the US I'd say the Midwest all the way down to Texas, basically the central part of the country. The hard part is finding a property manager you trust. I'd research property managers before I would start searching for a property.

Side note: I'm very suspicious of all the promotion Memphis gets on the Real Estate Guys podcast.

I would completely agree with this. I can tell you all day long how awesome of a market I live in but the reality is I couldn't back that with a great property manager. It's a big commitment to trust someone you don't know to take care of something so fragile. I thought about being one....but it's a lot of detail and hassle! haha

Awesome topic. I'm lucky enough to live in a great cash flowing area and there is plenty of room for more investors....be used I'm not buying right now :) Fort Wayne, Indiana. I buy properties for $18,000-$25,000 which typically require $3,000-$5,000 to get them rentable (more maintenance may be needed later but isn't urgent) and rent for $650 a month. Knowing neighborhoods is always important which I guess is the scary part about buying out if town. Indiana is very landlord friendly :) Good luck!!

This is the fun challenge of rentals. IMO, the roof sounds like a must, patching versus whole roof just depends on if you have the $20,000 to do it now. Buying yourself a year isn't all bad if it only costs you a fraction of the price...it's like credit card debt (not ideal but sometimes good to leverage for an investment). Have you gotten multiple quote on the roof? $20,000 seems really high, but I'm from Indiana so everything is cheaper here. I guess the rest of the items fall into: 1. How much money do you have to spend & 2. What are your long term goals It all comes down to money really. If you do the roof and don't have anything left than I would recommend slowly doing the other items over time or trading for services like (whatever you have to offer) for someone to do a little landscaping. Or do storm windows instead of new windows to get buy...do u even use storm windows in Cali?? Probably not. Electrical & plumbing just depend on if the are necessary for safety, they won't cause people to pay more. Kitchen & bath updates....are nice. Again I would need more info about costs and money available to work the puzzle. Have fun!!

I buy more regularly than your average home owner. I know people who are always looking for a good agent (people who aren't investors and who are) Eventually I'm going to sell my personal residence and I'm going to use a realtor. So really its all about networking!!maybe do another article directed toward realtors on how to best serve an investor.

I like it too.

hmmmm, I spelled "applicants" wrong and can't figure out how to fix it...anyone know?

I had to come on here and post because I just can never get over how blatantly people lie about their past and the lengths they go to cover it up. As landlords we HAVE to see the writing on the wall.

When screening tenants I have an application that asks a series of questions, which includes where they have lived for the past 5 years, where they work and how long and if they have ever had eviction papers filed against them. My goal is to check them out and find truth throughout everything or else they don't qualify because they have lied. Obviously this is up to you.

I then proceed to call and verify employment. DON'T call the person they write down for you to call, call the actual company and talk to HR. They can only legally provide you with the date of hire and verify that they are still employed there, sometimes they provide more though. I ask to see pay check stubs from potential tenants too.

I check with current landlords. I'm leery though and first check the property records on the house to see if they match who they say owns the house. If they don't match up, I ask them about that and see what they say. The guy I called today said he would have to call me back...mmm that's weird I would never have to call someone back on a property I really own :/ The other good give away was that the owner of the property had the same last name as the guy who wanted to rent from me, so I can connect the dots a lot easier.

I use doxpop which has almost the entire state of Indiana's court documents as public record. This is awesome for connecting previous places people have lived with where they say they lived. You can also see if they have committed any crimes, been evicted, have had liens placed against them etc.

The moral of my story is that I check everything and believe nothing until it checks out. People take for granted that you either won't check or that you will only call their good friend who can pretend to their employer.

Enough about me...what have YOU found people lying about and how have you tweaked your system so you can better screen tenants?

It just depends on what the current set up is. I would recommend buying a unit that has all of the utilities already separated, it makes it a lot easier when you are just getting started. They pay theirs and you pay yours. You will have to pay the insurance and the taxes. You can get a quote from your insurance agent to give you ball part on that but it will be wrapped into your monthly payment as well as your taxes which you can look up in public records.

The other expense you will want to consider is shoveling and yard maintenance. Will you do this yourself, hire someone or give the tenant a break on the rent for doing it?

Don't buy a property that doesn't give you some cushion right away. For example if the mortgage is $1000 per month including taxes and insurance and you can only rent 1 side for $500, that means you have to come up with $500 every month and when they don't pay or when it's vacant you have to do the whole $1000. I'm using crazy numbers but you get the idea.

You will also be responsible for maintenance and repairs. Get a home inspection!! The roof, furnace, electric and foundation are all very expensive and key items to look at. Get to know a good handy man, because when repairs need done you will spend a lot of money calling someone in the phone book.

Sorry for the long explanation :)

When they turn in an application you have them pay the fee. This is to cover the cost of you checking them out. People understand. I charge $35 per household. It is also a great tool for filtering people who aren't really serious. I explain to people before they give me their money exactly what I'm looking for and that keeps me from checking people out all the time. Although it's entertaining its not a great use of time :)

I'll be closing on my first occupied property this week and wanted to check and see if anyone has any tips they could pass along. It's a duplex with one side rented.

At one point I thought I had seen a document to have filled out prior to closing and signed by the tenant and the previous landlord basically clarifying the lease, what they pay, how much deposit was put down and those types of details just to make sure there aren't any surprise or miscommunications later. I wasn't able to find this document again though.

Any help would be great!