All Forum Posts by: Elizabeth S.

Do you have a pretty big cushion of extra money every month or 2-3 time in savings what you feel you need? If you don't I wouldn't invest right now either. It sucks to think about waiting but investing takes time and money. Not just money for a deposit but also money for unexpected repairs and vacancies.

If you wanted to buy, a duplex is always a good start so you can get your feet wet, curb your living expenses and have something you can rent later when you're killing it financially.

This is an awesome time for you to start research on areas and get connected with local people who are doing what you want to be doing.

Real estate is all about setting up systems and processes so you can outsource, replicate your successes and get better at the business. What are some systems you've developed to stream line your business?

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Here's mine:

Until recently I only had 4 units, so I didn't spend a lot of time renting in a year. I recently purchased 3 more units and had one of my old ones up for rent. This caused me to spend all of my after work hours (you know, those nights and weekends when most people relax?) screening tenants and showing properties in addition to juggling the minor repairs they needed.

My new system was as simple as asking these 5 questions to every person who called me before scheduling an appointment to show them the house:

1. Do you make at least 3 times the amount of rent per month?
2. Do you have any pets? If so, what types and breeds?
3. What is your time frame for finding a new place to live?
4. Have you had any evictions or criminal history in the last 12 months?
5. Why are you looking for a new place to live?

These question saved my life at the end!! I was ready to go crazy with calls and showings and these questions really helped me to narrow down the population I showed each property to.

I've been in the business for 5 years....but you know what I never really rented to people on a regular basis so I hadn't developed a good system. So logical but it just hadn't happened yet.

You are spot on when it comes to the best way to start in real estate. It is an easy barrier of entry that will allow you to learn as you go. Good luck!

I would have to agree with @Ann Bellamy, when you're getting started the most important thing you can do is GET STARTED. There is so much to learn and part of that process is knowing when to stop learning and start acting. You will miss out on deals at first and that will suck but you will be in the beginning stages of mastering wholesaling so that you aren't here today and gone tomorrow.

Real estate can be like a fad diet. If you don't make it apart of your every day life it will never work. It's easy to give up on your dreams of (being thin!!) or of personal freedom through real estate investing so you have to start somewhere.

If you try to learn everything you need to know to effectively help people in every situation you will be trapped in the learning cycle and never feel comfortable actually talking to people. I know from experience.

It sounds like a good opportunity to me. The pictures make it look fine, maybe not perfect but some people don't care. If you put $25,000 in cosmetic work I'm it you'll never be happy because there is no good place to stop.

Welcome! It sounds like you are already on track. Good luck!

Originally posted by Thomas S.:

I also require they sign an agreement that their deposit is a holding deposit until the lease is signed, and they forfeit 3.33% of the deposit per day the house is held if they do not sign the lease and take residency.

I like this! I sign a lease and get the deposit and then let them pay the first months rent when they move in. I've never had anyone back out on the property but this is an excellent way to make sure that my time isn't wasted if they do. Great tip!

When I have done this I used google, white pages and Facebook. I hope there isn't a site out there with all of our personal information readily available but sadly there probably is :/

Welcome! There is a lot to learn here and tons of deals to be had.

Its really up to you on what you have them do. Here is a quick list of some of the things they can do:

• screen tenants on the phone who call about a property
• schedule shows & show the property
• Screen prospective tenants based on your criteria
• Fill in a lease that you have already provided and coordinate with the tenant to go over it, get the keys and collect the deposit and first months rent
• Manage calls from tenants as they have concerns or trouble paying rent
• Verify that rent is received and follow up with tenant if it is not
• Collect rent
• Manage contractors when a repair needs to be made
• Evict tenants

These are just the ones I can think of off of the top of my head. Really you can hire someone to do all of these things, some of these things or none of them. You may decide that you want someone to field calls and show the property but that you'll do the actual processing of the leases and move in process. You may have someone who fields calls from tenants and make sure rent is paid but when something is broken instead of calling a contractor they call you and you then coordinate that work.

Finding a "good" PM is a whole other conversation. Here is what I just read in the Beginngers Guide and I though it was pretty applicable:

• Are they really experts?
• Do they interact well with everyone?
• Are they a pain to contact?
• Do they return calls/emails quickly.
• Do they hit deadlines?
• Do they produce as promised, when promised?
• Can they communicate clearly and efficiently?