All Forum Posts by: Joe Abughazaleh

@Jen H. @John Casmon is right on the money that's what I use as well. Zillow rental manager, I've  had a lot of success with it. The nicest thing is that you put in all your information and pictures and it will populate to all the other websites. You get emails with potential tenants contact information and profile when they're interested. 

That's a good price @Robert Adams I'm sure it won't last long. Good luck! 

@Gili Smadja see if you can find out what the comparables for that community are. Maybe there's a really low one that just closed or foreclosure or pre foreclosure. How many days on the market, owner motivated? It helps if you have some reason behind submitting a lower offer and explaining why you think it's worth that. Could also be the damage you noticed on the roof while looking at it from the backyard or moisture you saw under the kitchen sink that "could" cost a lot of money to repair. You see where I'm going with this. Make a list of all the negatives you can think of, don't have too many contingencies, and make sure your financing is solid and in order.  If you do all those things you'll have a better chance.  Best of luck! 

Welcome @Dan Trinh that's great that your ready to start investing! The biggerpockets calculators are a great, I use them myself all the time. You're correct about the average rental rate on a SFR. Median prices are in the $220k range. If you can bump up the $150k a bit you might be able to find some townhomes with HOA's that aren't too high. That might work for you, just a suggestion if the SFR route doesn't pan out.

It helps in the sense that you'd gain more knowledge and most importantly have direct access to MLS so you could personally do searches, comps, and direct access to properties for yourself. But with a good agent on your side he or she can help you out with that.

What I've suggested to my friends who are also asking themselves the same question is to take the classes and then decide if u want to take the test, pay all the fees and get licensed. The classes don't cost alot of money for the information your getting. 

Let me know if there's anything I can help you with, I can guide you in the right direction.

I found this website for you that should answer most of your questions pertaining to your specific County:

http://montgomerycountymd.gov/DHCA/housing/landlor...

Hope that helps!

@Steve Morris Yes county records is going to be your 1st stop. If it happens to an LLC then secretary of state would give you more information on the LLC, who the directors are and so forth. I've had some luck in the past contacting homeowners through social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn once you have a name. You can also do searches through the county recorders office to find out if they own any other properties under that name that possibly have a different mailing address. Best of luck.

I would ask the REALTOR how long is left on the lease. It being all dirty as you describe it, you should use it to your advantage. If its in the location you want and really want it go for it. Submit an offer based on comps and condition on the house, gives you an opportunity to come in really low. During your due diligence period I would definitely request to see the current lease and what terms are on there. Your correct you cannot kick them out if they have a valid lease, but maybe its a month to month :)  I know that doesn't really answer your question as to can you raise the rent on them. But you definitely don't want to inherit tenants if at all possible.  Hope that helps @Jennifer Fernéz

I was looking at these daily results yesterday from the "court house step sale" as some of you know it by

30-day trend you've got 927 entries with a majority being canceled could be due to BK, short sale, ect. I remember going down there in the 2009 days and we had 1600+ entries A DAY! For those who are spectacle on Las Vegas this is proof we're heading in the right direction. What are your thoughts? 

@Gary Colombo Try googling their names, last names, I've had some success with Facebook and LinkedIn before. Like @Anson Young said skip tracing services  like TLO, LexisNexis, Findmyskip.