Beginner mistakes and what steps to take to fix them

[Zack Whiting]

So I am new here and to real estate investing. I have made a few mistakes that I could use some help/ advice to solve. 

1.) I have two rentals that I currently rent to a friend and the other one to my brother. With no lease or anything legit in place. I have been treating the rentals as a hobby.

2.) I did not include vacancy, repairs, management, and other cost, When determining what I was going to rent them out for.

How would you guys go about fixing these problems?

[Nick Rutkowski]

@Zack Whiting Id change your mindset of real estate investing being a hobby and making it a more serious part of your life. Change your mindset before fixing your external problems. 

Next, you need to start tracking your expenses. This will give you a baseline of how much you spend per month. To determine your rental rate, you need to compare your apartments to others in the area. Start with Zillow and Facebook for market research. Basic and free. 

At the same time you're figuring that all out, get your brother and friend under a lease, or at least, a written agreement both parties can agree on. I've been burned renting to friends, leasing rentals to friends doesnt end well.