1st B&H Property, 1 Month in, Door Kicked In!

[Tapiwa Wakatama]

Greetings everyone,

I closed on my first property (tenanted) on 2/18/2016. I'm both excited and nervous. I'm excited at the prospect of building wealth through real estate. I'm a little nervous about the risk. The investor mindset has not fully settled in yet. Buying a new car is less risky in a part of my mind than investing even though, cars and the like do not produce income for the most part.

I got a text from my PM the other day. Someone tried breaking in by kicking in the door. They didn't get in, but the door was damaged. I immediately did a quick search on the BP forum for this topic, then told the PM to get me the police report. The tenant said they were with the cops at the moment, and provided a police report number shortly after. The PM advised that it may take about a week for me to get it.

A few hours later I hopped on crimereports, and didn't see any incidents at the property. I just checked again with the same result. I don't know what that means.

So I'm resolving two issues in less than two months. Granted, I was mostly aware of the first issue before closing (fixing a cabinet and outlets).

With that in mind, what is everyone's experience when starting out, or acquiring a new property?

Is it reasonable to have issues come up early in this process?
Has anyone heard of a tenant giving a false police report number?
Am I doing the right thing by fixing the door right away, or should I have received verification from the police first?
Do you mainly profit on your properties during the first year?
Is it OK to trend into a profitable state with a property over time?

Thanks!

[Robert Melcher]

Damage to windows and doors is a tenant responsibility in our lease. I am comfortable saying that the large percentage of break-ins are from associations of the resident.  Domestic issues lead by far, then highschoolers who've been in the house.  I have our contractor do the work and the charges are applied to the resident's account.

Of course, we have had vacant houses vandalized, plundered, and even partied-in.  Unless you are there 24/7, its hard to prevent.