All Forum Posts by: Michael Rogers

@Eric Urioste - Hey Eric.

You can always try Loopnet or talk to a Broker about available listings in these markets, but one way I've found self storage facilities at reasonable rates is to just look up all the locally owned facilities in the area that you are interested in and send them a short letter saying you are interested in buying their facility.  If they would like to meet to discuss selling or just grab a coffee, give you a call.  

Best of luck!

It sounds like you are doing all the right things by calling them and then sending the certified letter.   It stinks they aren't being responsive.  Is there anything in your lease that discusses the penalties for breaking the lease?  If you are just purely sub-leasing it for the rest of your lease term, then in theory the new tenant will pay you and then you would continue to pay the property manager your current rate.  (I'd be surprised, if the current property manager will let you sublease though.)

Good luck and document everything.  This will really help you if they decide to file a judgment against you.

@Jill Furstenburg

Welcome to Bigger Pockets Jill. It's always good to see a fellow Tennessean on the forums. I'm also a big fan of the podcasts. 

Best of luck to you.

1. I recommend word of mouth referrals for CPAs.  

2. If you don't know any business people in your area that can give you a good recommendation of who they use I'd recommend you can check with your state CPA chapter for a list of CPAs in your area.  It looks like you are in California so the California Society of CPAs would be who you go to.  Below is a link to their website that allows you to search registered CPAs by California CPA.

http://www.calcpa.org/public-resources/find-a-cpa

One other piece of advice.  Go ahead and start trying to find a CPA now and don't wait until after the 1st of the year (tax season).  We CPAs are busy then and it's going to be tougher to get them to fit you in.   

I hope this helps.

Welcome @Angel Cepeda.  It's always good to see new CPAs on Bigger Pockets.  Best of luck!

@Lance W.

1. How did your mom terminate the property management contract? They appear to not be recognizing the termination.

2. I'd read the property management contract to see what the terms are for termination of contract. Fees, notification days, how you notify them, etc.

3. If you are within the contract terms to cancel with the notice you provided I would follow up with a termination notice and request for funds via certified mail return receipt. This way you have a legally documented termination notice that you can demonstrate in the future if needed.

I'm a CPA so I am a nerd when it comes to financial matters. I've been tracking net worth (assets - liabilities) monthly in an Excel spreadsheet for the last 10 years. I find it interesting to go back and see the historical numbers. It's nice to see the progress we've made over the last few years. It's also great to have when the bank wants a personal financial statement. I don't have to scramble around to put one together.

Awesome! And to think I was member ~5,300. :)

@Lori Lusk

I still think you can get 80 to 85% LTV at your local bank if you have a good connection and are a solid risk for them (solid track record, great credit, good job). A local bank will be the bank that holds the loan in-house as opposed to selling it off to an investore.

I get 80%/85% LTV terms on cash out refi's all the time on self storage and single family homes. The key is, as I said above, is to get a good contact at a higher level in the bank. You should (preferably) be referred in by a current customer with a solid record.

You will be stuck at 75% if you are with larger banks and banks that are underwriting the loan to sell off or be guaranteed by a governmental agency.

@Lori Lusk

I'm surprised you can' t get a "local" bank to lend you 80% to 85% LTV on the refinance of your personal residence for capital to use to buy rental properties.

On your investment purchases you should be able to get the bank to lend 80% of purchase price. Then you can fix the property up (add value) and refinance at 80% LTV (appraised value vs. cost) and this should create you additional funds to invest with.

When you call the local banks who are you talking with?  I getting a contact that is fairly high up in the bank and reach out to them before going into the bank.  Have your ducks in a row so that you clearly have a 2 minute elevator speech that says what you are looking for, why they should want to lend to you (great credit, excellent job, etc).  If you just walk in without a reference or contact you are less likely to get these favorable terms.

Good luck!