All Forum Posts by: Marc S.

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a site that doesn't charge a monthly fee? 

Can someone recommend a rent collection website that does not charge the tenant a fee to pay rent via ACH? If anyone has had a good experience with a particular website, I would appreciate a suggestion. I am closing on my first property soon and want to have a payment method in place as I will be not using a PM.  

@Melanie P. Also, the appliances besides the fridge are all owned by the tenant, as they were not provided by the seller originally.  

@Melanie P. I assumed when I started running my numbers that all those items would fall under CapEx, so yes. Smoke Detectors, flooring, paint, appliances, hot water heater and roof are all 3 years old as the house was redone. But like you said, I don't think anyone would be properly funded for a capEx expense was to hit early in the ownership, but I do have reserved funds set aside to address that if it happens. Otherwise, I will increase my Capex slowly as I increase my rent YoY.

@Melanie P. Well...that sucks to hear lol. I thought the instant equity was something tangible.  

Thank you @Melanie P.! So to sound a bit silly... What funds would I have in my operating funds that are different thank the funds I'm putting away that is coming from my monthly set aside of vacancy, capEx, and maintance? 

Evening BP,

I am about a week away from closing on my first property, excited, nervous, and sick all at the same time lol. I got back my appraisal and it came back $15K over purchase price. I'm pretty happy about that, being that I was expected it to come back close or just above purchase price. Now, I've heard mix comments about the thoughts on "appraisals".  

I guess what I want to know is, exactly what does that mean in terms of an actual benefit for me moving forward with this property? Sure, someone came in and said it's work 15K more than I paid, but does that mean I can go to a bank and re-finance in 6 months and show them that paperwork to get 15k in equity? Or did all this just mean I can walk around with a piece of paper saying, "hey look this person thinks this house is worth 290 and I got it for 275" and it means nothing more than the paper it's written on?  What good is it, if in 8 months when I decide to do a re-fi I have to get it re appraised anyway by another bank. 

I guess what I'm looking to know from seasoned investors is, what actual benefit am I'm going to be able to get and secure with this return? Let me know if I'm missing the bigger picture. Hopefully this doesn't sound like a ridiculous question as I am still green in the real estate market world and learning! 

Marc 

Good evening BP members,

I am a week away from my closing date on my first property! Broke free of the "analysis paralysis" syndrome!! I have a rookie question in terms of management. After ensuring I had done all my underwriting numbers and locked in my final calculations, I know am not sure how to handle some of the incoming funds.

So, I have set my percentages for my vacancy, capEx and Maintenace each month which comes to approximately $236 a month, this might sound like a silly question, but how should I "store" that money? Do I keep funds in the business banking account I created for my real estate transactions? Or do I put it into something that will earn me intrest , like a checking account that is getting 5% APR returns right now.

I know that the purpose of these monthly deposit I get from my rental income is to be stored for the reasons they are labeled for. I assume I would just put it into my business checking account and let it remain there until one day it's needed?

The answer may be obvious, but I know it doesn't hurt to ask and get some feedback from investors who've been through this.

Marc

Good evening BP members, 

I am a week away from my closing date on my first property! Broke free of the "analysis paralysis" syndrome!! I have a rookie question in terms of management. After ensuring I had done all my underwriting numbers and locked in my final calculations, I know am not sure how to handle some of the incoming funds.  

So, I have set my percentages for my vacancy, capEx and Maintenace each month which comes to approximately $236 a month, this might sound like a silly question, but how should I "store" that money? Do I keep funds in the business banking account I created for my real estate transactions? Or do I put it into something that will earn me intrest , like a checking account that is getting 5% APR returns right now.

I know that the purpose of these monthly deposit I get from my rental income is to be stored for the reasons they are labeled for. I assume I would just put it into my business checking account and let it remain there until one day it's needed? 

The answer may be obvious, but I know it doesn't hurt to ask and get some feedback from investors who've been through this. 

Marc

Thank you everyone for all your advice, suggestions, and offers to provide assistance. I was able to secure a 1-million-dollar policy under RLI with just my auto insurance and did not have to get a renters or homeowners policy. On the advice of some RE investor friends, I upped my landlord policy in TX from 500k to 1 mil as well, it was only an extra $4! No brainer for a peach of mind.

Crisis averted and I'm on my way to owning my 1st property.