All Forum Posts by: Alexander Ball

@Bryan Grooms I'd recommend not buying a property based on a tenant if possible.  That's not a constant and you never know what could happen.  Not trying to be dramatic, but what happens if you purchase and they die the next week?  Or suddenly they lose their job?  Would that put you in a difficult situation or would it suddenly be a bad deal?  Of the long term tenants I've run into, it's pretty common for their rent to be under market value. I don't know if this is because they start at market value and are a good tenant and as result are left alone or if it's low to begin with.  The thing is, if a tenant will have to pay more somewhere else, why would they leave?  The wouldn't.  This means while you will get a long term tenant, you can't always just raise the rent.  They might only be able to afford the current rent or they might move out and find somewhere they feel is better.  I met a long term tenant once who was paying $400 a week while market rents were $650... $3,000 a year less.  Whatever you decide, don't be afraid to ask for any information you need.  This is a business transaction, you're more than welcome to ask to see current bank statements.  I would also recommend if you're ever visiting a property and the tenant is around, ask them any and every question you have. Most don't mind telling you their rent and most will tell you if the property has problems.  Definitely verify the rent first though and if they won't do it, walk. That's a red flag I would not ignore.  

Everyone talks about buying killer deals, but then there's other problems you have to deal with.  If I buy a killer deal today, I know I can rent it out easily or even sell it if need be.  In a dumpster of an economy, it could be harder to find qualified tenants or get out of a property and not lose a lot if need be.  Everyone keeps expecting 08 again, but no one has a good reason... 08 was caused by people being straight stupid.  Same with most if not all big crashes in the last 100 years.  I don't doubt a correction, but I do doubt another 08.  I'm agnostic to it to be honest, if I'm going to succeed it will be in good or bad markets regardless.  

@Renee Yarbrough Don't worry, we've all been there!  The thing is, it never really goes away.  You obviously won't make this mistake again, but there's always some sort of problem no matter what.  I'm under contract for a few duplexes right now and I told my bank ahead of time all the details.  They came back to me Monday and said they want a different contract (it's an off market deal).  Seriously? You're telling me this now when I told you exactly what I was doing? Why not give me the exact template for the contract you would need.  They haven't responded to any of my message this entire week and now I'm scrambling to find a new mortgage broker because I have no idea what is going on.  It definitely gets easier, but it really is a never ending learning experience.  

I would run more conservative numbers and then go back to the owner with a lower offer.  It seems you will lose money regardless on this one, probably best to find a project that's a bit safer.  

Haha wtf, this dude is kind of a jerk.  

I'd just ignore it, who cares if people make poor investment decisions.  It's better than what a lot of them were doing before, which was blowing it all nothing.  There's reason the wealthy get wealthier.. It's not some unjust laws or capitalism, it's because most people don't know the basics of personal finance.  

I own a condo in Reston and rent out the spare rooms. It's been going good enough for the time being. Make sure you know all the HOA rules well, they can be either really good or just plain stupid. A bad HOA will make your life difficult and scare off tenants. One of the best parts of condos is the HOA takes care of a lot of outside maintenance and landscaping instead of relying tenants.

its now, you won’t learn how to invest until you start investing.  It’s a catch 22 and that first part is the number one reason most people quit before they start.

If you’re going to open a thread for discussion you have to be open to people be pretty honest.  You can’t ask for input and then get offended when people don’t tell you what you want to hear.  The fact that you insulted someone over their opinion is pretty obvious sign that you have some maturing to do.  If you don’t like it, respond politely with your opinion or ignore it.  Throwing out passive aggressively that someone is misogynistic because you don’t like the opinion is enough to get a temp ban imo.  Ridiculous. I’m going to guess your account was created on July 20th because you have been banned before.  If you’re so confident in Detroit, why are you asking for a challenge from all deniers? It’s because you’re having doubts and are insecure about your decisions. 

@Nathan Hui

Sorry, meant 1500 a year.  It’s for fees like trash, Unit licenses, business licenses, lease renewal from property’s management, etc.