All Forum Posts by: Alison Emmert

I’ve been looking for a good Skip Tracing site. Which ones would y’all recommend? Thanks :)

I’ve been really considering using a 3rd party when it comes to cold calling and wanted to ask and see what some of your experiences were. Our plan is to send out direct mail and have the virtual assistant do a follow up call on the mailers we sent out. What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance!

Thank you Patrice Penda I will look into it

Would like to ask some of the seasoned investors/landlords which are the best websites you use to conduct background checks for potential renters and why ... Thanks in advance! :)

Thank you for all the feedback!!

This is definitely a live and learn experience. 

Who ever said getting a property management company for your rentals was a good idea? Granted, if you've got multiple properties with no extra time and a property management company you trust with your investment, GREAT! This is not my situation though ...

I live in San Antonio, Tx and purchased a duplex in Corpus Christi, Tx which was suppose to be a quick buy and resale, but turned out to be a bust when we had a realtor try to sell it. I have never owned a rental before, but found out REAL quick that a lot of investors wouldn't give the duplex the time of day because they could not see the cash flow, which is understandable. I decided to hire a property management company to put tenants into the duplex before putting it back up for sale after having no luck with the realtor. I called around and finally hired a property management company in the Corpus Christi area which turned out to be a COMPLETE NIGHTMARE!! 

   •Left doors unlocked (window a/c unit and gas stove stolen due to it) Management company refuses to reimburse me for the gas stove.

   •Charged me $500+ in "materials" and refused to provide me with receipts and just gave me a generalized itemization and charged me for debris removal when I had done it MYSELF.

   •Had a November move-in special for the end of the month and decided upon themselves that the tenant that moved in December 5th would get the November move-in special. So instead of paying the $625 for the month of December, they paid $200 ... When I received my billing statement for December I called and they told me they granted the move-in special to the tenant because she filled out the application and was approved before December 1st.

I'm sorry, but isn't that why its called a "November Move-In Special" not a, oh well you filled out the paperwork before Dec 1st special. 

Needless to say, the management company is about to be short lived. The duplex is under contract and from this moment forward, I will do my own property management for my rentals.

I always stress the fact that it's a cash or hard money deal only before an assignment contract is signed. Once they are aware of this and still want to continue through with the purchase of the property, I would ask for proof of funds. If they're purchasing with a hard money lender, you can request a letter from that hard money lender. Other than that, the only other way to make sure that does not happen is to close on the property yourself and double close. Reputation is everything in the investing world as I'm sure you know, you always want to believe that everything will be ok, but unless you've delt with the person before, there's no way of knowing.

Eddie Casarez ... Rick Pozos holds a meeting every second Wednesday of every month. Lots of great info and networking. Contact him for more details.

Welcome to BP Mason English !!

I spoke with her prior to posting this and told her that for me to be able to go through with the process of purchasing her grandmothers house, she would need to be on the deed, and for her to do that she needed to go through probate. At that point she said "oh I've tried that before and it was super expensive. I don't need to do that anyways because I have guardianship of the estate and I'm able to sign for her" ... obviously the issue with that is, is her grandmother is no longer living. I will try to explain the process to her again and see if she will understand and go through with it.