All Forum Posts by: Garth Kukla

@anthony Conrad. Home savings bank in Ludlow is great. And heritage bank is also a good solution 

@Brett Slusher

These are the best times if you are selling and the worst times if you are buying.  I'll always lean on what has allowed me to be successful, you make your money when you buy so if the price is wrong, the deal is wrong period.  Also, be cautious of FOMO because that is real.  What I'm doing is being patient, know what is in my buy box and what isn't, stay in my lane and when a deal presents itself, I'm a buyer immediately.  If you have clients who aren't comfortable with this current state of real estate, tell them to be patient and it will change as it always does.  I'm happy to jump on a call if you ever wish to as I've bought and sold over 250 houses in the last 5 years and have learned a thing or two.  Cheers, Garth

So something I've recently added to my tenant screening/information collection is getting the make, model, plate, and VIN of my tenant's automobile.  Did you know you can lien a car title?  Not something I prefer to do but when you are left with a mess that exceeds the deposit, sometimes desperate times cause for desperate measures.  Anyhoo, hope this helps the group, Cheers, Garth

Anders,

My name is Garth and I'm a local investor here in northern kentucky.  I've been wholesaling this area for about 4 1/2 years.  Also, A great friend, Aaron Smith and I started a FB group called NKY Real Estate Investor Network so check it out and I hope this helps,

Cheers,

Garth

@Gary Dawson @Grace Navera

Hello to you both.  My good friend @Aaron Smith and I started a FB group called NKY Real Estate Investor Network and its a good group.  We used to get together once a month, either to socialize and get to know one another or meet at the public library for some free RE education with such topics as 1031 exchange, Airbnb, how to find off-market deals, etc etc. We are currently doing FB live type meetings until things return to normal if that happens.  Well, we'd love to hear from you both and wish you the best in your real estate endeavors.  Cheers, Garth 

@Jaden George

Often investing is a personal decision so take what you learn from here and just ask yourself what feels right and also what are you capable of doing?  What I mean is, if you don't like dealing with people, maybe being a landlord isn't good.  Does that make sense? 

For me, I think investing in real estate is way better because you control the asset.  If you buy right there are no reasons why you can't get a 20% cash on cash return and that isn't easy to do in the stock market.  Now learning to buy right isn't easy but once you do it, you will have wealth in your future.  Hope this helps and congrats on investing when you are so young, wish I did, Cheers, Garth

@Jaysen Medhurst

First, thank you for the info.  Can you explain the rebates for mini splits if that is a fair question?  I know using the ducts would be difficult but mini's seem to be better for big spaces and my 7 unit has many little rooms so I'm not sure if that would work?  And what if you had a property with a builder and no ducts?  Would you do mini's or perhaps put in separate hvac and maybe do exposed ductwork?  Again, I'm trying for higher-end units 

@Joshua Dorkin and @Brandon Turner

You both have greatly improved what it's like to be a landlord through all the information you provide and all the great podcasts for Buy and Hold Investors.  My personal favorite regarding this topic was Marica Marynard's "landlording with Integrity".  Most of what I currently do is from that podcast but I want to add a couple of gold nuggets to this forum that I've gained from others.

1.  So you've completed the phone screen and you like the tenant and they want to see your apartment on Saturday at 10 am, for example.  This is exactly what I say "How far do you currently live from the apartment?.....15 minutes, Great! then at 9:45, you will text me that you are coming and I'll meet you there.  If you don't text me I'll assume your schedule has changed and I won't be there, is that ok?"

By doing this you prevent no shows which I haven't had since instituting this process but more importantly, you ask your tenants to do something and when they do it, they are more likely to also pay the rent each month.  Those who don't text I'll never rent too as this is now part of my interview/tenant screening process.

2.  A toy soldier clause in my lease.  When the lease is signed and you have the deposit in hand, the last thing you do is an apartment condition walk-thru.  While in the bathroom I'll flush the toilet and have the next tenant initial next to my "toy soldier" clause in my lease which stipulates that the tenant acknowledges the toilet is fully functioning and if they put something down it, which plugs it up (ie. feminine products, kids toys or whatever) that is on them, but if the toilet is broken, please call me and I'll hire a plumber to fix.  However, if the plumber finds it's caused by the tenant, then they will pay.  While you are at it, point at a light bulb and ask your tenant who replaces them when they burn out?  You will get two answers and both will save you time.  Answer 1 is the tenant will say they will do it, Answer 2 is they'll ask you to provide light bulbs which you will happily do."  Both answers will save you time so do this too. 

Since implementing this process into my tenant screening/education I haven't had one late night "plugged up toilet" or "my light bulb is out" call in over 6 years.

Words that I currently live by as a landlord "at a minimum, 80% if not more of anything a landlord will ever complain about is their fault so if they handle their real estate like a business, not a hobby then it can be an amazing way to build wealth for you and your family".

I hope this helps and God bless!

Garth

Hello BP family,

My name is Garth and I'm a local wholesaler in the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati market and I was hoping to get further insight regarding how to best handle separating HVAC in my 7-family.  Currently, I have 2, 22-year-old high-efficiency furnaces that are controlled by 1 thermostat (I pay for the heat) and window units for AC which the tenants pay.  That seems to work out fine though I'll need to make some decisions soon regarding replacing the furnaces with new ones or providing each unit with their own separate HVAC. 

Thankfully there is ductwork throughout and I personally feel that higher-end apartments need there own HVAC.  Obviously, this will be at a cost of about $4k/unit ($28k total) or I could simply keep things as they are and spend $8k to replace the furnaces before next winter? 

Can you provide the pros and cons of both options for me?  Any and all insight would be greatly appreciated and I hope you all are doing well during these trying times,

Garth

My best friend asked me a couple of questions that I simply didn't have answers so I thought to post them here in hopes of getting some clarity.  

Question about if I'm allowed to keep working at my own company (for free) if I fire myself and draw unemployment. My 2 business partners and I are owners of an S-corp, and we pay ourselves a salary through a payroll service, which handles all the normal withholdings including paying into unemployment insurance. We just recently 'laid off' ourselves due to the complete cessation of our business due to the pandemic and government orders to stop non-essential business. We are now collecting unemployment. The question is, as individuals, are we allowed to #1. Go into work (a private office not open to the public) to do things like clean, organize, remodel our office, take on-line classes to catch up on training, bid jobs, network, etc? #2. Work from home to do the same as #1?#3. Can the S-corp continue to take in revenue from sources such as interest on loans we've made, deposits for future contracts, and automatic online sales, so long as these funds stay in our company account and are not drawn by the unemployed owners as either wage or profit draw? However, we plan to use some of these funds to pay rent, 1099'ed subcontractors who perform off-site work, monthly loan payments on purchased equipment, etc. during our time of unemployment.

Any and all help with the above questions would be greatly appreciated.  All the best, Garth