All Forum Posts by: Garth Kukla

Books are great @Rotimi Lademo but taking action is where the learning really starts.  Albert Einstein said “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.”  Find a mentor and shadow them, if you want to buy and hold then call up landlords and tell them if they share their experience with you then you will do labor for them.  All too often investors stay on the side lines and prepare and never take action.  Again, don't just do it alone but BP is such a tremendous resource you can leverage to grow your business.  I hope this was helpful.  We are here if you have questions, ok?

Alex,

If you go to the tools tab above, use the rental property calculator and view the link of the youtube video of @Brandon Turner using the Biggerpockets rental property calculator which is right here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04X79Mdvuwg  It's a very powerful tool and will give you all the data you asked for in your post.  And when you become a Pro member you can use it an unlimited number of times.  Also, I use Podio in my real estate investing rather than a spread sheet.  It allows you to customize to your exact needs and if you use google voice for your rentals, you can even integrate those calls into Podio.  I'm happy to discuss and/or answer any questions you have.  How does that sound?

Garth

And one of my favorite real estate quotes from a very successful real estate investor "Imperfect progress is better than perfect planning"

Welcome Zach!  There is some great guidance on this thread (@Jay J.) and that is one of the many reasons why I love BP.  It's a powerful networking tool which will help any facet of your business. Don't hesitate to reach out to me if every I can be of service.

Cheers!

Garth

Hello BP Nation,

I have my first deal under contract and on Saturday I should be selling it which is exciting.  I'm holding an "investor" open house per se but wish to comply with all local and regional laws.  I know without a broker license I can only sell the equitable interest however since I'm double closing and the purchase agreement will be between me and the buyer (per my title company) what am I able to say about the property?  Opening bid is $27k and my assignment fee comes from that,  Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

You can also pm me if that is better, 

Garth

I'll second Mark Nienaber's recommendation.  I called all the portfolio lenders, small banks and credit unions in the Greater Cincinnati area and found Guardian to have the best rates, are the most flexible and like mentioned, have many locations across town.  As for my usage, I've been with them since 2001 and will continue.  Hope this helps. 

Hello,

I'm going to purchase virtual phone numbers for an upcoming direct mail campaign and I was hoping to get some guidance regarding best companies to work with and how they integrate? 

I'm looking to connect my numbers to my crm so when a call comes in, it auto populates as a lead in my crm.  And if a voicemail is left, that audio file is also linked in the lead?  Is this possible and if so, which number company and crm should I use?

Through my research it seems like ringcentral and podio are good choices but I hoped to hear from experience and make decisions from there.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

All the best,

Garth

Seth,

One of my best friends is a home inspector so I feel I have a unique perspective and I agree with others who have posted on this thread, one shouldn't exclude the other.  Here is my take.

Do the walk thru because you shouldn't purchase property sight unseen.  Also I personally incorporate this phase into my part of the analysis.  If you have a friend who is a contractor or inspector, have them walk thru with you and offer to buy them dinner for their troubles.  This should only take them 15 minutes or so.

If you decide to proceed, always get a home inspection for several reasons

1.You know what your buying and can create a punchlist of items to address from the inspection report.

2. You can use the report to negotiate a better price if the inspection report finds many issues.

3.  If the inspection report is too scary, you can walk away, as long as you put in your contract "contingent on inspecitons".  I have walked away from many properties with major roof issues, foundation etc?

Hope this helps,

Garth

Hello BP community,

Just wanted to share an experience that I felt would be helpful.  During their weekly podcast, Brandon Turner and Josh Dorkin has a variety of real estate investors on, sharing their tips.  During one show, several months back, it was recommended to find contractor's before you need them and this is where my post comes from.  In my own investing, I have taken that one step further by building relationships with such contractors, telling them my 5, 10, 20 year plan as well as sharing my mission statement, make sensen?

So, If your investment property is in a better neighborhood, such as a historic district or you live in a better neghborhood then reach out to your neighbors for recommendations.  I live and own property in a historic neighborhood and we have a yahoo group neighborhood email called listserv.  When you need anything, you put it out on listserv and get several recommendations back. with names, what project they did etc.  When I call someone, say HVAC guy, I tell him I'm in the neighborhood too and that you come highly recommended.  I then tell him about the properties I own and if treated well, would use his services again and also recommend him on our listserv.  I'm not saying this guarantees I won't have a bad contractor but I do believe this will reduce that greatly.

Well, happy investing and I hope 2015 is great for everyone here on BP.

Garth

Robert,

I was taught to work backwards on your retirement numbers.  So if $9k  is your desired monthly cashflow, then figure how to get to that number and not concern yourself with the number of rentals.  By doing this you focus on maximizing cashflow which will ulltimately get you to your goals.  BP has tons of information that should be helpful and I just bought and read Landlording on Autopilot by Mike Butler and highly recommend it.  It provides many strategies for managing your rental business and I found it quite helpful.

As for your concern with large cap ex items such as roof replacement, HVAC etc, as long as you budget for those items and still cashflow, you should be ok?  Brandon Turner has some great info on analyzing properties that should be very helpful to you.  Learn to use the 50% rule when you start your analysis of any deal.  As they say, you make your money when you buy, not when you sell.  If you buy them right you can always weather even the large cap ex items and still cashflow as long as you are also run a tight ship with your rentals.

Oh, and unit turnover often hurts your cashflow so download and read the utilimate guide to tenant screening from BP.  If you follow the guide you will fill your units with better tenants and make more money! 

Hope this helps and good luck

Garth

Hello,

My wife and I just purchased a duplex and are currently trying to rent out the first floor.  The past owner didn't take great care of it so this property is a work in progress.  The first floor is now clean with fresh paint but lacks some of the amentities that other higher end apartments have such as dishwasher or central air.  Here is my question, I'm asking the same questions of every tenant while not asking any illegal questions and following the fair housing practices.  I've showed the apartment to about 8 people and no one has filled out an application but it has only been a week and this is Christmas.  So far I really like two possible tenants, a women with a child and a younger couple.  Both are quite diverse and I want to know if I can tell them I really like them for and hope they rent my apartment?  Does that make sense?  Please advise how to handle this challenge and Happy Holidays!