All Forum Posts by: Andrew Halbert

No Smoking. EVER. Smoke is so destructive and completely avoidable. 

Pet's= I advertise no, but I still get people that come to the showings and ask.  I am not going to say no to a small dog or cat if everything else checks out top notch for the potential tenant. But that has not had to happen yet.  There have been enough people wanting to rent that I don't even have to consider it.. yet. 

Family as tenants... YIKES!!

@Jona Leu

How else are you going to ever be able to vet a property management company until you know first hand what it takes to actually manage a property successfully? Not only are you giving up cashflow on your first deal, but you are giving up the experience of really being a landlord. I say wait until you have more properties and feel comfortable handing over the keys to a PM.  I will not use a PM until I feel like I really know and understand what it costs to fix things, how to interact with tenants from all walks of life. etc...

Just wait till you have your first showings.. LOL the people you will see come into your house will blow your mind.  You NEED to experience it all. 

My advice,

Keep it simple. Get the property rented out.  Get a tenant in there and start getting some rent coming in.  It's only 1 property.  You'll be fine, just get moving on a tenant, the rest will fall into place. 

For sure get an umbrella policy. It is cheap and will protect you.  I pay 225 for 1 million dollar policy.

I didn't form an LLC until after 6 months into being a landlord with my first property. I would highly advise forming an LLC eventually, but don't over analyze things or freak out if you don't have one yet. There is a learning curve will all this and it will come over time. It sounds like you are trying to solve everything at once, relax.

A lot of your questions will be answered by yourself if you prioritize things and start tackling your action items one at a time.  

As far as the LLC goes, I know a lot of people are going to tell you go go see an attorney, that is the best idea. However I have several friends that invest in RE who simply did their own research and used legalzoom to create their LLC. I also used Legalzoom. I have only a handful of properties and I felt comfortable with the process through legal zoom. LLC is pretty standard stuff.

I also did my own taxes through turbo tax, it was fine. Just take your time and do your research.  

My point is, you don't always have to start shelling out the big dollars for lawyers or CPA's in the beginning.  When your business starts to grow, sure by all means go that route, but I do not think you necessarily need to start with paying hundreds of dollars an hour for a lawyer to set up your llc.  

Next year I'll have to start using a CPA who is versed in real estate because things are getting pretty complicated now that I have acquired more properties.  

Hello BP'ers,

Due to conflict of interest I will not rent to someone I work with, however I can personally vouch for his character.  

Looking for a 2/1 or 3/1 in Royal Oak, Ferndale, Northern Warren, St. Claire Shores.

I've worked with him for 4 years. Good corporate income. He was a long term tenant at previous place.  Moving from a 1500/month house to save some money.  Would like something around 1000.

No kids, No pets, is single.  Let me know if anyone has anything available for May 1. 

Do some research.  There's a million ways to skin this cat.  We have no idea about the details regarding your situation.  The questions you are asking can be found through some self study and education.