All Forum Posts by: Annelise A.

I love this topic :) It's so wonderful to read about everyone's lives pre-RE.

Before I did investing, I graduated college with a degree in Opera (vocal peformance), and a minor in business marketing. Got married, and am starting my life.

I hope this topic continues... sooo much fun!

You're speaking my language! I love marketing.

My tip for you is to make your postcard look like an eye grabbing landing page... arrows pointing to the call to action and everything. Make sure you address your audience's core needs (in this case, address why they're holding onto a property that is not generating any cash flow for them and offer to take the negative investment off their hands and blah blah).

I hope that makes sense and helps some.

Good Luck!

Wait wait wait... was it an empty apartment that you were going to rent out soon? I can understand that... but cleaning up after a messy person? Isn't that what maids are for? hmmm...

Hey Steven :)

I had heard of soundproofing your ceilings with paint.
http://www.soundproofing.org/sales/liquid.htm

My friend has a recording studio and this is what he uses. Hope that helps!

I found a gillion of helpful sites that give you step by step instructions. I don't know if I can paste all the URLs so I'll just tell you how to get there.

google dot come
type in "how to remove paint from brick exterior"
search
and voila! 10+ pages on how to remove paint from brick. If all else fails, you can always paint over, right? :)

When I first rented out my property, I had to prorate the deposit. The means I divided the deposit (which was first and last month's rent) into equal amounts over 3 months. The rent then was for $900/mo. That means the tenant paid an additional $600 a month instead of the initial $1800. You can, of course, divide that amount for a shorted period of time. That was the only way I was able to get a quality tenant.

I didn't know that about the Texas rental law, but that sounds fair. In my contracts for renting, I don't refund their deposit but so far I haven't had to do that.

Maybe doing a 6 mo lease would be best for you (at least worth a try) if 1 year isn't working out for you. Did the tenants say why they didn't want to stay for the whole year? I've had some friends not stay at their places because the landlord ignored them and refused to fix things and their neighbors where horrible.

Just some food for thought. I hope that helps some :)

I always recommend Rich Dad Poor Dad to everyone who wants to get their foot in the door of investing for their future. Also, play the game :)

Secondly, I think talking with some BP people here is the way to go. Not only do the members here have great insight, but more often than not, you'll get an honest answer to any question.

Thirdly: a mentor. I have a grandfather that gives some solid advice, but you may have to borrow someone else's grandpa. Real advice from a real person you can trust that has been there and done that is invaluable.

Good luck on your investing and congratulations on saving!

Hey :) great questions btw.

What does your vm say?
What happens when a tenant breaks your lease?
Have you thought of prorating your deposits?
Where do you advertise? CL? newspapers? other online sites? Sign out front?

If I knew the answers to those questions I might be able to help out a tad.

I agree with Rob. If the applicant doesn't have a DL, state ID works fine for me. I only accept state i.d. and SSNs to run a background check on the applicant if I'm considering them to rent from me. :)

When I do outsourcing we use either odesk dot com or elance dot com. Both have been incredibly helpful (and inexpensive). Or, CraigsList if you're reeeally in need of one fast. Hope it helps!