All Forum Posts by: Ann North

Thanks @Scott P. spoken like a true builder! You said it much better than I did.

It almost makes me miss my family's builder business! I used to go walk raw land/ lots with buyers so they could see the stakes where their property would end.

The only other caveat I mentioned above is sometimes people don't realize the lot and grade can dictate the type of house to be built. For example, ramblers (or ranch if you're out west) go on certain lots and two-story full walk-outs go on different lots.

Great points and very helpful  @BiggerPockets .com might want to make it a sticky post! 

@Sophia Berry

@John Woodrich Great points! Thank you. That makes sense. How would I find a PM specializing in college students? I know there are a few online websites. Has anyone had luck with these internet listing companies for selling? I'm thinking of trying a discount broker. One sucked but I could try another one. There are several homes in the neighborhood in So. California that are using these Internet sites. 

For some reason this house, and the fact we're not there, has been really really difficult because of neg cash flow. The tenants have been great but the realtors have ALL been awful. It's appreciating but in order to pull out $100,000 it will be about 5 years, maybe 8-9. In 3 years it's gone up minimum $35,000. That's pretty good! It's just our mortgage sucks and we can't refi! We lived there for the first year and a half with an FHA and the PMI is killing us. Seems like it's time to cut bait but hard when attached to it and we want to get more out of it!!!

How could I tell if #1 was an investor or something? It's so strange they approached and talked to me for about a month and claim they're ready but we will see. I guess I don't care if it's an investor! We are motivated so are willing to make a deal because it would be win-win.

@Greg Scott thanks for your honesty. It's appreciated. I think that makes sense. I am drooling, of course, but we got $3100 a month for 3 years. We can expect to get about $3500 now. Alas, we need to be more to positive cash flow. Yes, I agree with you although the college near where it is - is private and extremely expensive. Still, I hear what you're saying. We had a property management company in place so they would handle the calls but no that doesn't sound like fun. Our equity is there but when agents are charging $30k+ commission, it eats into it. And yes on MN! I want to learn how to cash flow! Thanks again for the realistic advice!

So we had an under market tenant for a few years and finally the lease is up and we can get closer to market value. We are out of state so house hacking unfortunately isn't an option. It's a 5 bedroom 4 bath fairly newly built. It's in a desirable area, gated pool, I don't anticipate problems renting. We have some equity.

On deal #1 a neighbor has offered to catch up our arrears, move in, pay rent and wants an option to buy in 6 months at a substantially lower than market rate. I'm considering this but I'm not there so difficult to vet. Also, would have to have someone draw up a lease and option to buy. The main con with this is we would be dependent on this one person.

Option #2: get caught up ourselves and since it's 5 bedroom find a way to rent out to college students (it's near a college) each bedroom. I'm not exactly sure how to go about this because the property management company only seems to be geared towards families. 

The property has a main level in-law suite with a full bath so it's a popular feature of our home.

Any thoughts! I'd love to rent it out to 5 college students around $700 - $1000 each! That would be great but I don't know how to go about it from another state!

@Clarence Curtis You said you use "blueprints by experienced investors"  can you give a brief outline of what the "blueprints" are/look like or an easy primer or guide to evaluating properties? I'd love to see something like that as a quick evaluation tool. Below market is always good!

@Tyler Minkel

I would definitely try to rep yourself and negotiate down the "buyer's agent" fee, which can be 2.5-3% (at least in California). If the seller doesn't have to pay that, they could take a little off the list price.

In MN, there is a "cold weather rule" that has to do with landlords must fix furnaces if they go out! Which any decent landlord would do immediately anyway! 

Also, if you are eventually going to flip, or even rent out, neighborhood is really important. I'm sure you know that already. But there are some really interesting up and coming neighborhoods on the west side/ western suburbs that would be perfect for flips and rentals! The further west you go, the more expensive it gets!

@Hollie Bendall "The 2nd floor has wide plank wood floors" that sounds gorgeous! That is what everyone is looking for. They're never painted, but "reclaimed wood" in their natural state. We paid to have this look when we built our house. (The builder put in a pressed wood floor with look of reclaimed wood which is expensive!) I would keep them as natural as possible if it's not too expensive. Definitely don't paint them. Post a photo please!!

@Adriana Diaz in my opinion you need a property management company that specializes in listing your property -- if you don't know how to do it yourself or can't due to location. A real estate agent putting it for rent on MLS is *not* renting your house or the rental market. A property management company will hustle and get *renters* into your property. They will blast it out everywhere, Craigslist, Zillow, etc. and will have their own pool of renters. You have to find a good one. Some of them do a la carte and have showing and listing your property separate from management services. They know what they're doing and you're not there so can do showings. 3 months is way, way too long.

@Tomiko Graves I think the biggest problem is you said "Master Bath." People want the wow factor. This looks like a hall bath or extra bath, not a master.

No matter how much you spend, figure out how you can get a WOW factor cheaply and do that thing and paint the rest white. White always works. Or white with an accent color like beige. 

Look at Joanna Gaines' house flips for ideas or open up a Pottery Barn or one of those cottage/thrifty magazines. Maybe just get a new shower and tub and paint the rest white with one accent color. Go for WOW.

@Daniel Hankins Sure! First I really have to commend you because it's really really refreshing to see a new "approach" or "attitude" towards being a landlord. I really think this is a wonderful, wonderful idea. It's about empowering people and that, to me, is awesome.

I will give you my gut reaction - and maybe it is just based on my experiences and where I'm at now but -- to me it sounds like Rent-to-Own OR Lease-Option-to-Buy. Then you are adding a part to that of *helping* with the maintenance.

To me, the confusing part is "helping people become property managers." I'm confused on that. Maybe that's the term in your head and maybe that's another level - I can't speak to that part.

Let's look at each

Rent-to-Own : Usually a tenant pays rent and a portion of the rent goes to either a downpayment or equity and eventually they can buy the property. In my understanding of this, I could be wrong, but maintenance is handled by landlord like a regular rental. Or maybe that's negotiable.

Lease-Option\on-To-Buy (some call it Right of First Refusal) : this is at any time or specified times for a specified price a tenant can exercise an option to buy the property. It's quick and done. They have to be financially qualified separately. Tenant almost owns house As-is and no portion of rent is applied but security deposit can go towards down payment. Basic maintenance is covered by landlord on major things, like a furnace etc, but everything else falls on tenant.

Hope that helps!