All Forum Posts by: Ashleigh Rogers

Hi Amanda!!! There is a man by the name of Joe Fairless. He lives in New York and has properties that are outside of the state of NY. He's very knowledgable and very experienced in REI. I had the privilege of speaking with him on the phone and he is very informative and helpful. I'm sure if you reach out to him you will find a great deal of advice and info from him.

Good luck!!!

- Ashleigh

Hi Dustin!!! Even though I'm a novice at REI, I actually know a bit about this particular topic thanks to my mom who is a buy and hold investor.

For each of the residential properties that she owns, she writes up her own lease and lists each and every detail regarding rent, pet policies, furnishing policies, decorating and appliances, etc. After all that was done she had it all reviewed by her lawyer.

Now in terms of the rent procedure, one of the properties is actually next door to her and my father's home. She explains in the lease the date that rent is due, usually on the first of each month, and then she specifies that after a certain number of days, there will be a late charge added on top of that rent. My mom can be pretty lenient at times depending on the resident's financial circumstance at that time, but she always makes sure that she is firm in the need for the resident to have the rent money ready as close to the due date as possible.

I think that you can do a bit of both which is explain it in the lease and also make a personal reminder approach to them as the due date comes up. But you definitely want to have that information in the lease for legal matters. Because Heaven forbid that a tenant try to dispute with you if that matter comes up.

Hopefully that helps!! And good luck to you!!!

Thank you all so much for this insight!! You all are more than helpful.

I will definitely take all of your advice. I plan to keep a full time job indeed while considering my route to investing in real estate. I do have a pretty good idea of what I want to do when it comes to buying and holding properties. Even if I don't do the whole vacation home buy and hold, I know my primary focus is on buying and holding residential properties. I was actually considering my first property to be near my campus (Michigan State University) where I can hopefully find a good deal on a duplex and then rent that out to graduate students or even small families since housing is ALWAYS a huge topic around these parts.

I'm sure I'll find a great deal of priceless info here in the BP community to the point where I know now that I won't have to pay an arm and a leg for education in real estate :).

@Jon Holdman Thank you so much for that insight. I completely understand what you mean. When I think of myself in real estate, what I see myself doing most is purchasing properties to rent them out to people. So more of a buy and hold investor. For example, I would love to purchase a property in a warm climate area and rent it out as a time share property for people who want to take a vacation and don't want to stay in a hotel.

I suppose what I'm trying to figure out is if that is something that I would need paid training for or even a real estate liscense.

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday I had a meeting with Tomie Raines Realtor Inc in East Lansing. Everything went really well and the training manager informed me on the expenses of real estate training at the company, prior to actually taking the class to get my real estate license and all. I was actually taken aback at the price initially, but I digress.

I wanted to ask you all if any of you have kept a full time job while still investing in real estate. It seems that based on the interview from yesterday, it would be wise for me to keep my full time job until I am able to pursue real estate full time. Has this been possible for anyone?

@Douglas Benson

Thanks so much for reaching out to me!!! I'd love to learn from you and your wife about the various REI opportunities in the area. I currently live in East Lansing so I'm sure you both will have some great insight.

Talk to you soon!!!

Thank you both for your insight. I was considering the FHA loan route due to my investment interests being in multi family homes.

I will continue to research options as well.

Hello Everyone,

As some of you know I am a newbie to REI. I've been doing some research and of course one of the topics I've been wondering about is how to finance my first property purchase.

What are some of the best finance options for a investor just starting out? I'd love some feedback from professionals regarding how they financed their own beginning properties.

Thanks for the welcome everyone!!!

Thanks for the Spartan love Steven!! And that is excellent advice to add parents onto a lease for those properties for students. I'll definitely keep that in mind.

It feels great to have another novice in the family such as yourself Langston. I'm sure we will gain tons of education from the site and forums.

Hello everyone!!! My name is Ashleigh Rogers and I am happy to be a part of the Bigger Pockets family. I'm just starting out in the real estate field and I'm very excited to begin searching for my first property. I currently live in East Lansing where I attended and graduated from Michigan State University - home of the 2014 Rose Bowl Champs!!!

Being that I am still close to campus, I'm looking to have my first property be a multi family home which I plan to rent out to graduate students and small families.

I look forward to networking with all of you as I work my way up to becoming a real estate agent. Thanks again for having me and I look forward to learning from all of you!!!