All Forum Posts by: Aaron Sizemore

Whoaaaa a famous person commented on our thread! Haha @Mindy Jensen.

@Lendell Williams Absolutely! Any investor or potential investor is welcome. 

Josh Pitts I am down depending on when. My schedule has been crazy lately. Post it on the FB page as well!

Mat O'Grady Are you still investing in the Groton/New London area? I live/invest in Charleston SC but routinely travel to Groton for work. Here for the next few days. Multi family homes are abundant and appear very reasonably priced. I know taxes are crazy high here but the numbers still look good compared to Charleston SC. I'm thinking about getting my feet wet here. I would like to pick your brain if you have some time to chat.

Originally posted by @Jeff James:

@Aaron Sizemore, hang in there.  Yes, some BP posters can be a bit abrasive.  Learn to take how they say something with a grain of salt.  I am not personally invested in your situation but I even I was taken back by the tone of a couple of your respondents.

Anyway, try to take a look at this thread and determine who provided the best advice and follow it if appropriate.  If you haven't already send them a colleague request.  Follow what they say in other posts to get a good perspective of their experience.  As a newbie experience is what you lack.  It appears that you have the drive and desire and you just need to gain experience to help guide you in the application of the principles that you already understand.

Best of luck to you in your future endeavors.  Keep plugging along doing the best job you can and you will do fine.  However, doing the best job you can includes seeking out the counsel of others when you are unsure of the appropriate course of action.  You may need to develop a tougher skin because the counsel will not always be diplomatic or what you want to hear.

 Thank you for the kind words sir. I understand that people can be abrasive and I figured it would happen. I also understand that I tend to be a perfectionist and micromanage on occasion and when one wheel gets out of balance, I panic.  I think I just need to relax a little I guess. But one good lesson I have learned, $40 is way too much of a late fee haha.

Ok ok I get it guys, $40 late fees are excessive. I did not create the contract and assumed the property manager knew what he was doing when he wrote it. It will most definately be changed on the next contract. As I stated earlier, this IS my first rental property so I am a total newbie. None of my friends or family invest in real estate so I rely on my property manager and the Biggerpockets community. However, it sounds as if everyone here has never been a newbie and made mistakes. Thanks for making a new investor feel awesome. 

Originally posted by @Amanda Sutherlin:

Originally posted by @Aaron Sizemore:

potential tenants but finally settled on a single woman in her 40's, who also held a respectful paying government job. However, she mentioned going through a rough divorce and foreclosure in 2009/2010 which left her with a terrible credit score (I know, first red flag). Property manager supposedly performed all other screenings and spoke highly of her regardless of the credit score. So, fast forward 10 months. She has paid perfect rent, sometimes even a couple days early. This month was different (assuming she spent her rent on Christmas?).

I would not assume anything and it bothers me the way you speak of her, seriously? This is a people business. Take the late fee money you made off this lady and buy some books like  How to Win Friends and Influence People for starters.

 Yes ma'am, will do. Thank you for your input.

Originally posted by @Darren Budahn:

Forget the $5 and be lucky that she hasn't questioned your $40 a day late fee which is probably either illegal or unenforceable.   

 Yeah I never really paid much attention to the $40 late fee in the contract. Not sure where the property manager got the number from. What is the going rate for a late fee?

Originally posted by @Kay Kay Singh:

Arron look at the big picture because I would consider her a good tenant because she paid on time for ten months which I think is good and secondly $40 per day late fee per day is a little off standard in the rental world , just my opinion and I hope everything works good for you.

 Thank you sir. I guess I have been fortunate with her and it could be way worse. She is my first tenant so I have yet to have a really bad one to open my eyes.

Thanks for the input guys. You all make very valid points. It was my first issue with landlording and I think I panicked and typed up a huge rant more than anything haha. I just didn't want to appear weak and set a precedent, whether it be $5, $25, or $800. I understand that it's not a huge amount of money. And I may have made my property manager sound way worse than he really is. Sometimes I just think he is too nice of a guy. My plan is to acquire a few more properties and maybe start doing the property management myself.