All Forum Posts by: Benjamin Eccles

Hello BP community! I am doing some market research for my virtual tour/360 photography company aimed towards Real Estate professionals, Property managers, and Investors. I originally joined BP to learn about investing, but after quickly realizing I would have a better chance of succeeding with some money, I am looking to start a virtual tour business as photography (specifically 360 photography) is a hobby of mine. I am hoping to provide a fantastic service to the Minneapolis/St. Paul real estate community while also learning about investing and the real estate industry hands on.

I'm sure most people are somewhat familiar with virtual tours, many higher-end listings and luxury apartment complexes have them. I would love to hear some feedback from the community about good and bad experiences with virtual tours. What do you use them for? What did you pay for the service? Are there certain features or capabilities you wish your virtual tours had? 

I see this service becoming more and more popular with the pandemic continuing to impact all in-person contact. But it still seems that many average priced homes, apartments, and spaces do not get to utilize/benefit from the service (I assume because of the price point of the service?). Just wanted to get a discussion going, happy to help in any way I can!

@Marcus Auerbach quite an interesting impact this pandemic has had. Obviously none of us can see the future but do you see this causing a large amount of homes to flood the market once some sort of “all clear” is issued? Will that potentially cause the price drop people were waiting on?

All very interesting, I look forward to following your future updates Marcus. Newbie here who used to live in Milwaukee and may make it my starting point for investing in the future!

Hello all, How much do you ask for a security deposit for student rentals? Equal to a month's rent? More? Do you find it fair/ethical to require a larger deposit for students as opposed to non-student tenants? How much damage does their have to be for you to decide to not reimburse the deposit? Thanks for any insight!

This is incredibly helpful! Thanks Kenneth!

Hello all,

I am wondering as a full time student, if I will have the time available to start investing in buy and hold real estate? My classes take up the majority of my morning and early afternoon, then of course I have to spend time outside of class studying. I consider myself a pretty motivated person and I love to be busy doing things but I just don't know the time commitment I'm making. 

My plan is to buy student housing around my university, because I feel as though I have a market advantage being that I know exactly what students are looking for. I would definitely be looking for a management company or property manager to handle the day to day things, what is left for me to deal with? Will I be spending 2 hours a day, 2 hours a week, or 2 hours a month on my investment properties?

Thank you for any information you can provide!

I had a quick question for those of you that use a professional property manager. 

What do you find yourself still doing even though you have a property manager? Is it truly "passive income" if you find the right PM or is there always work to be done by the owner? List any and all tasks you can think of. 

So I have a question that I couldn't really find on the forums so I decided I'd start a new thread. What are the tips and tricks for asking individual owners if they are interested in selling. I have my eye on a few different properties and I know who the owner is so I just need to know the correct way to ask. I understand this probably differs for every situation but any general advice would be really helpful! If it matters, the properties I'm looking at are located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin!

Thank you all for the input! 

I want to confirm what I believe is true - Does this "rule" encompass all expenses besides mortgage? For example, does it take into account property management fees, insurance, capex, etc?

I need some experienced investors to way in on this. How accurate is the 50% rule? I do not own any properties and I never have so I truly have no idea how much it costs to be a homeowner (including all of the expenses besides the mortgage). I completely understand that this rule of thumb isn't to be used as the deciding factor on whether or not you should invest in a property but I do want to know what other peoples experience has been and if 50% is a reliable assumption. 

Does anyone find it helpful to just put away 50% of the gross rental income you receive into a separate bank account and only touch it for upkeep and expenses? Or is it more of a mental reminder that you shouldn't spend all of your left over cash after paying the mortgage?

Thanks for any advice, opinion, or story!

- Ben

Troy Beebe thanks for the advice!