All Forum Posts by: Christopher Albritton

@ Matthew Paul - I'd think that a given....

@Christian Hutchinson - I haven't spoken with Quicken's Relocation Specialist yet, but I do know that Quicken offers incentives to help employees buy property. It includes "20k in forgivable loans, and another $5k for repairs". I'm thinking about taking advantage of this to move into my first rental property.

@Jeff B. - Part of me really wants to just start investing, but renting in the beginning would probably be the best thing to do in the beginning lest I get stuck with a sub-par property.

@Robert Syfery - Thank you! That's the first positive thing I've heard so far. What's even better is the presence you have there, so that gives me some hope when I start investing and if I do so in Detroit =]

Hello BP members!

I've accepted an offer to work for Quicken Loans at their Detroit office, and am looking to get some insight at what areas of town might be worth investing in/ move to.

In order to start my investing career I'm highly interested in buying a duplex-quad, seller financing, or rent to own opportunities.

Forgive me if the post should be in marketplace, and if so I'll gladly move this post there.

Thank you in advance for your advice, and I hope everyone has a fantastic New Years =D

@ Marc Manelis - Thank you for the tips - especially the vacuum cleaner one. That makes a lot of sense because I brought my vacuum from Bradenton to Gainesville with me when I moved up there to go to UF, and I keep my unit spotless!!

 @Sabrina Baldwin - Thank you so much!! I have thought about how I would hold the property and haven't discussed anything with an attorney but from everything I have read It seems an LLC is the most plausible choice. The Renters Insurance Form is nothing I knew about and am glad you mentioned that! Finally, thank you for referring to me to that site - looks like I'll have lots of info to dig into!

Thank you all for your input so far - you guys are fantastic =D

Corey and Joe thank you for the quote, and the questions that I need to make sure I detail in my plan!

@Account Closed- I like those tips n tricks you suggested there =P I also like the bit about rental properties being tools, and to not get attached to them. Landlording is a business - that's it, and that's something I need to always remember.

@Amber Koontz - I'm not sure to be honest. I've still one more year of university before I graduate, get a job, and can really focus on investing (or maybe sooner, who knows!), but I tend to like doing things on my own, and am very organized (I'm one of the few organized Bachelors Nancy was referring to =P). I'd like to say I could wait awhile and do what Mike Butler did and not get PM until I have 70+ properties - especially since the first property I plan on buying is a four plex where I will live in one unit. However, I could absolutely hate it and end up hiring sooner than I thought. The goal for now (or I suppose "will be" are the keywords) is to do it myself, and create as many systems as needed to make it a breeze for me until I get overloaded. When I get to as many properties as Mike Butler did, if not sooner, I might just start my own PM company - just have to wait and see at this point!

@ everyone - One thing that I feel kind of tied up on are the legalities of the business. I'm sure I can just google state approved landlord documents/ leases, and then meet with an attorney to add/ clarify w/e I need. As far as laws go - there are just so many, where do I start with that content? I know the basics about the protected classes/ not discriminating, but what about the things that aren't so obvious? I don't know what I don't know, and I'd like to think that, going back to Corey's quote about treating tenants right, having the leases and w/e other documents are required, and keeping the properties in as best a condition possible would be enough to avoid any lawsuits, but I always like to be prepared. I hate being blindsided. How did you guys go about learning this area of landlording?

Hello BP! As the title suggests I'm not a landlord yet, but I do plan to be one. Until then I have created my own business plan on how to operate and manage my future properties. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WdG4zpWFphCEyV.... This plan is more so just an exercise for me to think ahead, and about every aspect of land lording so I can be as prepared as possible. What I ask of you who are landlords presently is after reading over what I have already put down - what would you add, remove, or modify?

Please don't leave anything out! Anything that helps cut costs, raise revenue, or streamlines being a landlord is knowledge I greatly appreciate no matter how small or big the idea may be =D Thank you in advance for sharing your insight, and personal experiences!

Awesome, you guys definitely clarified this topic for me! Thank you very much! =D

Awesome, thank you all for the quick, informative responses!

As I understand it a bank will loan 80% to the investor directly, and then the seller takes out a 20% loan to finish off the remaining amount the investor couldn't muster up. Is this correct, and if so how would this work for a buy and hold property? I'm assuming I would be making two payments each month, one to the bank and one to the seller.

Say I've a quad that I have no money to put into, but I have an investor who does have the cash. What is a typical arrangement between the investor and I? Once I buy the property we split half of the monthly income, and then us splitting profits once the property is sold? Is this just one way of doing it?

Awesome! Thank you for the clarification Carolina and once again thank you Keela for creating this post!