All Forum Posts by: Brian Kantor

Hi there. We use Ring Doorbells and Cameras for our STR in Vermont. We're in a rural part of the state with heavy winds, snow and rain much of the year. As such, power outages and down cable lines are commonplace.

We recently added Ring Doorbells and have noticed that every time the power goes out, one of the two units fails to reconnect when the power goes back on.

Questions for y'all:

1) Does anyone know if this is a device issue or a flaw in the software?

2) Ring does not allow the ability to reconnect remotely, I have to do it when I am at the property, which renders remote monitoring useless. Does SimpliSafe or another provider offer the ability to reconnect remotely?

Thanks!

-Brian

Hey, @Shelly Mainus. Tough break.

I am going through a similar situation with an improperly installed dishwasher that burst and caused flooding.

Full disclosure, I am not an attorney and don't pretend to be. But, this seems like it should come from their insurance. They should be filing their own claim, and paying their own deductible. This is what they have insurance for. The tough part is, which I am finding out in my case, is proving negligence on their end to trigger the insurance claim.

My vendor is claiming to his insurance that he did nothing wrong and the issue was my/my tenant's fault. They are asking for such a ridiculous amount of photographic proof that I only partly have. The more proof that you have, I'd take that, go back to them and firmly but politely ask to file the claim on their end. If they still balk, you'll probably want to seek legal assistance to recoup those funds via lawsuit. You'll probably be asked to provide similar evidence, but it's POSSIBLE the burden of proof MAY be easier. Even the threat of a lawsuit may be enough to get them to the table. If your evidence is light, your attorney may advise you to settle, which may be worth considering.

Good luck.

Hi, @Dan Creed. So sorry for your loss.

I think to start, you should ask yourself (and your siblings) if you're ready (and want) to manage properties. It can be more work than you might think. Is that something that you [all] are ready for. I see it as you having a few options:

1) You manage yourself. This can be a lot of work. Maybe a little less so if your dad really did keep great books and has a team in place to handle handyman calls and lease renewals. The handyman/contractor contacts are key. If you have those at the ready, you may want to try it out for a bit to see if you like it. I do not self-manage my long-term rentals (just my STR), but there are a ton of software options out there to help self manage. I know some people on here like RentRedi, but I have never used it and there are plenty of other options. I use Stessa for my accounting and have been quite pleased with it. Whoever amongst your siblings is the lead in management, even if that means "managing the managers", that person should be compensated somewhere in the 10% to 20% range depending on how active that person needs to be. Consider divvying up responsibilities to whoever has the skills to do so and splitting up that 10% to 20% accordingly.

2) Hire a Property Manager. You can find one on here. Interview a few and find one that you all like. Maybe find 2 or 3 and allocate them to different properties for Year 1 and then pick the best and move the rest to them in Year 2. This person/company will take 10% or so, but it could be worth it. They do 90% of the work for you and can make this whole thing more passive.

3) Sell. If your dad did keep great books and the properties are truly stable, there is no shame in selling, taking the profits and investing however you see fit. No fuss, no muss.

All three are solid options. There is no wrong answer. Good luck!

I am not a professional insurance broker and this is NOT professional advice, but unless you have a property in a C- or D class area, you may want to consider boosting your deductible as high as it will go that leads to real value. 

The only time you'll really tap into your insurance is for major issues, likely in the 10s of thousands of dollars range, and not something small. A small $1500 issue for example, is probably just worth paying out of pocket to keep you insurance premiums low. Chock that $1500 up to the cost of doing business and label as repairs/maintenance. I have a $2500 deductible on my policy and am OK paying anything up to that amount that's needed without filing a claim. Even at $3k or $5k worth of damage, I may decide that I'd still prefer not to file a claim.

But as you speak with your provider, you may find that the premium difference in raising your deductible much higher than that isn't worth it. For me, the premium difference between $1k deductible was worth it, but $2500 and the next tier up was not.

@Jay Hinrichs, I love this idea. We could offer to move their booking at the same rate to the off-season. And leave the choice up to them. We have a generator, so even if power goes out, our house will be fine.

Hi there. As is much of the US right now, Southern Vermont is undergoing some extreme weather right now. We had 30" snow last weekend, and temperatures rose today to 45 degrees and pouring rain. The area is flooding pretty seriously as a result. Around 5pm tonight, temps will drop back down to freezing and by midnight we'll be at a crisp 7 degrees. This place is about to be one giant brick of ice for a couple of days.

I have STR guests checking in this afternoon and then two turnovers between now and the 29th. No guest has asked [yet] to cancel or for any sort of recourse, but I am proactively thinking about how to handle.

Any POV y'all can share? Many thanks!

-Brian

Yes! I'm doing this right now, and despite the rising interest rate environment, am very happy with this decision. This is essentially the same thing as a HELOC, but using your stock portfolio as collateral instead of your home.

NOTE: I am a user of this strategy and AM NOT AN EXPERT OR A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER, so take this with a grain of salt. But here's what I can share:

1) There is a ~$100k asset minimum (give or take) needed in your account in order to do this.

2) This can't be with an electronic/self-managed brokerage account; it must be held with an investment professional

3) Like a credit card or HELOC, there is a minimum monthly payment, but there is no fixed amount or term.

4) The rate is variable, changing daily, but right now I am paying about 6.5% with the current interest rate environment.

5) You cannot borrow against the full value of your portfolio, just a pre-determined percentage of it. This is to keep you solvent in case of a market drop.

6) The more diverse your investment portfolio, the higher the above percentage can be; the less diverse the smaller amount you'll be able to borrow. (Index funds, bonds and cash are way better than having all of your money in Tesla or Gamestop

7) I do mine through my financial planner at Ameriprise and he uses a Goldman Sachs account.

If you PM me, I can share my planner's contact info.

Long-story short, this is an amazing option that is extremely underrated. But speak with a professional for details and discussion on risk. The biggest risk being that if your investments tank, you will immediately be forced to sell some of your stock to cover the difference.

I agree with @Kevin Sobilo and @Andrew Syrios..

For your first investment property, you shouldn't "get cute" and get yourself highly leveraged with Private Money lenders who charge high interest rates. Almost everyone, myself included, makes/made a ton of mistakes on their first property. Assume that you'll be in the same boat. With that in mind, you're putting yourself at an exponentially higher risk with that extra leverage

In my humble opinion, consider these following alternatives:

1) Save up more money (as you suggested) to cover the 20% down + an emergency reserve

2) Look into another, less expensive market (as Kevin suggested). For example, I bought my first investment property for $20k (total!) + $25k in renovations in Detroit, MI.

3) If you need help on a down-payment, take a loan from or offer an equity stake to a friend or family member. Yes there are risks here mixing money and family, but search the forums for some advice on this.

Good luck!

Lucky for you, there is a brand new BP book on this exact topic :)

Check out "30 Day Stay".

Good luck!

Hi, @Bradley Gasparovich. Welcome to this crazy world!

TLDR, there are a ton of great reasons to build from scratch (brand new systems that shouldn't quickly fail at the top of that list), but with that said, as a first time investor building from the ground up also comes with a ton of risk (budgets almost always go over and timelines almost always go long). There are so many existing properties in Michigan that are already built, that you can easily get a mortgage for, and that with a minor facelift, you can get them rentable quickly.

I am not suggesting that you never build from the ground up, but that for your first property, you think twice about it.

I have two SFHs in the Detroit area that both cashflow pretty well and have also appreciated nicely.

I'd also ask myself why there arent more duplexes in your area, there could be some ordinances that prohibit building new ones. 

Good luck with whatever you choose.