All Forum Posts by: DL Martin

It is your world, you just do not realize that it is your world. 

@steven gesis did not mention a witness or any other physical evidence linking the tenant to the theft/burglary.

Did the tenant strip the house? Very likely. If the tenant did not strip the house, did the tenant coordinate with another person to strip the house? Very likely. If the tenant did not coordinate with another person to strip the house, did the tenant provide access to the house so that the house could be stripped by an "unknown" person? Very likely. 

Prove it. 

Especially in 2018. 

Best case scenario, file a police report for the insurance claim. If it is a small town police department, maybe the case is assigned to an officer or detective. If the tenant can be located and is nearby, maybe the police interview him. If the tenant is dumb enough to be interviewed, then maybe he admits to "something." If he admits to "something" maybe some property is recovered and an arrest is made. 

If this occurred in a large city, there will be little or no action taken by the police department, ABSENT a witness or physical evidence (video from the business across the street showing the tenant hauling the furnace etc. out the front door and onto a truck.)

DL  

Hi Tyler.

The answer is outdoor temperature reset control for boiler.

http://www.heat-timer.com/outdoor-reset-control-sa...

DL

 I think that this is your best answer. Commit to 5 years of maniacal acquisition, value add and hold. 

Year 6, switch gears to mortgage pay down. 

Plenty of examples here on BP of young guys whom have done exactly that. I wasted 25+ years working at a "job" when I should have been buying, rehab'ing, renting, refinancing and repeating...

You live and you learn. 

DL 

I am nauseated by government programs such as Section 8. I was an inner city street cop for 25 years in a very large city and witnessed first hand the devastation wrought by government "help" programs on our people. THOUSANDS of times, I have walked through the front door of section 8 housing and seen first hand, THREE GENERATIONS OF PEOPLE UNDER ONE ROOF, whom have been convinced by government that they are so stupid, so lazy, and so devoid of potential, that they are unable to earn a living in the United States of America. It broke my spirit every time I saw it. 

I provide a clean, safe, quiet living situation for those who are striving to help themselves. 

I have a 39 unit, D Class complex. I have been at 100% occupancy since October of last year. In 2017 we had $0 legal expenses (evictions). Thus far in 2018 we have had $0 legal expenses (evictions).  

I have an informal waiting list to get in. 

Section 8 is for other landlords. It is not for me.

DL

Here are some strategies:

1. Decline to meet the requirements for  Section 8 .

2. Decline to meet the requirements for any state, county or city "program". 

3. Decline to rent to anyone who has a "sound system" in their vehicle.

4. Decline to rent to anyone who emits the odor of an alcoholic beverage during the interview.

5. Decline to rent to anyone whose clothing reeks of weed.

6. Decline to rent to anyone whose verbal diction is hurried, abrupt and without pause during the interview. 

7. Decline to rent to anyone who uses profane or bad language during the interview. 

8. Decline to rent to anyone who needs an apartment immediately.

9. Decline to rent to anyone with a dog.

10. Decline to rent to anyone who is not nice during the interview.  

Give preferential placement consideration to:

1. Anyone who is referred by a trusted existing tenant.

2. Anyone who keeps a close eye on their children during the interview.

3. Anyone who is moving to be closer to their job.

4. Anyone who is moving to be closer to a relative for babysitting to make it more convenient to get to their job.

5. Anyone who The Trinity tells you that you need to rent to. 

If you find that you have zero applicants when adhering to the above, then you need to repair your apartments or you need to repair your reputation.

DL

I am really enjoying your posts in this thread  @Jill F .

So my 39 unit has 3 buildings. I factored in the two biggest CapX items (new roofs, new boilers) at purchase to arrive at my offer price...  

During escrow (or whatever you happen to call the time that it takes the loan to close) I went to the big roofing supply company here in Cincinnati, spoke to the salesmen, and got the names of two roofers who always pay their bills on time and who purchase a good volume of supplies at that store. I called the two roofers, met with them, and obtained bids from them. I was careful to park my vehicle in such a manner that my California License Plates were not in view.  Both bids were right at $42k.  (they measured the footprint of the buildings, determined roof square feet and then multiplied x the "going rate" to arrive at a price. This bid only included the tear off of the existing EPDM and to replace with new  EPDM. The bid included ZERO wood sheathing replacement, which assumed that the underlayment was all solid. ***Neither roofer brought up the possibility of discovering rotten sheathing underneath the old roof.*** 

So we closed the deal on the apartment complex and got a referral from a family friend of @Jered Sturm and @Andy Sturm for an excellent roofer. The new bid was for tear off and replacement with a quality, thick, EPDM, an insulation layer, and included four (4) sheets of sheathing (4'x8') per building. Cost: $22k. $7k each for the two smaller buildings and $8k for the largest building. When they started tearing off the old roof, we quickly discovered that some roofs needed ten (10) or more sheets of sheathing. The roofer and I came to a quick handshake agreement in which he would replace all of the bad sheathing at no additional charge if I would purchase and deliver the wood to the jobsite. He had an 8 man crew and could install each sheet in just a few minutes. My cost for each sheet was only about $15, so on the buildings with even 10 or more failed sections, I was able to completely make "as new" for almost nothing. 

Here is my point:

Had I been an absentee owner, I am 100% sure that my property management company would have simply gotten a couple of bids, notified me that the bids were in the $42k range, added a property management surcharge of "X%" and then hired one of the roofers.  Who knows how much the sheathing replacements would have added to the final bill. Worse, maybe the roofer would have just called it "good" and re-roofed right over the failed areas. I'm sure that I wouldn't have found out for several years because the toughness of the EPDM material would have masked the underlying problems for a long time.

I took a hundred digital photos of the tear off, the problems found, and all of the new sheathing being installed. When and if I ever sell the place, the new owner will have documented evidence that he should have no roof issues for 20+ years. I think that's pretty cool. 

DL

PS. I would be remiss to fail to mention that I met The Sturm Brothers at "The Best Real Estate Investing Advice Ever"  Meet Up held the last Tuesday of every month in Cincinnati, which is hosted by @Joe Fairless and @grant rothenburger. 

Uh... @lee s...  I hate to break it to you, but you do live in Fly Over Country.  

Actually, you live in the very worst of flyover country because, based on the above description, you are no where near a real airport.  

But that probably won't matter when THE BULLET TRAIN is up and running. LOL.  (revised estimate to build, as of March 2018, $77.3 Billion.)

DL

#MAGA 

-Sorry. To clarify, I am asking what is the purchase price to clear that $200 per door? For example, What would be the purchase price on a TurnKey in Cincinnati that clears $200 per month at 25% down?  I'm guessing that that is a $60k house??? 

-Looooooooooooong Beach. LBC. South Compton. The Hood. Artesia and The Boulevard, to be specific. 

 -My numbers are kind of inconsequential because I self manage and run my own rehabs. My complex was D class when I bought it and $200k later it is solid C class. I am not the typical BP person because I just don't believe in "passive" income.  I prefer to "work" a couple of hours a week and know exactly what the heck is going on at my property. I live 3.6 miles from my complex. If I post my numbers, people will be falsely encouraged and think that they can replicate my results from a thousand miles away... not possible. For instance, when I am at a big box and I see a great closeout deal on vinyl flooring, I will buy enough to do an apartment or two whether or I need it or not at that time. Same goes for glass top electric ranges and fridges on Craigslist. I have a 40' shipping container on my property that I use for storage, so it makes it easy for me to stay ahead on appliances and other supplies. On Fridays, my maintenance man spends 30 minutes with the push mower mowing around the buildings.  I pop my zero turn on my little trailer, run over to the complex, and knock out the rest of the yard for him in 20 minutes. Then I come home and cut my own grass. (1/2 acre, 12 minutes front yard, 18 minutes back yard). I am a huge zero turn fan. LOL. I save over $100 per week at the complex and $50 per week at my own house, by cutting my own grass. Thats $600 per month... AND my properties always look nice for the weekend because if it is going to rain on Friday, I just cut it on Thursday. I paid for lawn service in California, both at my own home and at my little 4 plex, for 15 years. But I had a real job. I no longer have a real job. 

Critics of my style will scream, "You can't scale!!!"  I just smile because I don't really want to scale. BP People don't understand that. 

Different strokes for different folks.

DL 

Good Lord. Talk about "over broad as to be incorrect"..... 

I know many D class landlords and do not know of one single landlord who hires a security guard to collect rent.

Further, I worked as a police officer in some of the worst neighborhoods in Long Beach, CA for over a DECADE and not once was I ever dispatched to a robbery of a landlord, attempted robbery of a landlord. 

Generally speaking, landlords who decide to play the D Class landlord game have a very good idea what they are getting into. Further, her in the Midwest, nearly everyone has a concealed carry permit and they actually do carry. Two of my closest friends are ER Doctors and they both carry.  Neither of them are landlords, but I'm just saying, guns are not a dirty word here in the Midwest or in the South. 

DL

I worked in a profession for 25+ years that, looking back, with 20/20 vision,  by all accounts, was a complete and utter waste of time/money. I had a lot of fun, and worked with hundreds of awesome people, but the work itself was futile. 

Now, I own and self manage a 39 unit apartment complex full of working class people and retired people. Although I only really "work" a couple of hours a week, it is 100% more rewarding than my lifelong career. 

In my prior career, I never got the benefit of the doubt. As a landlord, I nearly always get the benefit of the doubt. These people (tenants) appreciate and REMEMBER what you do for them. Its pretty awesome and it makes me feel good. 

DL

p.s.  I do not do Section 8 or any other type of government aid. That may be good for other landlords, but it is not for me.