All Forum Posts by: Cameron Berens

@Steven Thomas

 Welcome to the site! My father and I are active buy and hold investors in Florence. We are currently in the process of further building our team as well. PM some time, I’m always looking to get to know other investors in the area.

Jeremy are you referring to something such as google voice? You get a seperate phone number that is linked to one (or multiple) other phone numbers so you don't have to give out your personal number. You can have the app on your phone and make/recieve calls from it, send text messages, block numbers, etc.. just like a normal phone but it will show as the google voice number not your personal number. I use it and love it.

I definitely wouldn't want them knowing where I'm at, at any given time either.

I am currently content with voicemail but I don't get them all that often unless it's from a doctor's office or maybe the dentist confirming an appointment. It seems these days if I don't answer my phone I end up receiving a text message or email promptly after as opposed to a voicemail. Most the time if it’s business related the conversation is over email anyways. I prefer to not spend too much time on the phone if at all possible. Much easier to send a quick email while I’m working or busy chasing my two crazy boys around the house instead of find a quiet place to hide and talk on the phone. I’m sure not everyone feels that way though.

Pretty much the same methods here as well. Erentpayment and P.O. Box. Wish we could switch fully to online but the P.O. box is less than a five minute drive from my house so not too terribly inconvenient.

Thanks for the great responses.

Having very little tenant requests in the past this definitely is a new tenant experience for us. After speaking more with my partner, I think we are going to allow her requests but she's covering all the costs of course. She seems to be a potential long-term tenant (two young daughters who go to school in the area and she works in the same city) so we are going to try to work with her.

We just signed a lease on Monday with a seemingly good tenant. She passed our application process and had all the money due for lease signing. Within hours I received a text of things she would like us to change or her be allowed to change. I’ve not really had tenants ask for much of any changes in the past so this is becoming a little worrisome to have all these requests right off the bat. Am I just being a strict landlord by wanting to deny most of these requests or is this a potential needy tenant? Please keep in mind this property has just gone through a pretty nice $5,000 fix up (new carpet, paint, faucets, light fixtures, etc..) and is only at $800/month rent.

-Remove the current fridge so she could bring hers (allowed this one because I needed a fridge in my basement anyways but kind of wishing I wouldn’t have because I think it made us look too lenient)

-Paint an accent wall in EVERY room including bathrooms (told her the color has to be approved by us and she must use a professional of our choice)

-Install a third lock for the front door (haven’t said yes or no)

-New kitchen faucet (current one is brand new but she wants one that has a hose on the end. She said she’d buy it but wants us to install it. I don’t want to allow this because it seems unnecessary)

-Mount her t.v. to the wall (not happening)

-New shower head (current one is brand new she just wants a “better” one)

This is a perfect timing post for me. I am in the process of filling a vacancy at one of our rentals and I have someone with a Section 8 voucher. Even though I have informed her we are not currently qualified to accept Section 8 housing she still is wanting to fill out an application and show the place to her 'baby dad.' I don't want to flat out tell her no but I also don't want to waste my time showing the place and accepting an application when we aren't even Section 8 qualified and that is the only way she can afford the rent.

Well showing her the rent checks coming in each month doesn't hurt.

Really though my wife and I both know where we want our family to be in the future and know that real estate is one of the ways we will get there. We both also just love everything about real estate and is really something we enjoy together.

For those who aren't lucky enough to have a spouse that is equally as thrilled about REI as they are I wouldn't let that stop you. I would just make sure to keep learning as much as you can and let your spouse see that this is a passion of yours. Start slow and let them see that you know what you are doing and keep them in the loop of what is going on. It may take some time to get them on board or maybe they won't ever have an interest in it but as long as they can see it is something that makes you happy hopefully they'll be supportive either way. Hopefully over time they will see real estate's AWESOMENESS and jump in the boat with you!

@Tim Kaminski Welcome to BP from across the river in KY!