All Forum Posts by: Cheryl Packham

I have used Quicken Rental for years.  It works well for the bookkeeping aspect of rental properties.  If you are looking for something, online Stessa seems to have a great way to link accounts and keep track of income and expenses as well as reporting.  

If you don't do your taxes, could you check with your bookkeeper or accountant and see if they have recommendations?  There is quite a bit to know about rental property taxes, so if you aren't familiar, be sure to consult a professional.  There is more to it than just income and expenses when filing your taxes.  

Hi Michael,

Be as authentic as possible.  Make sure they know that you saw their property.  Include something personal about it.  They probably get 30-40 "yellow letters" per year.  I know I have.  Tell them who you are and why you are interested in that property.  Ask for a phone call or email and provide your direct contact information.  

I also recommend doing any research you can about the property or the person to see if there is a reason it is vacant.  The better you understand the situation the more likely you are to solve their problem.

Definitely sounds like something I would check out!

Hi Muhamed,

I understand the paper jungle and keeping up to date on all the things that come with rental properties.  I am happy to chat with you about what I am doing to sort all this out if you want to, send me a message or email. 

I am sorry to hear about your situation.  HVAC systems are tricky and I learned some hard lessons about them as well.  The seller completed their portion of the contract and barring any negligence or fraud, you own this broken AC.  

Did you happen to get a home warranty when you purchased the property?  

Hi Justin,

It is wonderful that you are exploring options for becoming a real estate investor.  

My first bit of advice, it is always a good idea to get your financial wellness in a good place before jumping into the world of real estate investing.  

Have you been a landlord before?  If not then lenders require two years of landlord experience before they will count the rental income as income to offset your debt to income ratio for a new loan.

Generally, a lender will not allow the down payment of your new loan to be from debt.  Your debt to income is going to be a big factor here.  

 Glad I could help.  Feel free to reach out if you need anything else. 

Hi Dan,

You stated you are closing on your first deal, does that mean you already have a signed purchase/sale agreement?  This agreement would outline who pays what as part of the original negotiation.  

Your title company will divide the closing costs based on the purchase/sale agreement. 

In my experience, I paid all the closing costs because of the price I could get, and I was paying cash.  

Also, it would not be recommended to waive the inspection period.  Make sure you have a really good idea of what state the property is in before closing.  

Hi Dan,

The first thing I would do is begin researching local building requirements.  Ensure you understand what the city/county/state requires for renovations.  In certain areas, you may be able to pull the permit as the property owner, which I recommend and if you want to talk more about that, let me know.  

Make sure you understand the licensing requirements for the type of work you are doing and have general knowledge of the codes for the job you want to be done.  You may be able to check out who has projects in your city from a public building permit portal and ask the property owner who they have doing the work and if they would use them again.  

And as @Eliott Elias said, never pay upfront, have a very detailed scope of work with a payment plan and trust but verify.

I hope that helps.

At first glance, it looks like you may be doubling the taxes and insurance.  

Purchase price = 109,900

Down payment = 27,475 

Total Loan = 82,425

30-year fixed at 8% is $605 per month for principal and interest.  (I hope you can get a better rate than that, just for figures here.

You have a mortgage payment listed at $744, which I am guessing you included the taxes and insurance into your mortgage payment as that is the amount you would pay to the bank for them to escrow those items. 

I hope that helps.