All Forum Posts by: Chris Szepessy

I have no experience owning/running a campground, but depending on where it is, I may be a customer!  Good luck with it!

I have a travel trailer and I rented it out once to a lady I know.  It was for her daughter-in-law to use for a week.  They took extremely good care of it and I made a little over $100/night.  I have thought about renting it out to other people, but like a lot of tenants, they probably won't take extremely good care of it.  They certainly don't hold value, and I could be wrong about this, but I believe only motorhomes can be financed for 30 years.  Not sure if you were looking for a motorhome or a fifth wheel/travel trailer, but either way, like @Matthew Paul said, most people can't drive a car, so a 30-40 foot RV may be out of the question.  However, depending on how much time you have, you could always drive the RV to the campground and have the "renter" meet you there, or you could put it on a "seasonal" site and just rent it out nightly/ weekly/monthly and not have to worry about moving it each time someone wants to use it.  I'm not sure if you would make a lot of money doing it, but you could definitely off set the cost of the RV by renting it out.  I also recommend buying one that's 2-3 years old so you don't have to worry about losing as much value.

I had also considered buying a smallish piece of land and putting a travel trailer or two on it and "Air BnB" it.  I'd have land for my personal use and still offset the cost.  

All that aside, camping is great!  We've been doing it for 6-7 years we love it! 

The spaghetti down the drain stories reminded me of another story.  This couple (mid 20's) with a young child called and said their toilet was clogged.  Their toilet was clogged before because their kid threw a toy in there and flushed it, so we tell the plumber to let us know what they find so we can bill them if it was their fault.  Plumber calls us and says "we told them we pulled something out of the toilet and they immediately say "we haven't had cabbage in days!"  The plumber never told them what they found (it was cabbage) but they incriminated themselves right away.  

Most of my co-workers are aware that I have a couple rentals.  Some people have "jokingly" called me a slumlord, others have said "have fun fixing toilets at 3 AM" like @ Andrew Ware said.  A guy who spends his days off relaxing on the couch all day says "must be nice..."  Another co-worker claims to own 3-4 rentals but a quick tax record search shows that's a lie (which he's known to do quite often).  My boss knows I have a couple rentals and he actually wants to get into real estate as well.  He sort of beats around the bush about wanting to partner with me, but that's a line I won't cross.  I don't need people thinking I'm getting special treatment because we own property together.  I will discuss it with him and give him any advice I can, even though I'm not an expert myself.  I don't let my real estate interfere w/ my job in any way, so I don't see the issue with people knowing.  I certainly don't brag about it in any way.  I actually get made fun of at work for being so "cheap" even though I prefer to be called frugal.  lol

I think a lot of landlords look at why their credit is bad.  Is it unpaid hospital bills or unpaid utility bills, cell phone bills, etc.?  Even the most responsible people can have a hard time paying thousands in  hospital bills, but not paying utility companies usually comes down to just wanting to spend the money elsewhere.  But again, every situation is different, but at least this may be a starting point for you. 

I used to think the same way...if someone has a 700+ credit score, they would just buy a house.  I now realize that a lot of people may not want to be tied down to an area for years or they just like the "care free" living when it comes to renting.  It's easier/cheaper to just call the landlord when there's a problem instead of calling a plumber/electrician/etc.  

When I did PM, there was a Chinese restaurant in one of our buildings.  The owner spoke very little english.  When it came lease renewal time, he brought his brother who spoke english very well.  I'm no expert, but I think it would be more their responsibility to bring someone who can translate for them.  They may just assume it's a "basic" lease (and maybe it is) and not be too concerned, so in that case it might be worth it for you to spend a few dollars and have someone come in and translate for them.  Good luck!

I have a bunch of stories, but the most recent was a guy who was living in a local motel.  The county had put him up there because he was homeless.  On the phone he tells me he just go custody of his son, he's in the process of getting a job, gets some sort of help from the state, etc.  He begged to see the apartment as soon as I get out of work.  Tell him that's not an option as I have kids who need to get to their sport practices.  I set an appt. up for the next day.  I get a call at 445 (shortly after I get out of work) from a different number and person (female) asking if they can come quick and look at the apartment.  I live right next door so I reluctantly agreed.  The girl and a guy with a 10 year old kid pull up and the guy says "yeah, I talked to you earlier today.  I had my niece call you because I really need to get out of the motel." I show him the place quick, give him the application that he HAD to fill out right away as we're talking.  He leaves the part about convictions blank, so I ask him.  He said "Ok, I was arrested once for sales a long time ago, but I don't do that anymore." I said "Ok, I'll get back to you." He offers to pay an extra $100 the first month if I rent to him.  I do a quick search later on on the dept. of corrections website and he was arrested THREE times in the last 10 years, most recently in like 2012 (this was in 2014), for drug sales.  

I'm not sure how he had custody of his son.  I should also mention that his son was wearing $150 shoes while he was "homeless." Wonder how he afforded those...

I really enjoyed reading this thread!

When I did property management, we had a younger couple (early 20's) renting from us.  They called about a maintenance issue.  We go to fix it and when we walk in the place is a disaster.  They must have been able to see the disgust on our faces because the girl says right away, "I can't wait for spring so we can do some spring cleaning."  This was in december and they had only been there for a  month or two.    

I did PM for quite a while.  I'm sure I'll have more to add.

The last rental I bought, I met the neighbor and he wasn’t exactly thrilled, either. I told him I’m not an “absentee” landlord and that I promise him that I’d put good people in there. When I was working on the house he’d bring vegetables from his garden over for me and we’d talk for a while. I gave him my phone number in case there was ever any issues and told him to call me whenever. The tenants that moved in would help him snow blow his driveway and do other things he needed help with. He’s since passed away. Sorry you had a bad experience with the neighbors at your new place. I know some people are just miserable all the time, but maybe if you assured him that you’d do your best to get good tenants and possibly give him your number in case of any problems, he may have lightened up a bit. I do see the potential issues with giving your number out, though. Some people will call over the smallest “problem.” Good luck!

I'm (sorta) with you.  We spend at least $120-130/week, sometimes more, for my wife and I and two kids. However, my kids (boys) are almost 8 and 11.  I shop mostly at Wal-Mart because it's the most convenient.  I realize that convenience it's probably costing me a lot of money.  After listening to some podcasts about cutting grocery bills, that's where I plan to focus my attention to start.  Hopefully you can find a way to cut your expenses there as well.