All Forum Posts by: Christine P.

I just did a quick search on Houzz, these painted fireplaces don't look too bad:

http://www.houzz.com/painted-fireplaces

White seems to be the most popular, but I could image gray looking pretty cool as well.

It sounds like a good opportunity - but before you pull the trigger, you need to do some more investigation. How much work will the property need? Just because a tenant has been in the unit for years, doesn't mean that they haven't been asking for a new stove, etc. for months. Ask to look at the leases. When were they signed? Asked to see current bills from water and gas. (Who pays for garbage?) Do the units have washer/dryers? (Or at least hooks ups?) If not, could you somehow put coin laundry on the site to increase revenue?

Have you listened to any of the podcast? I would suggest Podcast 8, especially if you want to be a property manager.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/03/07/profitable-ethical-landlord/

Be sure to check out the Property Analyzer:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/88/topics/25519-free-property-analysis-worksheet

Good Luck!

Welcome! Another Colorado investor here!

"We will have to hire someone to do most of the painting and floor refinishing as well as the updating of the kitchen so it is going to be a considerable investment for us."

This statement may be true - but they don't care. They just want to get rid of the house, probably sooner than later. And who is going to pay for the inspection that you want? Clarify that. You need to refocus your position to be helping them. Tell them you'll clean the house out, if it hasn't been done already. You need to show them that your offer has some other value, especially with the cash offers they are most likely to receive.

This rain never seems to end! Hope you all are safe.

Glad I could help!

I'm a research junkie, and find great info by just throwing in an address or subdivision in Google. Sure if the property is listed on the MLS you'll get all that info, but I've found addresses come up in newspaper articles, Craigslists ads, etc. You just never know.

(BTW, I can never get the name tag to work either...)

Here are some sites I use:

http://www.areavibes.com/

http://spotcrime.com/

I also use an app on our IPad by Esri. Type in an address and it'll give a demographic profile of a one mile radius. See:

http://www.esri.com/software/bao

Finally, start reading the local paper of the area you're considering. If it's out of state, you can order a digital subscription.

Good Luck!

Done!

Is there an option three?

Seriously, I would look to see if I could get another quote from at least one other PM, preferably two. If these two were the only game in town, I would lean toward the second, as they seem to do more inspections.

What are you plans for future investments, and does the property manager fit within those plans? If you plan to increase your portfolio with multi-unit properties and go with the second PM, you're going to have to go through this process all over again. It makes sense to have all of your properties with one PM.

Be sure to ask for multiple references and call every one (don't stop after the first reference, which most people do).

Good Luck!

Just like House Hunters, it's more fiction than reality.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/realestate/the-real-and-unreal-on-tvs-million-dollar-listing.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0