All Forum Posts by: Cortney Jones

@Richard Salazar, most definitely!  That's where you will learn about local laws, market rates for rent, house values increasing or decreasing, meet potential partners, title companies, hard money lenders, private lenders, etc.  

Some of the REIA's are lame and all about just having one speaker after another who tries to sell you into their 3 day then coaching. Try different ones until you find the right fit. Also, as @Karen Rittenhouse mentioned, look on meetup.com for meetings too.  

Hi @Daniel Thomas "Rob", Welcome to BP and to real estate investing.  Sounds like you've done a lot of learning.  That's great!  Getting educated before jumping in is a good first step, but then you have to jump in. :-)

What business model are you looking into starting with and when are  your goals to start taking action?  Good place to start to commit to a group who can hold you accountable. 

@Andrew Merritt - certainly understand your thought process, but one thing you need to be careful of is making concessions to fit your "need."  This almost always results in regret.  

First off, if you're confident that rental rates are in the $1100/mo range for what you're offering and you feel good that it's competitive then there should be no concessions at all.  If you're not confident then I would reconsider the rental rate.  One month of vacancy can eat up your annual cash flow and it's not worth it.  Be competitive in rental rates for what you're offering. 

Also, there is this little thing called "fair housing" to consider.  If you adjust rental rates for various tenants, you can think in your head that it's due to the career of one of the tenants, but with a disgruntled tenant later on down the road it could be due to race, religion, sex, etc. and you can be caught in a federal violation. 

Have a system that rates each candidate the same, whatever you come up with.  We use a 1-5 scale for various key things that are important to us: rental history, income, debt to income ratio, referrals, clean car (it shows how they'll take care of your property), criminal check and credit check.   If you apply the system to EVERYONE equally it will help you stay out of trouble. 

Go get em' @Derek Luttrell!

@Derek Luttrell - First of all, Congratulations!  You should be proud and that is a great achievement.  Not just the savings, but also the foresight to purchase the home you're living in and renting out partial and getting the principal paydown from roommates.   We tell our 13 year old that is what we will do for her when she goes off to college.  Nice job!

It definitely feels safer to have a large chunk of money saved up and it's natural to feel a bit of a pit in your stomach when letting go of some of it.  I've been investing for 25+ years and every single time I write a big check I get a "GULP" feeling. :-)

My observation is that you are approved for a $100k duplex with 25% down.  That still leaves you with $25k in your bank.  Not a shabby amount for a 25 year old that has the desire and discipline to keep saving.  

Having a REI dream and making it come true comes with a slight amount of risk, otherwise, everyone would be doing it. I would venture to guess that most BP members will tell you that they felt that way on their first deal. It is scary, but the long term benefits are worth it. Many will probably also say that they wish they would have had the knowledge, foresight and courage to take action at 25 years old.

@Gary Kane  After 25+ years in the business, my 3 favorite things to do in my SDIRA are:

1) Lend to other investors, as @Rodney Miller stated

2) buy notes that others want to sell (I buy performing and non-performing)

3) buy tax liens and deeds

Of course, all 3 require some education on your part, so I would start with one, master that and then add in another one after you've made some more money and are ready to learn some new skills. 

If you need any help, feel free to reach out. 

You should have the following:

1) a good application that gathers general information, including Driver's license #, ss #, car license plate # and make/model and 2 relatives names, address & phone #.  This information will come in handy later when you have to evict someone and get a judgement on them.  (yes I said when).  This application should also have legal wording which allows for you to do a credit check, background check (including criminal) and reference check.  

The key is to actually do them. :-)  

2) a good lease.  A local realtor can probably give you a good starting point. Unless youre licensed you won't be allowed to use their's verbatim, but it will include good information.  Then, have an attorney that you hire to protect your interest create a modification, that way it will be cheaper than starting from scratch. 

3) a checklist and systems that make up your SOP's.  Find out your local laws for tenant/landlord relations and rights.  If (as an example in your state you are supposed to send 30 day late letter on 5th) on the 5th day of someone paying late, they are late, then follow your procedures to start eviction.  It doesn't mean that you can't still work with the person and have a human/customer service mindset, but it will help you in MANY ways to consistently and always follow the systems and procedures for everyone.   If you deviate from your written procedures and systems it leaves you open to discrimination suits and other issues.  Just stay consistent, but be fair. 

@Ray Lai is spot on @LaShonda Atkinson - 

People's motivations change over time.  Their willingness to take less, make deals and be motivated can happen over time.  Keep mailing to them, but maybe not as often.  If someone calls me up and is screaming at me, angry and hateful, then I take them off the list because I don't to do business with that person.  

Generally however, just because they say, "we're not interested in selling now" or "we have a renter in the property" or anything like that, doesn't mean that they won't have a need to sell later. 

Of course, all this is assuming you're mailing to quality lists that match your buying and exit strategy plans. :-)

Hi @Emily Morgan! Welcome to BP and congratulations on your new franchise. My husband and I lived and invested in Knoxville for 17 years. We used to do about $5-6k in marketing each month and buy 6-8 houses. We have a great deal of contacts there and still get calls every now and then from old marketing. We started a West Knox REIA many years ago and had a really great group. We also had a real estate brokerage firm so I'm familiar with Realtor rules and laws as well.

If I can ever be a source of support, information or referrals for you, feel free to reach out.  Also, if you have any private lending needs, note deals, or tax lien issues, feel free to send them my way.  

Best of luck to you!

@Paul G. - I agree with the putting good Karma out and helping people out.  Someone who has been a tenant that long is probably worth taking a risk on, in my humble opinion.  If I were in your shoes, I would go the route of raising her rent to $850 and taking a chance on her.  You never know, she may stay there 10 more years and pay down 1/3 of the mortgage for you without you ever having to replace carpet, paint, etc.  :-)

Sounds like a decent deal.  Yeh!