All Forum Posts by: Chris Virgil-Stone

@Thomas S. Great point on not making an ultimatum. Unfortunately they just re-signed for another year so they will be below market but it will be adjusted accordingly.

@Jim K. Good point, as soon as I stepped in I knew I should have inspected it before the appraisal and will going forward. 

I have a tenant who just re-signed for their 3rd year. They have been great, paying on time and never had any issues other than some small HOA compliance (letting weeds grow). I had visited their parents house when signing the lease (younger couple) in an A+ neighborhood and very clean.

I felt there had been trust built up between us. I contacted them every 4 months or so to make sure there were no issues and they are enjoying the home. We also send out cards on Christmas, when they got married, etc. The feeling of trust caused me to talk myself into justifying only drive by inspections, which appeared to pass, aside from a piece of garbage in the lawn here and there. 

I knew I needed to start inspecting my properties on a regular basis (~6 months). I had always done this in the past but got out of the habit. I am working to get an ELOC on this property to finance my next couple of deals. Today was the appraisal.

I've never been embarrassed to show one of my properties to someone else, whether occupied or not. Today was a different story. There were clothes and random trash/belongings strung all throughout the house. There was food on plates left around the living room, fly strips hanging from the kitchen light, fruit snacks on the carpet, and the toilets/showers looked like they had not been cleaned in 6+ months. 

There were other concerning items like a hardwired smoke alarm taken down, the new fridge handle that I had purchased ($60) was not on the fridge, and there was fallen paint and a large water stain on the kitchen ceiling (2 baths and wash/dryer above that area). These will be addressed without any "gray lines".

It is stated in my lease that "Tenant is responsible for keeping all interior and exterior of property clean and free of clutter and dirt/grime". I plan to give them 2 weeks to cure their default for all violations including their dirty place and start doing regular inspections. 

What would you/have you done in situations like this? They could definitely be much dirtier and they have been great tenants despite these items. I will work to "train" them and avoid this moving forward. I don't deem this eviction worthy and want to keep them. FYI- they are below market rent by $100-150/mo to entice long term tenancy. I appreciate all input!

Sounds like I need to expand my area to Columbus. Congrats!

Awesome job! Were there any unexpected hiccups?

As mentioned $100/door might not provide enough to alleviate from unexpected events (even assuming capex, vacancy, etc is included in expenses). You also need to determine what your time is worth and your reason for investing (cash flow, appreciation, etc). Need to determine the cash on cash return...so it depends on your $ investment in the property. I would not spend the time on a $100 door investment, as it would probably take good amount of effort and time that could be spent on an investment making $2-400/door.

I use erentpayment for collections and rentecdirect for accounting/record keeping/background checks. As @Jim Adrian mentioned erentpayment had some issues but I also was not affected. $3/collection and you can set it so the tenant cannot make changes to the automatic withdrawal from their account. You can also have the tenant pay the $3 payment fee.

It depends...I was always weary of HOAs but all of my current proprieties have them. They are on the low end of structuring what you can and cant do, mainly wanting to keep a clean, nice neighborhood (all single family communities). Compared to other local communities without an HOA, I see a big difference in appearance and market value. You always need to include the HOA fees in your calculations, and might need to add "cushion" depending on what type of property you buy (some seem to have HOA assessments more often than others). If the HOA doesn't seem to be doing a good job, then it might have me skeptical.

@Melonie Dickson an inspection is the best ~$400 you'll spend, especially on a first home. Unless you're a very seasoned investor, I would never suggest waiving that contingency. Your buyer agent is suppose to look out for your interest, and it doesn't seem like it is their intention. I typically bid on 10-20 properties before I get an accepted offer, and I'm okay with that. I'd rather miss out on a good deal than to get stuck in a bad one.

Not to be biased but my bet is in or around Atlanta. They recently bought Whole Foods, also based in Atlanta. Atlanta is also the tech hub of the south. 

@Thomas S.

@J Scott has processes and procedures in place to allow him to manage his properties effectively in short period of time. I spend less than 30 minutes a month on 3 rental properties. I do this through automation of processes, picking good tenants, and keeping my properties in excellent condition. Initially, I spent more time managing and maintaining my properties. If you are spending too much of your time reviewing and managing your properties, your tenants will see that and it will send a message to them. They typically like a "automated" landlord and not a "do it yourself landlord". I've been both and there's benefits to both, but to grow a successful business your need to be the "automated" and scale your investments.