All Forum Posts by: Darwin Crawford

Working great!  Have 45 panels on the roof, average power bill is about $40 and the rents have climbed nicely.  One of the better investments of my career for sure. 

@Kristina Heimstaedt this old thread just popped back up in my feed, so I thought I'd update it. I commissioned an 8.4kW system on my 4 plex roughly a year ago, and am installing a second 8kW on another meter.  

The tenants LOVE it, and I LOVE the returns.  I opted to just include AC/Heat from mini-spit units in each apartment, and let the tenants keep their meters for anything that plugs into the walls and the lights, but it has been a great call.  

In regards to the billing, I did learn that tenants want simple, so I just did the math on power, divided it up per bedroom and added it to the rent.  So the "for rent" ad just says "apartment with AC/Heat/Hot/Cold water included for $XX" and it's worked really well.  I'm the highest rent on my street and people ask me weekly if I have openings.  

Granted, i am on a commercial net metered account, and did most of the install myself, total installed cost per watt for me is about $1.40, wheras market rate is probably $3.50-$4 for same equipment, but you can scrounge and make it work.  

The other nice part is that I raise the rent just a bit each year and nobody complains, they know its a good deal and don't want to lose it.  Anyway, i know its been forever but i did want to chime in with some historical data.  

Oh, and my power bill for the ENTIRE BUILDING is about $41.25 each month.  11 ac units running and 3 electric hot water heaters.  Shabam.  

@Erin Dorsey Robinson Thank you, its been a bit of a journey, but so far, so good.  Who knows what the future will hold.  @Patrick M. yes, I agree with you, the line I give to every person who has ever rented from me is "I don't scare easily but I don't like surprises, so if there is a problem be upfront and we are good".  It hasn't failed me yet.  

And you are correct, this is going to get economically very ugly, and some people are going to take some losses.  It's just part of the game.  The first domino to fall will be over-leveraged AirBnb hosts, and then commercial landlords.  Residential will lag some, but it's coming.  And yes, mind games are part of the success formula.  I spent a couple years bumping around the debt business, and there are highly predictable patterns in who people will stiff on bills, and in what order, when things go sideways.  I personally would rather be the bill they want to pay first, and will use any means necessary to get there.  Your mileage may vary.  

Man, this one got salty quick!  Take this any way you want, but all of my tenants have been great, and I have gotten a lot of emails along the lines of "you work so hard and we love this space and we're paying rent even though X happened".  

Despite what a lot of you might think, the art of negotiation is making the other party feel good about giving you your way.  I learned that from a guy who is way better at it than you or I could ever hope to be.   A lot of my competition likes to see this as a "landlord VERSUS tenant thing" and then go to court (GFL right now) to prove their point.  Its a lot easier, a lot cheaper, and a lot more effective to just be good at being a landlord, and people will WANT to pay you.  

Or, you can hop onto a forum and write a few lines about how tough you are and how things "should" be.  And maybe that'll help.  Or maybe it won't.  

Bottom line - good landlords get good results.  If the opposite is true, it might be time for a look in the mirror to find out who is making a dogs breakfast out of your business.  

Why not just address the source of the problem?  

@Kai Van Leuven - I like your train of thought, and will add my unsolicited $0.02....

1) Real estate is extremely niche.  Those who I know who are most successful have picked a niche based on their skills and know it inside and out, including the demographic forces behind it.  I think that anyone who doesn't take this approach is not in the game. 

2) There is a gentleman out there, goes by "Warren Buffet", who is known for having made a couple of shekels over his career.  Google him if needed.  He is, among other things, obsessed with demographics and their effects on different markets.  Real estate is no different.  To me, knowing the long-term demographics as best as you can beats about anything else out there.  

3) Given a long enough time line, 2 things happen:  1 is that survival rates drop to ZERO, and 2 is that most storms can be weathered.  Hedge your bets.  Keep liquidity high enough to not get caught.  Know your niche enough to stress-test your assets.  If you took a 25-40% hit in rental income for 12-18 months (possible, and even probable in some markets) would you be able to hang on?  Put some hedges in place against market risks.  Inflation does us in the property world a lot of good.  Stagflation?  Not as much.  Hedge your worrying!  One day we will all be gone, and none of this will matter.  Collect the rent, and go enjoy life.  Its short.  

4) Educate yourself.  Learn new ways to make money on property.  Try them out.  Talk to other investors.  Rental marketing is still in the fkn dark ages.  Most rental property management is total garbage.  Be better.  What can you do to make your property more appealing in a downturn?  Can you creatively get extra revenue from it?  Can you get better at negotiation?  At buying property for a discount?  What would be a skill you can learn to profit from a market correction?  

The point being, is that there are risks out there we can't control, and no point in worrying about them.  buy right, stay away from stupid risky loans, keep your properties in good condition, and just go be happy.  Isn't that the point of all this?  

I use and LOVE Cozy.  So do (most) of my tenants.  They're owned by CoStar.  

Cozy dot co, NOT dot com

The paid option ($2.99/door) as of this writing, gets you paid in 2-3 days.  The free option usually shows up around the 7th-8th of the month.  

Not a big deal for me, but just something to be aware of.  

You can also do background/credit on there, and require renters insurance. 

Wow!!

@Diane G. thank you for sharing that, I've heard of this happening but have not ever seen "real life" numbers.  

Kudos for making it work in San Fran, I know that is a really tough place to be a landlord.  In AZ, we just give them 30 days notice when the lease is up, no money needed.  

I'm with @Andrew B. that it's a little mind blowing to think about, but hey, those are the rules I guess and such is life.  

If you ever get into another negotiation, I really love the book "never split the difference", its made me a lot of money in the negotiation phase of things.  Best $18 on amazon I've ever spent I think. 

@Account Closed - some of them were, some of them were not.  

All you need on a property is a deal, meaning a very low price relative to what type of shape the property is in.  

You can wholesale anything at the right price.  

But if it is in rough shape, the hardest part is accurately judging rehab costs, which is very local.  

@Lydia R. - nope, sorry, got nothing for sale.  The info I am trying to give comes from working with some really smart people and doing a lot of deals.  

But as i like to say here - all of your activities on BP, including reading what everyone writes, are completely voluntary.  

Easy.  

Take $2k, buy a bunch of books and a month in a cabin somewhere quiet to read and absorb them.  top of the list would be anything related to negotiation.  

Then come back, use your $98k balance to get some loans, and buy for cashflow.  Understand you might have to look at a thousand "deals" before you close on one.  

Screw the cycle, buy on fundamentals. My last 2 deals were off the MLS and I got pricing right where I wanted it. Learn to negotiate like a pro. The money is just a tool.