All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Not surprised, there are a lot of 100 year old homes that could withstand a nuclear blast they're so sturdy. Folks have been turning them into great rentals...the word is clearly out.

Indy is looking to be a great place to invest in buy and hold rentals. Basically, the city itself has already hosted a Super Bowl. Which was funny because people objected, saying the city was too small to accommodate a sporting event of the SB scale. Except that every year the Indianapolis 500 goes off without a hitch, and is the single largest single day sporting even in the history of the planet.

Why I said that, every spare dollar goes to the Colts, Pacers, and the Motor Speedway. Peyton Manning is gone as is all of his money. Andrew Luck is great, but not Peyton. The Pacers are exciting, but only just. Indy's on the verge of losing what little it had to make in not an armpit between St. Louis and Cleveland.

In other words, the rental market is going to be just fine, as the lower income folks continue to suffer. Indy is a hard town, just like every other inner city and depressed area. Lot's of 70 year old homes can be bought for 50K and turned into a good cash flow with a good CAP.

Also, look at Lafayette. Not West Lafayette, although there is some coin in the Purdue rental...but Lafayette as a whole. There's this dividing line that's the Wabash River and it's a more civil boundary but very Hatfield v. McCoy. If you're on the west side it's because you work over there, or you're affiliated with Purdue. Lafayette folks don't cross the river if they don't have to between August and May. Unless to tailgate, that's okay.

Lafayette in turn has your true blue collar, struggling, uneducated factory worker. North 9th Street is loaded with rental homes that have long been converted into apartments. Lafayette is small and centrally built, so all the DUI recipients can still walk to the bars and to the softball fields.

It's an exceptionally depressing life in Lafayette, you should be able to turn quite a profit there.

I would totally invest there, if I could guarantee I'd never have to go back. It's actually a very pretty town, pretty low crime considering. 

Ha, no. I would never. It's only come up once or twice directly with me, and nothing really came of it. The conversation was merely that we would need to see all documentation for any service animal to be allowed on the premises (it was a no-pets property). She said she would provide and never called back and didn't rent the property.

The others have been inquiries of existing tenants looking to save money, but who clearly didn't have enough follow through to get what was needed.

Back to the original post, I make it clear that no animals are permitted on the premises for any reason without being approved by me first. Failure to follow that part of the lease is ground for immediate eviction. It's not come up yet someone challenged me with official documentation on a service animal. Lot's of people try to get out of the fee's by saying they have one, but then can't provide the paperwork and pay the fee (bc they're full of it).

Of course, I would never discriminate against someone with a legitimate service animal....and by legit, I mean they've taken the time and energy to validate their service iguana or gold-fish. Fine you checked the block, no fee.

The service animal scam at the verbal level is just one of a long line of traits in potential tenants I do my best to avoid. The dishonesty the original poster mentioned is what I think should be their trigger to get that tenant out.

I charge a pet fee even if they say it's a service animal. I set that expectation up front, all animals...dogs, cats, snakes, hampsters, etc. There is a fee. I do specifically make them sign a form that says there will be no pets, to include service animals. Violation after that is eviction. I give them one chance to start paying, and then the discussion is over and it's eviction.

I'm not saying they can't have pets, they can..there's a fee. I'm not saying they can't have service animals, they can, there's a fee for having a domesticated animal residing inside my property. They can pay the fee or be evicted. It eliminates the crutch that it's a service animal, which is fine...there's just a fee.

As for the other adult, that's immediate eviction.

Don't talk, don't text, serve. There are plenty of tenants out there that are wonderful. Cut ties quickly and move on.

I know it will be a hassle and expensive but this won't be the last issue you have with this tenant if you don't.

There are lots of "Free to play" models out there that just make you look like an amateur. Google Voice is okay I guess if you pay for it, but the free stuff is just...unprofessional. This is a business you are running, even if you don't have an LLC yet, or an EIN yet, you should have the mindset.

Get another phone, separate from your family plan, or a part of it...either is fine. Separate is easiest, and the easiest for deduction purposes. And it's the most professional. Yes, you have to carry two phones, but if that really bothers you, I mean...it shouldn't bother you.

Then when you on vacation, or are indisposed the "work phone" can be passed on to another manager while you're out.

I went ghetto cheap on my first "work" phone, before going back and getting to newest iPhone. I text on that thing three times as much as I do my personal phone. That's the number I use on my business cards, business contacts and advertisements. People randomly text me about property, renters call and text for all of their needs. All the ring tones are different, and my kids even know what "Daddy's work phone" sounds like.

Self managing is great, I do it for now. It is more than just a 10% expense savings. There are things....real things...you'll need.

Keep your mindset and thought process at all times focused towards maximum professionalism and functionality.

Save Magic Jack for the informercials :)

Read your agreement first, there's generally a notice that will need to be provided.

Best advice, it's just business...and treat it as such. Also, don't make the notification a discussion, keep the emotion out of it. They should keep the emotion out of it.

Generally for me, if I have to (or can) send a certified letter, I do. I then type up an email giving notice and stating my extremely generic reasons for the split. I would call, be extremely brief, explain you'll be following up with an email shortly, say goodbye, and then press send. The purpose of the notice is to protect you and your asset(s) from any sort of penalty.

"We've decided to go in a different direction with Property Management, and we're going to exercise our X day notice now with a last day of X. I want to thank you for all of the service and support you've provided me/us during our time together. If you could please prepare each of my properties for administrative transfer, and give me an YTD breakdown of the financials for each before our last day. I'm going to follow up with an email shortly, for each of our records, and am sending official cancellation by certified mail."

From there get off the phone. I mean I generally ask if they have any questions because I can't help myself, and I always regret asking. You don't need to be crass, but you also don't need to talk it out either. The longer you let the conversation happen the more there's a chance they'll talk you out of it.

General Liability insurance is the absolute first step. They have to SHOW YOU, and then you have to call and confirm that the policy is valid.

GC license in my state often means a higher price point, BUT if you're permitting or dealing with code, then ABSOLUTELY, get the license creds and then call to verify.

Make them sign a Lein Waiver before collecting final payment.

Really, this business is full of both good people and bad. Things should proceed exactly how you two agree that they will. Your vendor should be available and communicative. If not, they shouldn't be hired.

People flake out, and we all have made errors in judgement. Just be ready and act quickly. All of the pro's I've used have NEVER:

1. Needed cash from me to afford materials.

2. Needed special consideration (like doing the work after another job, etc)

3. Broken their word on pricing guarantees. When the pricing changes, they tell me why and give me the choice.

4. Missed a deadline and just hoped I wouldn't notice.

If any of the above happens, they're done with me...forever. And I make that expectation clear.

We all get hosed from bad people, it happens. Trust your gut, and your brain. Do not surrender your dominance, and for the love of all that is good in this world, leave emotion out of it.

I read this post while laying in bed last night. I guess it stuck with me in my sleep because I've been somewhat mulling over different points all morning. I nearly dropped a kid off at the wrong school being distracted.

Perhaps what's bothering me is what I think worries everyone. Being judged against for that insane amount that ruins everything and from which, is unrecoverable.

The news is so full of what seems to be people with questionable intentions suing for what seems like insane amounts of money. If you ever take the time to click into those stories you often see that there was so much more to the story than the title implies. Some famous lawsuit stories are often not even close to their urban legend.

The thing that I often find myself annoyed at hearing, is when people don't understand what 'suing' means. It's not as negative as it sounds, its really just the process. You don't just call up State Farm and ask nicely for them to cut you a check for what their driver did to your car, often times it requires a law suit.

Yall remember the McDonald's coffee lady? What did we hear? Some dingbat spilled coffee in her lap and sued McDonald's for millions and won! Wrong. The coffee was so hot it melted the cup, and the woman had 2nd and 3rd degree burns and ended up being admitted to the hospital. She sued ONLY for her medical bills, it was the jury who awarded her the millions because McDonald's was being such tools about it.

What about the lady who just recently was shredded on social medial because she sued her nephew for hugging her and breaking her arm. If I remember right he weighed almost as much as she did and jumped into her arms and they fell. She broke her arm. She sued for her medical bills against the home owners insurance policy.

That's how that's supposed to work....and the world crucified her for it.

As a child, our family dog bit one of my sisters friends in the face. A small puncture on her cheek that ABSOLUTELY involved a plastic surgeon. She got one stitch and a variety of follow up appointments, and my parents home owners policy (I assume) handled the lawsuit. My sister and that friend are still friends to this day I think.

This is why we have insurance. This is exactly why we have insurance.

With all of that I too am deathly afraid of the scam. I've worked around the minimum wage sector for many years, and it amazes me that we don't get sued more. 

The best advice I've seen on this thread could be worth repeating again. DON'T BE A SLUMLORD.

That's really it. If someone falls down a flight of icy concrete steps in January in Chicago, that's why you have insurance. Well, that's why I have insurance.

I'm not saying it will never happen, maybe it will. It's the commercial airliner - water landing scenario (which was awesome). Possible, yes...but, extremely rare.

Conduct yourself, and especially your business with class and be above board at all times. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/270978073318709/

Northwest Atlanta here. There's a Facebook group called Atlanta REI Meetup, let me see if I can get you invited to it.