All Forum Posts by: Dan C.

From the listing I'd say it doesn't get any more turn-key than that Karen. I have a property in that same town, and really like it. High quality tenants, often medical students. If you wanted to ease into being a landlord, this would be an area to do that in.

The downside is of course the cap rate will be quite low. You would only get a cash flow with a rather large percentage down.

For my last purchase I used a real estate attorney and he created an LLC at the same time.

@Kelly G. I have an opinion on a couple Milwaukee PM's if you consider cancelling with your current one - feel free to send me a message.

My two cents is if I were trying to go without a PM remotely, I would at least want someone local who could be relied upon to check on things for me. And not just for urgent situations, but for almost anything which the tenant reports on. Tenants can be such novices at household issues, that often you need to check it out first hand. But perhaps your sister can serve this role.

To reduce calls about clogged drains I now make sure to clean out the sink and bathtub drains between tenants.

@Michelle L Yup, that's the problem, they are multi-family. The snow removal get done, it's just some are finicky about when it gets done. They may think its not soon enough, or conversely too early in the AM. Not a serious problem, but it's annoying.

Definitely plumbing is the most common issue for me, followed by snow removal. I look forward to the day I can be a landlord in a location where it does not snow.

For a while I stopped giving tenants my e-mail address. My theory was that those who have a tendency to contact landlords for frivilous stuff are much more likely to do that via e-mail.

But I since reverted back to e-mail and now texting. It 's just so much more convenient than phone calls.

Welcome Karen, you'll find a lot of folks from Milwaukee out here.

I own rentals and balance that with having young children at home, so it can be done. You can't totally eliminate headaches, but you can certainly delegate and hire out to reduce your time spent.

The Wall Street Journal's Complete Real-Estate Investing Guidebook by David Crook is an outstanding primer.

My bad, I was not being accurate - it was actually an REO I was talking about. Thanks for correcting that @Chris Martin.

If any Milwaukee folks could recommend via direct message contractors they like I would appreciate it. Looking for contractors who can handle or at least sub out a variety of types of work and who are experienced with properties within the City of Milwaukee.

I don't know whether it is rare, but I was in fact able to find a bank that was willing to finance their foreclosures. It was a great deal, the terms were much better than I would have been able to obtain otherwise.

I make individual appointments rather than an open house, but I like to schedule people at the same time, up to four prospective tenants at once. I feel that this will increase the sense of urgency a prospect has in applying if they like the apartment.

If you are fortunate enough to have tenants who are tidy and keep the apartment well decorated, it's definitely better to show while occupied. If the current occupants are slobs I don't bother showing until they are gone.

It's remarkable how much easier craigslist has made marketing apartments for me. I don't have to spend time on the phone describing the apartment as all the necessary information and pictures are in the ad. I don't have to run around the neighborhood finding bulletin boards to post flyers on. And I don't have to spend $50 for an ad with scant verbiage trying to describe the apartment.