All Forum Posts by: Devante S.

https://www.waterfrontrefresh.com/the-leasing-playbook

Hello, I made a short and quick-to-the-point guide on how to lease your own property from start to finish, with the goal of efficiency, ease on your checkbook, and reducing the amount of time between purchase and being fully occupied. The idea came to me after spending 3 years working with and learning from both small and large property management companies (and ownership groups) in the midwestern US. I took their processes and things that worked best for me (and left out the things I saw that weren't great) and put them all in a single 22 page E-guide you can follow, step by step. The guide includes everything from how to find and generate leases, applications, recommended property management software, renters insurance details, how to do showings and handle security deposits, and more.

We recently tried this out by having a new investor use the guide while doing his own leasing for the first time. We saw great success as he followed the guide, and went from 'not having a clue' on how to lease, to getting both of his units rented out, and now manages his first of many properties from out of state, in just weeks.

If you're interested please follow the link above to preview or connect with me here on Bigger Pockets. I am genuinely excited to see how this positively impacts new investors out there. Especially those who want to get started on a firm foundation while becoming an independent landlord or just to become a more informed investor. The best part is: It's all mobile, as this is an Eguide you can access online whenever you need to refer back to it. I also plan to offer mentorship in conjunction with the purchase of the guide so you can contact me anytime to answer questions and help you along the way on your leasing journey. 

Hope to connect with some of you who are looking to get your units rented out and learn the process. 

Best Regards, Devante Scholfield

https://www.waterfrontrefresh.com/the-leasing-playbook

Hi Blake, cool to connect with another minnesota local here! I actually just wrote a 22 page E-Guide on how to lease your new residential property as a growing landlord. I absolutely recommend RentRedi as it is one of the easier and more simple all-inclusive management softwares out there. You can also draft a great lease for a super affordable rate (less than $20!) on Ezlandlordforms.com, and send for signature straight from there. Obviously as you grow over the years as an investor you can take different actions, but I recommend using these two as you start, and absolutely form an LLC as soon as you can and track all billing and expenses straight through that account. It may not be 'needed' for only a few properties but it will be helpful come tax season.

If you're interested in the guide I wrote for new landlords let's connect and I would be glad to discuss it and also mentorship while you get going! 

Hey Nathan! These are all great questions, and its exciting you're getting ready to roll into becoming the best property owner you can be. 

The number one thing I would say when it comes to beginner investing is don't be afraid to start small and work your way up, rather than going big and falling into greater debt. If you can find a $100-200k little home that just needs some TLC you can make great strides as a new investor and work your way up, either by renting or selling to new investors or owners. One key thing with this though is you're going to want to avoid biting off projects that you can't chew such as overly long rehab timelines or extraneous debt positions (AKA don't buy a home that the rent amount will just exceed the mortgage and expect no maintenance or surprise costs will happen.) Basically, have fun, go all-in on doing this, but just make sure to give yourself a little leeway as a new investor. You're going to learn a lot and become excellent at this.

I help new independent landlords learn what to do next after purchasing SF/MF properties they are looking to generate income from. If you're looking to really have a hands on experience with leasing out your own first couple properties while saving some cash on management fees, let's connect and I'd be glad to send you a 22 page guide I made that's straight to the point on how to lease! I also offer phone calls on a month by month basis after that. Hope to hear from you and Good luck!!

Hey Justin, Welcome to you two! I help new independent landlords learn what to do next after purchasing SF/MF properties they are looking to generate income from. If you're looking to really have a hands on experience with leasing out your own first couple properties while saving some cash on management fees, let's connect and I'd be glad to send you a 22 page guide I made that's straight to the point on how to lease! I also offer phone calls on a month by month basis after that. Hope to hear from you and Good luck!!

Chantel, congrats on starting your investment journey!! I agree with your previous replies that you should most definitely have all of your billing be made straight to your LLC if possible, as it may avoid headaches come tax season, both for you and for your renter. Although payment apps like zelle or cashapp may work, I would recommend just getting a head start on property management software that helps manage your property and collects rent, does accounting and more. I would recommend using RentRedi for starting out with this, as it is an All-in-one software to manage your property and will be incredibly useful to you as you grow.

If you're ever looking to learn more about landlord basics please feel free to reach out, as I have written a simple 22 page Eguide on things you need to know while beginning in single family or multifamily residential housing. The guide teaches you how to lease, software to use, and more! I also make myself directly available for leasing related questions for an entire month after purchase. I understand getting started can be so much information so I'm glad to help! Connect or shoot me a message anytime and good luck!

Hey Nay, excited for you to start your journey! Hoping I can help you two out a bit here. 

Whether you choose to purchase your first multifamily or single family income generating property, a major key you're going to want to know is not to bite off anything you can't chew so you don't find yourself in extraneous debt positions and overly large rehab projects or timelines. When you're just looking to start investing but don't have unlimited capital, I've seen a not-so-common but very successful method of scanning small town, seasonal, or rural markets (off-market preferred) that have older homes needing an easy facelift. (New carpets, Siding, Paint, maybe just a few appliances) 

The reason being is that many (many) people seem to forget that rental housing is incredibly hard to come by in small towns or outskirts of cities where the primary industries are medical clinics, restaurants, bars, farms, and factories. A lot of independent contractors or blue collar workers reside in these areas as well (trade skills are prevalent). If you haven't seen it already in your area, midwestern investment groups (The big guys) are just starting to catch on in the last 2 years as more 100-250+ unit buildings are going up in these towns. But newer investors have an opportunity to take care of small town communities and provide housing for those who work often but aren't ready to settle down.

I've helped a good friend purchase an older and larger farmhouse in rural Wisconsin, which he then flipped it into two units by rehab and adding a second entry way. By the time he was ready to lease the applications came in quickly due to the rent being more affordable than inner city units and fulfilling a great need for rental housing in the more rural areas or outskirts of town. After a few years you could likely sell to a new investor or even a long term tenant while moving on to other adventures. These are all just possibilities on ways I've seen people get a foot in the door in this market.

If you're looking for good materials learning how to get started I've put together a leasing guide for new or self-managing landlords/investors. Its 22 pages, step by step on how to actually lease your property, and straight to the point. I also make myself available for people who use the guide to answer questions by phone while you learn how to get your properties rented. Connect with me if you're interested and good luck!!

Hello, I have made a very detailed but short, quick to the point outline on how to lease residential and multifamily properties. 20 pages straight to the point and step by step. Everything from how to generate a lease, security deposits, insurance coverage, and more.

I spent 3 years working with various sized management companies and ownership groups across Minnesota and Wisconsin, some mom and pop, and some of the largest in the world. One day a friend reached out after he was finishing up a long hauled rehab on a duplex, and not knowing where to start, he asked for help on how to lease it. I typed up everything I learned working for these companies and sent it to Him, and within weeks he had his units rented out. All done just using a phone, computer, and following along with the guide.

I realized I had to share this with somebody else in hopes that this helps you overcome the road block of "not knowing what to do next" in your journey of owning real property. This guide isn't for everyone. Its for the DIY'ers. Its for the guys and gals who like to roll up their sleeves and go after it before they pay someone else. This is for those who take joy in understanding the process and want to be involved.

If anyone's interested, please reach out for more info on the E-guide. I'll also be offering it as a package deal with mentorship for an entire month after purchase to answer any questions as you work on leasing your property. This would also prove to be a useful tool for new management companies wanting to train their staff in on the strict details of leasing. Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon. 

Hi, haven't posted on here in quite some time so not sure what we can or can't share, I am sure the moderators will let me know quickly. I have a real estate license but am not enrolled with any brokerage at this time and will likely not be using one for quite some time. I have a friend who has a duplex near the eau claire area that is currently off-market. They are wrapping up reno and anticipate $1200-$2400/mo per unit. Current owners are looking to move out of state once finished with the property as they are looking to enter new markets. The duplex is located in an area that should have no difficulty finding tenants. 4BD 2 BA total 2 Kitchen Total, Laundry in Basement and storage room in basement and large open attic. In a cool neighborhood near new development. Looking for advice on how to help him find a buyer since they would prefer not to use a sales person (wholesale likely) Also looking in general just to get connected with more serious investors across the state. My contact number is in my profile.

Thanks in advance!

Hello, I am a young real estate agent from the Midwest. I’m my opinion, I foresee some huge shifts in the nation wide real estate market (and not for the better) coming likely around the beginning of the year. Remember, this is just my opinion. That being said, I just have some questions I want to get answered on how to leverage a market crash in real estate:

1. How exactly would I go about “shorting” real estate stocks and trust funds? Is that legal? Are there other real estate trading options that leverage a crash?

2. How much different is selling foreclosures as an agent from selling regular residential homes?

3. Are there any other ways I could leverage a crash and help clients/people I know during that time?

Thanks for all your tips and info. Again, this is just hypothetical, but I would rather be prepared and help others be prepared, than wander into a crash with blindfolds on!