All Forum Posts by: Devin Deswert

I highly recommend A and G. I tried to PMyou on the app but said your contact info was private.

Leases are essentially a contract that protects and defines the rights of the landlord and tenets. They need to understand that and sign on the dotted line. At the same time even without a lease the tenets have full protection of tenet laws in your state so follow the rules. As far as bringing rents to market value that can be sticky depending on what the actual gap is. If it's minimal and tenets are long term I wouldn't even bother. I actually just had this email convo with the PM on one of my property's. We are 120 days out from lease re new time. Comps show I could get away with a extra 50-75 a month. But it's a out of state property tenets are happy take good care of the inside and long term. I'm keeping rents as is. If I raised it 50 dollars and that cost me 1 month of vacant time it would take me over 2 years to recoup that... 50 * 28 months. But if they said it was 150 under market rent we would of had a different convo. But either way telling them it is a smart business decision is a horrible horrible idea. People want to live in a home and not a business. And your property for the time being is their home. Since your planning on going to the bank soon for a cash out refi maybe look into some small capital improvements and polish somethings up on the place while you are raising rents. Good for when the bank comes and good for the tenets to see. Especially if there has been deferred maintenance.

Hey man, Well you got debt and that needs to go, but you know that and working on it. You have a little bit of savings and that needs to increase, but you know that and working on it. BP can be a good resource for information but also plenty of info to be taken with a grain of salt but also some straight up nonsense. And don't worry about the fire burning out. REI isn't a passion or interest it's a disease. You think your done with it then bam hit with a outbreak. One option and really your only viable option( after paying off debit) would be REIT's. Using the trading platform robinhood you can buy and sell with no commissions. So you can do it one share at a time if need be without loosing returns to commissions. And technically you are investing in real estate so you can still geek out at numbers, tends and data. They also pay decent returns while you save up for a downpayment on a house. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/reit.asp Work hard, go at your own pace, don't drink the guru kool aid, cash is still king and never ever put your families well being in jeopardy.

Either joint venture with someone working in the area. If the numbers are as good as you think then it shouldn't be to hard. Or sell and cut your losses ASAP.

I've got my place under property management anymore so I only loosely follow new laws. But didn't things recently goto 90 no-cause eviction? Maybe that's only Portland proper and not Gresham or Hillsboro. Either way it sounds like you get your first court involved eviction coming your way. Hope it goes the other way it's a pain.

500 but that's explains why I have 3 doors and not 30 if rule of thumb is 100.

Hey, I was speaking to my specific market. That market is the west coast. In that case 1% isn't going to get me far. But if it does in your market great. If not then you might have to look at the solution differently. My first home was a investment but it was not a cash cow. It was a duplex and it suited my needs great but I didn't have the cash down to make it do much more then break even. But because I found a place I was happy to live in and make extra payment's every month while it was still owner occupied the refi 3 years after purchase price was easy and now it's the shinning star in my portfolio. So your original question wasn't on a specific deal it was what you should buy. The requirements being able to be independent and stay under 900 dollars a month with as little as 1% down. My answer was find a place where you want to live. Then ask yourself what you would pay to live there, market research if those rents are right. Figure out what your numbers look like, if they look good now then odds are they will look better the more you pay down.

Hi, New to bigger pockets recently got sucked into bigger pockets from a co worker who also owns a rental property. The forums are the shinning point. I feel the email blasts are click bait junk, I put it on par with men's health telling me every month I can get 15 minute abs. But nice to have would be market data. We don't need to know lumber futures or what the steel commodity prices are doing. But some broad market data points would be great. New laws coming down the pipe that relate to being a landlord, or things that may soon be up for debate. For example how might medical marijuana effect a no smoking policy. Or having to give a 90 day notice to raise rents instead of 30 days. Or possibly having disclose prior bed bug infestations. Also highlighting areas singling for growth that may effect real estate directly or in directly. For example if proctor and gamble is building a new factory that plans to employ a lot of people in West Virginia, Utah doubling down to increase its tech scene, Portland opening up free college or the city of xyz offering 1% loans and 50k improvement grants to revitalize you just been Car Jacked ST. If you told me 5 years ago Texas would be a break out state to be a landlord I would of laughed thinking of a tumble weed rolling across the desert. Looking back at news headlines over 5 years and they have done a lot to attract new manufacturing, new high tech job, urban planning and growth leaning towards a younger population. Now the only articles I see about Texas is how hot the market is.

Hi, I agree with Nuhan. Buy what you can afford to live in where you want to live. To me you having a stable living situation trumps finding a cash flowing property. Also I don't at all know your market but I do know the 2 states I've invested in that 1% down on a place would only loose me money. But your market might be different, have you ran any numbers?

Like many have said it depends on your area and what the pool of applicants expects. But also depends on the space. My SFR has a good sized laundry room on the main floor so I don't include the washer and dryer. My duplex on the other hand has a laundry closet upstairs near the bedrooms and can only fit stackable front loading machines, so I just include them. When it comes to having laundry machines you can get a tenet that is really looking for a place that has them. I'm sure you will have a potential tenet look over your property because the last place they lived he/she had to furnish their own and don't want to sell or store it. So no right answer but if you have some cash and some spare space in your garage then maybe include them for an additional 15 dollars a month or whatever market rate is in your area. Couple of other things. If it's the tenets make sure they have rental insurance in place to cover any damages, or really renters insurance anyways. Also when it comes to dryer vents; the ones that goto the outside. Make sure it's on your yearly maintenance list and that you get that done, it doesn't cost a lot to have a service company and is a potential hazard.