All Forum Posts by: David Dachtera

How was the past fire discovered? What evidence remains?

Quote from @Carlos Ptriawan:

Biggerpocket is searchable publicly. No need to have search inside BP. We can use AI that summarize the answer from all 10+ years discussions.

I alwasy ask something like this AI prompt "In biggerpocket site, what's the recommended approach when........ .."

AI is a newcomer to the party. It has familiarity issues. It also has credibility and trust issues. 

Quote from @Sam Dalton:

Is there anyway to get rent money same day? If my tenant pays on the 1st of each month, I do not get the money till a week later because of banking processes taking 5 business days. Then I am late for my payment. What can I do differently? 

Can you expand your cash reserves to take this into account? 

@Jonathan Greene,

Good points, though some deserve a bit more discussion.

#1 and #3 are probably the best, though #1 is often just being new to any forum, REI related or not. Perhaps a forum-specific "First Post" template pinned to the head of the forum topic list could help new folks see how to structure an appropriate first inquiry.

#2 just about defines a "newbie": someone with little or nothing to offer other than futures. I often see this interpreted as being asked to work for nothing. My response to that would be "no one gets a paycheck their first day on a new job, aside from a signing bonus", and those signing bonuses often have tenure requirements for the payout. Just to bolster one's own credibility, offer to accept a portion of the newbie's first deal profits as a show of good faith. While the relationship may ultimately prove untenable, that will be YOUR payment for the education toward becoming an effective mentor.

#4 and #5 really just show up shortfalls in the Bigger Pockets Forums.

#4 shows up the need for a more effective way to search the forums. BP's search function can be likened to Google in it's infancy. Yes, it searches, but there's no way to identify the "head" of thread where a question first appears. It also doesn't seem to recognize a quoted string versus the individual words in a search query. Perhaps an option to only search topic lines versus searching the entire forum database would prove helpful.

#5 is sort of the reverse of #4. There is no option link a question to multiple forums. I had the same issue with AOL decades ago - they called it spam, I called it covering all the bases. A single question could relevant to multiple forums, but attempting to engage the denizens of multiple forums is considered "spam" (it isn't). For example, in the left-hand column on this page, under "Financial, Tax and Legal" are forum topics which often overlap such as "Tax, SDIRAs and & Cost Segregation", "Goals, Business Plans and Entities" and "Personal Finance" could all be relevant to someone's question, but there's (currently) no way to engage the denizens of all those forums without posting in all of them (what you want to call "spamming").

My $0.02 ...

I stopped reading after the second fire. Yeah - "Nothing in the last two years" does not suggest that it won't or might not.

Seems to me the key failure here was you not being able to better monitor the property. With that much at stake, I don't think it's something to can hire out to agents, PMs, etc. "Dusk-to-Dawn" electric eyes and timers can be helpful, but don't replace personal surveillance. 

At the very least, you'd have wanted to check the windows and doors were locked upon acquisition, repair any window/door locks not securable, ... Smoke / fire detectors with remote notification capability would be an absolute must, I should think. Then, make a trip out there at least bi-weekly if distance allows, or at least monthly if further away. I understand being at your Mom's bedside. You should have had something in writing with the contractor(s) and PM(s) about security and surveillance. Those relationships are key to preventing such issues.

From my perspective...

What Not To Do:

Expect that others are doing their jobs. "Trust, but verify" when so much is on the line.

What To Do:

Verify that everything is proceeding according to plan.

Google Maps makes the distance from Granite City, CA to Colusa County, Ca (no specific location) as around 87 miles, hour and a half or so travel time.

For those reading to learn, I would think the take-aways include that your personal availability to supervise and monitor such a project should probably be part of the decision process of whether to proceed with the deal.

My $0.02 ...

In my experience, FSBOs are notorious for bad photos.

My $0.02 ...

Quote from @Peter Walther:

Maybe if you stop running a hotel next to his house, he'll stop taking pictures.

@Wesley Myers, the thought crossed my mind as well. It may be a "passive protest" of the STR.

Check into fence height regulations and see how tall an obstruction you can put up on your side of the property line and have run the entire length of the property line. 

All that said, I'd have to question the wisdom of a pool in an STR - liability?

Quote from @Jeremy Pastor:

Quote from @Carini Rochester:

You didn't get an instrument survey at closing? 

 I'm not sure exactly what an instrument survey is, can you tell me what I'd be looking for? I obviously have the legal description of the property that came with all of the closing docs.

Thank you!

-JP

There should be a document in with your closing papers marked "Plat of Survey". 

Quote from @Adam Bartomeo:

@David Dachtera

Too funny! Thanks for the personal attack. BTW I have been the top salesperson at every organization where I spent my previous careers - Home Depot, Fastenal, Century 21, etc.

Funny how the experienced investors that I know and work with NEVER ask about fees up front but all of the newer investors do. The more experienced investors try to understand how you might fit into their team to make sure that you would be a good fit.

Maybe you should listen to the BP podcasts to learn a little more about investing before you play in the big boy forums... Happy Easter!

Thanx for the laugh! Can you show me where I "attacked" you?

Sounds like ...

A. You're marketing your services to the wrong audience. Your marketing should filter out the prospects you consider undesirable so you only deal with the ones who won't offend your sensibilities.

B. Your salesmanship skills may be good, but apparently still need to improve, as does your marketing.

The fact that we're having this exchange proves my point. 

Quote from @Adam Bartomeo:

@Theresa Harris Did you read the whole post?

"Now, I am not saying that understanding the fees or negotiating fees isn't important but it is nowhere near as important as other factors."

Those ARE going to be the first questions out of an agent's/broker's or owner's mouth. Get over it.  

They are business people. Cost effectiveness will be of top-of-mind interest to them. Balancing that against your (company's) value-add comes down to salesmanship on your part.

Here's how you may want to handle those questions (just a suggestion) ...

Them: "... and would you consider lowering those fees?"

You: "We can certainly discuss that. First, let's look at what you get in return for them. (Speil.)" 

Some salesmanship  / entrepreneurship classes at your local community college may prove helpful.

My $0.02 ...