All Forum Posts by: David Stone

Paramedic, but my wife and I did not save money for investments. Instead we spent all of our money on stuff like most people do. Then we sold our expensive stuff (replaced cars with cheaper alternative, cancelled subscriptions, etc), rented our primary home, moved into a cheaper apartment, bought a duplex and then a SHF to fix and rent and we went from there acquiring properties, living in them and eventually renting them out for passive income. Instead of saving money we found owner financing deals and used private money to secure deals and paid them back after we fixed and refinanced the property.

Because... it spells out the right for the tenant to live in such property + the rules for living in such property + what happens if those rules are broken. If you verbally agree rent is $1500 a month and tenant pays $500 and promises to pay the rest later, how do you prove what your monthly rent was? You could pretty much apply that example to any paragraph within the lease.

When you sell For Sale by Owner, you represent yourself and the buyer's agent represents ONLY the interest of the buyer. The agent will present an offer and any addendum paperwork involved but you will be responsible to provide any federal and/or local required documents. Research your requirements as a seller and make sure you understand the contracts you will be presented but if you are looking for someone to assist with filing out legal forms or representing your best interests, you probably should hire a listing agent. Good luck either way!

@Myles Brown, any real estate meet ups in your area?  Check meetup.com, bigger pockets forums, etc. Check out the free networking meetups - there's probably people there who have done wholesaling and who are active investors. Years ago Matt with Epic Real Estate did a free video series on wholesaling, not sure if they charge now but it was pretty simple formula: find and analyze the deal, get it under contract, assign the contract to an investor and include your assignment fee, get paid :) good luck!

Without an agent... try using Zillow.com or Redfin.com, select only SOLD homes and a time period 3-6 months prior in the criteria you are looking for. You won't get a magic number from the site but you will get a list/map of the recently sold homes >> click on them, check out the pics, determine if yours if worth more or less than the comp and at least get a ballpark figure. Under contract, have an agent pull comps from the MLS. Also, Trulia market trends has some cool data - you can see median sales price, price per sq ft, etc. in areas... don't trust the numbers necessarily but pay attention to the trends (which areas are selling for higher/lower than others, etc.). Good luck!

Pre-screening potential applicants is the best way to find the BEST tenants

Initial Phone Screening

Today’s Date ______________________Time _______________ Property __________________________

Applicant’s Name ______________________________________________Phone No. _______________________

>>I have a few questions to ask, they are the same questions we ask every applicant

RENTAL

>> When are you looking to move? __________________ >> Are you in a lease? ______________________

>> Where are you living now? _______________________>> Monthly rent now? ______________________

>> Why are you vacating current residence?___________________________________________________________

>> How many people on lease? __________ Who/Related? ______________________________________

INCOME / EMPLOYMENT

>> Do you have a STEADY source of income? _______________________________________________________

>> Where do you work right now (all jobs)? __________________________________________________________

>> What is your total monthly income (from all sources)? $___________________ + $ _____________________

>> How long? ________________ >> Other Income Sources? ___________________________________________

>> Can you verify it later with pay stubs or bank statements? YES / NO (at least 3x monthly rent.)

PETS/SMOKING

>>Any pets? YES / NO Type _________________________________________ Deposit _______________

>>Smoker? YES / NO No Smoking Policy

CREDIT / CRIMINAL

>>We perform a credit check, criminal background check, employment verification and rental history verification on every applicant. (Major crimes, felonies, evictions are automatic disqualifiers)

>> Is there anything we should know about ahead of time?_______________________________________________

>> What is your Credit Score? _____________________________________ 600-675 = additional deposit, 650+ OK

>> Do you think we would receive a positive referral from your current & previous landlords? YES / NO

>> How many evictions have been filed/started on you? ____________________________________________

 If listing agent received an offer they would have to present it. Sounds like there was no written offer, listing agent refused to even write one up which he has no duty to do so

Hey, you pay for your education one way or another! Take this lesson, move forward and kill it next time!

A high number of phone calls could be due to being under priced or just having low inventory of available rentals in the area. Have the prospective applicants call you (send them a text or email to call you for pre-qualification and to schedule a showing).  Most will weed themselves out at this step and not reach out which is great, it saves you time.  Pre-screen those who do call and weed out the ones who don't qualify through this conversation.  Invite the ones who meet your minimum qualifications to a showing (try to group them together as much as possible to save you time and avoid disrupting any current tenant as much as possible).  If they are interested after the showing, invite them to fill out an application and continue through the process.  Think of it like a funnel... the top is the initial inquiries and the bottom only the top qualified applicants.  Also, if you haven't read it already, pick up Brandon Turner's book on Managing Rental Properties, it explains all of this perfectly and helped me fine tune the system I was already using to screen.  Good luck!

It is possible they could borrow against a retirement account.  The owner, who would turn into a tenant after closing, was willing to pay the 2 years rent up front, I was wondering if the buyer could use the tenant's upfront rent toward the 15% down payment