All Forum Posts by: Ed B.

Following what I thought was usual procedure for instituting yearly rent increases , I just sent a tenant a rent increase notice to be effective January 1st. Bumped rent about 10%, or $130.

It wasn't more than two days when she called me, yelling on the phone, quite upset that my actions were now going  to deprive her  of being able to provide "Christmas" for her family, yada, yada, yada.   I empathized with her, and certainly don't want to  be like a grinch, but made me realize maybe my timing was bad. Maybe I should have waited until February or March to raise rent, or do it in November instead?  Has anyone else encountered this?  

You've got low skilled jobs like cleaning lumped in with skilled jobs like plumbing and carpentry. They don't all get the same pay. Remember, the bigger the difference between your buy costs and income when selling, the more you can afford to pay for rehab. When you have  a smaller spread, you need to save costs wherever possible. Those numbers you showed look very good for the contractor, but will severely eat into your profit, and perhaps cause you to not make any profit at all.

Pavel, but I did find this one for you.  A video from Clayton Morris recorded Jan. 2, 2019, in which he says within the first 30 seconds "This is a year of no more excuses...."

Hmmm, excuses is all we've heard from him since then to "explain" why so many investors are so unhappy with their investments he "sold/brokered" to them.

Have a listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_QLoz4bWgA

Pavel, I'd love to send it to you, but I wish I'd saved at least a screen shot of it.  I think it was part of some promotional material  from Morris Invest,and may have been on Youtube.com. I just can't remember for sure.  Sorry. But  it definitely was an eye opener because the "advice" from her was so ignorantly wrong. I

Hey John, did you see where Natalie advised a client, who was worried about how to pay for operating expenses, to simply have their LLC pay those expenses? As if that was some type of "rich uncle" who could save the day. All they had to do was tap into that "brilliant technique" and their problem was solved. That was really s****ty advice, since money doesn't magically appear in an LLC bank account any more than it would a normal account. I had to wonder, is Natalie really that clueless? Or did she think the new investor would be too stupid to recognize it as bad advice? I swear I'm not making this up.

It's just another version of equity sharing. Good for them, but lousy for the home owner. You're much better off borrowing whatever money you need, pay the payments, and keep 100% of any appreciation, or loss in value.

It's a terrible deal for the home owner. You're giving them up to 82.5% of any future appreciation in exchange for them "loaning you money." that's a rotten deal and hugely in their favor. They're betting on enough stupid people to fall for their pitch, and there might be. But for most thinking people, run away!

I've used Quicken for over 20 years to keep track of about 20 properties. Works fine for me. I think Quickbooks might be a bit overkill for one property

Hey, thanks for the clarification. I think everyone usually acts in accordance with their beliefs and values, although I'll admit I have occasionally rented to tenants I would have preferred not to because I had a vacancy to fill. Sometimes looking after the dollar instead of my values and beliefs is  a necessary and smart decision. So I guess I'm not always " authentic."  Hmmm.

I agree, all tenants deserve respect regardless of income or education level, etc. That is never the problem. The problem is usually because a tenant is slow paying rent, or doesn't pay at all, or brings in unauthorized pets, abuses the property, etc. And when they do that  it's my fault?  Yes, if I failed at screening them properly, I'll take the blame, but if I screened properly and they still behave badly, it's always possible a bad one slipped through or they changed after moving in, etc. Tenants always deserve the best service you can give them, but for some  your "best" is never good enough. Those are the tenants I hope to be served by other landlords.