All Forum Posts by: Elizabeth Harding

Hawke is who I would recommend as well. If they end up needing to treat it go with Culligan or H2O Solutions, IMO. We spent forever on our own house with plumbers who didn't have a clue and wasted time and money on filters. The H2O Solutions people got us set in a day by changing from chlorine to peroxide. Lots of lessons learned.

When you register they will put a $2500 hold on your credit card in case you back out after having a winning bid. There are a lot of posts about the site, just do a search in the forums.

We had similar experiences to @Todd Rasmussen, we ran into some title issues but we are using our own title company and their title company and closing agent are working to correct them. Haven't closed yet but so far people have been responsive and easy to work with. Just have to know that the bank will bid against you and to have a max offer and stick with it versus getting caught up in the bidding.

We have a property manager for one of ours, just an individual not a firm. She gets the cleaning fee and 25% of the profit from the stay. We pay extra for maintenance that her husband handles when it arises.

Another tip, get a cheap but decent mattress. We bought the Zinus Ultima Comfort Mattress on Amazon (currently $500 for a King). In two years we have had at least half a dozen people ask where they can buy one and even more have mentioned the bed in their notes and reviews. The guests that just checked out today asked where we got it!

@Michael Nyszczot What's your experience with Hudson & Marshall? I have experience with Auction.com and have heard good things about Hudson & Marshall but wasn't sure if they also do the counter bidding. Do they ever drop their starting bid? Auction.com seems to but there is a house I want on Hudson & Marshall and they haven't changed the starting bid in close to a year. I haven't bid yet but I am thinking about it to see if they ever contact me wanting to take my bid even if it is under the reserve.

I just started reading "The book on negotiating real estate" from Bigger Pockets. I'm guessing I will have to re-read it again once I get into a situation to discuss with a seller but I am reading it now to get the basics.

For locks we use Schlage and for Ozone machine I just picked the ones with good reviews on Amazon. We have Airthereal and Enerzen 

We have the Schlage brand with no WiFi but the WiFi one is great if you need to be able to change codes from afar.

Coffee and comfortable beds are most important in my experience! We buy the Zinus memory foam mattresses from Amazon and we get so many compliments. We have a Keurig and stock it with different kinds of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. We also provide creamers and various sweetener. Make sure the TV has clear instructions for use!