All Forum Posts by: Elysia McDunn

I use Cozy which is an online service & I love it. It is free & easy to use.

Thanks everyone!

I just passed the MN State and National portions of the exam, woo hoo!  Very excited to be closer to my second goal in RE investing.  My first goal was to buy/rehab/rent my first property.  My tenants moved in on October 4th and I took and passed my test on October 14th!  

I took the online courses through Continuing Education Express.  They also have an exam prep course which I took and I did practice questions through nightbeforetheexam.com which I found to be very helpful.  I felt confident going into the test and the questions really help you focus on the areas where you need extra work. 

I highly recommend studying for a few hours each day and doing at least 25 practice questions per day.  It made it very manageable with a full time nursing job and two kids!  

Hello! I just completed my first investment property and see some similarities here to mine. Your HOA fee seems very high. Not sure what it all covers, but I got the HOA of my condo to discount mine so it is only 160 per month. If you are buying an older place that is not updated, you need to factor in all the cost of replacement. It also sounds like you will be renting this every year and not necessarily having long-term tenants. Be sure that you are willing to do this. These were things I forgot to consider when I did my first one. I was so excited to buy something that I could afford that I put blinders on. I would also knock on a few doors and ask people what it is like to live there. Is it quiet? Is it comfortable? Do people have complaints? I did this at my condo complex and found out that everyone in the building had a problem with mold, some people complained of noise from other tenants. These were things I wish I had done before I had closed on the property. Thankfully I gutted it the entire place and the mold was no longer an issue. If there are signs that say first month's rent free, I would have reservations that you would have to do the same. That would cut into your cash flow. Good luck!

Thank you all for the advice!  I have added a deadline to my email so I now feel much better if they lose the $15 because they not follow through. 

Hello!  I have completed my first investment property and I am accepting applications for tenants.  Does anyone have advice for applicants who do not respond in a timely manner?  I feel bad if people pay the $15 credit check so I only do one applicant at a time.  I am now waiting for this person to set a date to sign the lease and secure a deposit and they are not responding.  Do any of you set time limits for people in an effort to move forward?

Thanks!

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