All Forum Posts by: Eric S.

A few years ago my wife and I made cookies, chex mix, etc and dropped off a basket to each tenant. Barely got a single thank you or had anyone acknowledge we had even brought it so I haven't since then.

I've tried the past few years to help a family in need so if I know of any good tenants who are truly struggling they take priority. I try not to tell anyone I do it so word doesn't get out to the neighbors. But on the occasions where it's unavoidable that they know it was me they've been truly appreciative.

@DJ Cummins We rent to maybe 3 or 4 college students but I try to avoid simply because it's always going to be turnover. Ours are a mix of single family homes, duplexes, and a couple apartments that are mostly section 8. They've all had their pros/cons. 

My good friend works at the Lake and deals with some real estate deals, but I just haven't been able to pull the trigger. Like you I'm afraid the fees would add up, or that I'd be spending my time down there fixing things myself. And I just can't convince myself that the demand is strong enough but everything I see seems like prices just keep going up.

@DJ Cummins You might be suprised DJ. We only wanted 20 or so when we started but as you get the hang of things and get a good team together it just made it easier to grow. A friend of a friend knew we bought rentals and offered to sell us 2 6-plexes at price we couldn't pass up, and it just kept going. The first 5 years seemed like we were just spinning our wheels, but now you start to see the payback from your first investments and it's exciting. I've made too many mistakes along the way to count, so if I can do it it can't be too hard!

I wouldn't sweat a couple properties at all. I work full time and did almost all management and maintenance on my own until I got to around 15. We're near 70 now and I still manage them all and have a good team of maintenance people to call if it's something I can't get to. There are weeks where it's a breeze, and there are weeks when I want to pull my hair out and question how long I can do this, lol. But obviously different rentals require different amounts of hands on. Just run your numbers like you're paying for management so you'll have that option if you decide it's taking up too much of your time. 

With out first child on the way I'm starting to transfer more and more duties off to people I can trust, but it's hard for me to let go of that responsibility. I have this feeling other people won't manage them as well, but in reality they're probably better at it than myself.

Sherri,

That is good to know. I appreciate the feedback. I know it's hard to please everyone and many people go into a deal with unrealistic expectations. I hope it works out okay.

@Beth S. Yes, Linda Labbe is who I spoke with and she did seem like she was only refferring me. Thanks for the heads up! It sounded suspicious when I talked to her but it's good to confirm! I hope you are able to get out of yours without too much damage. It's frustrating trying to weed through the scams...

@Larry Fried @Kim Tucker I don't really have a price range or rent range per se, just looking for around a 20% COC return. I'd like to stick to C+ and above neighborhoods, and trying to avoid the $30k-$50k homes. They seem to cash flow great on paper but I've done enough of those deals locally when I started and they always have hidden costs.

Kim, thanks for the feedback. I will continue to visit with the others as well. I'm in no rush. It's just overwhelming trying to get into a new market and talk to everyone.

@Larry Fried I believe they are turnkey. Or at least similar. You purchase the homes which appear to be foreclosures and they give you an upfront estimate on what it will take to rehab it and rent it, approx. rental rate, etc... I found the Sierra Group as well but it is someone else I believe. I had no luck finding any info about them or mention about them here on other threads looking for turnkey or realtors. The deals in KC seem good on paper but they appear to be in some borderline neighborhoods. The reputable groups that I've found in KC haven't returned my email or call so I assume most of them have too many clients already.

I've been looking at the KC market for awhile and have seen some properties Sierra Real Estate has listed. They purchase, rehab, and manage them it looks like. The ROI looks good on paper. Some of them appear to be in areas I wouldn't be interested in but others are what appear to be decent locations. Just curious if anyone has used them. Thanks

 We did a lot of odd jobs on dad's farm and shoveled a lot of hog manure to earn it. In retrospect it was totally not worth it, lol.