All Forum Posts by: Erin Church

 Hey Dennis,

I mean this seriously and with kindness - you may want to hire a property manager. If you cannot evict a family, you should not be a landlord. I'm not saying that you look forward to it or hope for it, but you've got to be capable of doing it. Otherwise, someone decided that you'd be a charity for them. You may be in a financially different situation than me, but I'm not in a place where I can pay for housing for strangers indefinitely. 

You will want everyone on the lease. If you leave her off the lease, you could potentially have a squatter if the person on the lease leaves. 

As everyone else has said, their kids and marital status aren't your concern. Their credit scores, income, and references are. The two addresses are important if you're checking landlord references, but not as a way to dig into their status.

Having a property manager will take the liability off of you and prevent you from having to do any of the "unsavory" parts of managing property. There is no shame in having someone else manage the property for you. Having rentals is an amazing accomplishment and that is not undermined by having someone else manage. When a person owns a house, that isn't any less awesome if they hire someone to cut the grass or clean the bathrooms or paint the walls. :) 

Hey Anthony,

I love mobile homes! I do want to caution you that they aren't built anything like stick built houses. You'd want to find a contractor that works on them to do the work as it can be quite a learning curve otherwise. Things your contractor should know: there are no 2x4s in the place, the switches and outlets don't have standard boxes behind them, the subfloor in the bathrooms almost always needs to be redone, the cabinets can't hold granite unless you built a support structure, support under the house where there are tubs, and the roofs cannot have more than one layer of shingles. 

Also, if you've got spring and rivers, check for flood zone, and keep in mind any restrictions with regards to the water (like not having any structures/disturbance within so many feet). 

I have no idea if AirBnBs thrive in your area or how being a manufactured home impacts that, but did want to try to help on the actual home aspect. :)

@Tayo Black has a great suggestion with the book recommendation and is correct about the regular song and dance. :) 

I'd suggest getting an experienced investor agent that does BRRRRs or fix and flips. Getting a general idea for the scope of work from the get-go will help you figure out if it's worth digging into. I'm going to assume that you're looking on market so you have time to get quotes. Plan on paying the contractors for their time to give you estimates if you don't own the house yet. Whatever the budget is, plan on more and twice as long (or more if you have to fire a contractor and find a new one). 

That being said, BRRRRs can be totally worth the effort... it just might not feel that way until the end ;-)

Hey Constance,

How did you get connected to the person for the DGT mastermind? I know he mentions on his podcasts that folks are impersonating him all the time. Hopefully, that isn't the case, but it does seem odd that a person/team who is great with systems would leave a person high and dry.

@David Gonzalez

I'd sell the condo. I understand that you'd get a few hundred bucks of cashflow per month once paid off, but that's a pretty rough ROI. Also, based on how you defined cashflow, it doesn't sound like you included any money for vacancy or maintenance or potentially CapEx. I assume the condo takes care of roofs, exterior, etc, but likely not hot water heaters or HVACs. Essentially, I feel like if you were looking at the condo to purchase now, you'd never do it. You may need to look into a 1031 exchange to delay paying taxes on depreciation that was taken (or should have been).

You could also get a HELOC on your primary - think of it as borrowing money from the other investor, but with more favorable payback terms (because you can write off the interest if you itemize).

Have you been managing your rental?

@Taylor Cartledge - I totally get that. You'll likely want to hit up the monthly ones (as they're in the evening or Saturday). :)

I also think this is possible to manage while you take trips. I'd attach a lockbox to the properties somewhere not super obvious (one that actually attaches/screws into the house, not one with a shackle). You can give people the code that need it. Since you have trusted folks, that shouldn't be an issue. If you end up needing to change the code, have your handyman change it. The trust has to be pretty high here. :) For notifications of maintenance issues - there are a few options. You could have it come through a property management site/software (like apartments.com, avail, etc). You can also let them keep on texting/emailing you. How often are your tenants having emergencies that need your attention? I'd guess not very frequently. Potentially hire a VA that has an "if/then" or decision tree on what to do and when to notify you. You may also be able to find "a la carte" PM services that will just help with maintenance stuff. :)

 Hey Joe, 

I bolded what I was responding to. You said:

I wouldn't say that. The problem is most likely that he is approaching people as a wholesaler. That's not the way to do it. Make an offer as a buyer, then sell the contract. I can't think of any reason why any seller would consider using a wholesaler to sell their property. They would just use an agent.

Hope you're having a great start to your week! :)

Hey Taylor,

You should hit up some of the meetups. I'll be going to the one tomorrow morning at 8:30 :) 

Monthly

The biggest event is the Augusta REIA (the second Thursday of each month) https://www.facebook.com/reiaofaugusta

And the second biggest is the Bigger Pockets Meet up the 4th Friday of each month - https://www.eventbrite.com/o/christopher-oyenuga-53272302923

There’s also Fit Investors Walk the 1st Saturday of each month at Savannah River Rapids https://www.facebook.com/groups/551851979899690

Cashflow (the game based on Rich Dad, Poor Dad) the last Saturday of the month at 8:50am - 909 Walker St (The Auben Realty office)

Weekly:

Tuesdays: 8:30am, Ubora - 1128 Jones St, Augusta, GA 30901

Thursdays: 6:30am, Sunrise Grill - 3830 Washington Rd #10, Augusta, GA 30907

Thursdays: 4:30pm – Sole - 1033 Broad St, Augusta, GA 30901

Friday: 11:55am – BBQ Barn - 10298 Atomic Rd, North Augusta, SC 29841

@Joe Villeneuve

Plenty of reasons folks wholesale - house needs too much work, they don’t want to clean it out/it has bad memories, has tenants that aren’t ideal, they need cash fast, they need cash before sale to get moved… there are lots of reasons that a cash deal is the way a seller may need to go.