All Forum Posts by: Evan J.

Awesome! I love it when stuff like that happens.

We allow pets in some but not all of our properties.  In those that allow pets, we require a pet deposit for each approved pet they will be keeping.

Here in Virginia you can't charge more than two month's rent as a deposit.  Our standard deposit is one month's rent, so four dogs could potentially put them over the two month threshold.

It all depends on the property, market conditions, and your existing pet policy.

We require a full application for every occupant over age 18 and conduct criminal, eviction and credit checks on all of them.  If there are multiple persons on the lease and one has higher income or credit than the others, that can strengthen the application if not all applicants are as creditworthy.

We also require that all adult applicants be listed on the lease in order to bind them all to the terms of the lease.

Do your due diligence and be professional, and they won't know it's your first time.

I have been using renttecdirect.com and love it.  It has many features and provides great value for the cost.

I started out by trying the free side, which is great for private landlords managing just a few units.  You can upgrade and access more features if you decide you like it, which I did.  I don't use the PM features since I don't manage properties for multiple owners.

I have a clause in my standard lease for single family homes that specifically disallows installation of satellite dishes on the roof.

If he insists on having satellite have him mount it on a pole or side mount.  At his expense.  With prior notice and not by calling you when AT&T is at your house without your knowledge.

You should probably allow the landline, but make sure you get to pick the contractor or do it yourself.  It's pretty standard and could be considered a reasonable request.

Hi Charles, welcome to BP!

Basically everything I knew about Real Estate when I started came from the 60 hour licensing course and the resources on Bigger Pockets, like the free course:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/courses/a-beginners-...

A lot of people get stuck in the education phase.  They spend a ton of time reading, listening to podcasts, analyzing deals but being too unsure to act and, (God forbid) taking guru courses.

At some point, you just have to get out there and do a deal.  Investing involves risk.  Once you've had enough education to reduce that risk to an appropriate level, get out there and do a deal.  No amount of education will make your first deal fail-proof.  The best education in this industry is experience.

My first RE deal was lousy.  My second one was mediocre at best.  But, my third one produced a huge return and I've been seeing increasing returns on subsequent deals.  I'm constantly tweaking and perfecting my business practices based on my experiences out in the field.

If you're interested in working on running the numbers, be sure to check out the calculators here on BP.  That coupled with some market knowledge is a powerful combination for analyzing deals quickly.

Good luck and happy investing!

Hi Jonathan, I do a fair amount of work in Richmond and usually have properties meeting your criteria available for sale.  We generally rent out properties that we rehab down there for 12 months, so we might even be able to get you a turnkey property.  Contact me if you'd like to discuss Richmond investing more.

Hi Anna, welcome to BP.  Congratulations on your first 'real' investment property.  How did you acquire it?

Let me know if there's anything at all that I can help you with.

Good luck!

I think the gift exemption only applies to the first $14,000 of value, but you should consult with an attorney on that.

Buy a house for yourself or your company, and deed them a life estate.

One of my wholesalers brought me a rehab deal that looks pretty good.  However, one thing stands out.  The number of foreclosures in the neighborhood is an astronomical 10 per 10k.  Should I worry?

I'll pay cash for the deal so I'm not worried about getting foreclosed on, but I'm wondering what this could mean for ease of resale.