All Forum Posts by: Connie Brzowski

Quick question--

We rehabbed a place about a year ago with a window air conditioner. We're in TX and air conditioning is a necessity with heat needed only a few weeks out of the year. The attic space is extremely tiny (only 3 ft. at the peak) so we decided to go with another through the wall unit with a heat strip.

The model we bought is a Frigidaire and has been nothing but trouble. I'm ready to toss it to the street and find something else. Surely with all the new technology these days there's *something* new, wonderful and energy efficient to heat and cool a small home :roll:

Our wonderful tenant called today and the heat isn't working... *again*...

The place is 700 sq ft-- any recommendations?

Yes, very silly indeed.... Still, my tenant's fear me (you'd be very proud :cool: )

It has crossed my mind more than once that it might be a good secondary business to compliment what we're already doing... but I'm not wanting to get a real estate license, much less a broker's.

(... kept trying to type in 'hyroglyphics' and had to settle for Egyptian... where is Josh with that spellcheck?? :mrgreen: )

Edited to add: Okay-- what about a Master lease? Could that work? He'd be guaranteed a certain amount every month and I'd get the extra cashflow?

Today I got an interesting call from a local businessman who owns a couple of houses he wants to rent out. He asked how much I would charge to manage the houses for him.... which got me to thinking... :wink:

Don't you need a broker's license to manage properties for others in Texas? Our could I just make a few bucks helping out someone else without starting a company?

And *please* don't send me to the Texas Real Estate Board... that stuff's written in Egyptian :roll:

I was going to post, but MikeOH stole my thunder :mrgreen:

To this list, let's add: Not treating the management side of the business professionally-- things like having a seperate phone, answering machine, letterhead and a dispassionate, "this is just business and you're trying to argue with a wall" speaking voice.

If tenants think they're dealing with a soccer mom, they'll treat you like a soccer mom.

As a former labor and delivery nurse I can vouch for your brother's heroism-- an emergency delivery is stressful for mom and baby. It takes a cool head and steady hands and doesn't always come with a happy ending like on TV :-)

Your brother done good~!

I'm not going to recommend birddogging or other type of finding for someone else-- not because it won't work, but because it's outside my range of experience. With that understood, here's what *I* would do in your situation.

Besides your enthusiasm you have some major assets-- woodworking, handyman and carpentry skills. Those can be leveraged bigtime in the REI business~!

Print up some cards highlighting those skills and take them to the next real estate investors meeting. Shake lots of hands and tell them you're available for repairs and odd jobs and *you want to learn the business.* You might offer a trade-- a few repairs for materials only in exchange for lessons-- learning what works in your area is best learned from those who're doing deals profitably.

In the meantime, eat beans, save every penny you can for a downpayment and keep an eye out for distressed properties that the owner will finance. With your subset of skills, you can build equity quickly by fixing up and renting out.

Finally *take responsibility for your own education* (sounds like you already have :). Get a financial calculator if you don't already have one, run imaginary numbers on houses and small apartment buildings, learn to figure expenses, watch the For Rent ads to get a feel for market rents in your area. Watch the For Sale market and learn what homes are selling for.

Make sure you have those other qualities that will attract others to you and make them want to work *with* you-- honesty, punctuality, integrity, quality workmanship. Your reputation is another important asset.

Also, if you haven't found them already, I recommend books by Fixer Jay Decimi. They're filled with examples, actual numbers and tons of useful information.

It seems that only someone in California can truly know the answer as this is such a local question. It depends on what the market will bear.

Here a $100K home rents for $1000-$1200/month so your comment that a $350K home is renting for $1250 seems amazing. Standing here in TX, it certainly appears that rents shouldn't drop in your area, but that doesn't help you much.

I'm betting that:

a) Your area is being flooded with sfh's
b) Your area is being flooded with an equal number of new renters who can't qualify to buy again so
c) Rental rates shouldn't be affected *too* much

On the surface, it seems that equilibrium should be maintained.

Rich! Good to see you~

Yes, as of today, we're officially caught up. Took longer than expected, but that's always the way isn't it? All repairs to rentals are complete and our home property is cleaned up-- we lost over 20 trees and will be burning those for a stinkin' long time :) but they're in piles and ready for the kerosene.

Reflex-- Yes! NCIS... that's it. And I like Boston Legal too but can't watch it when the kiddies are up-ha!

One big vote for either ceramic tile or Novalis vinyl plank flooring.

We put ceramic tile in most of our homes because it looks great, wears well and is so easy to clean. We seal the grout with Aquamix grout colorant (not their sealer) and it becomes the ultimate in easy care flooring. At $3.50/ sq. ft. installed it's not the least expensive option, but doesn't have to be done again.

Second vote would be for Novalis Vinyl Plank flooring. This is a peel and stick vinyl that looks like wood. It's cheap (about $1/sq. ft.), easy to do yourself and really looks good. Plus you can pop any damaged planks out and replace as needed.

Office

Pushing Daisies

CSI: (the one with the Navy... can't remember the name... definitely *not* Miami, sometimes Las Vegas, occassionally New York :mrgreen: )

Lots of old movies on Turner Classic Network-- love the silent films on Sunday night

(Hi Josh :cool: )