All Forum Posts by: Rene G.

Everyone is overlooking the main issue. You should self-manage. 

This is the typical landlord/property management dilemma: problems happen then the landlord wants to question everything because they’re not in control. 

No middleman PM will ever care more than you; this is your livelihood, but it’s just a job to them. 

Why are people using AI so much around here!?

I built my own “Ideal Rental Checklist” and in that process I was challenged to really critically think and figure out on my own…

IMO you’ll need to do a similar exercise or just learn your lesson from trial and error. lol

4Δ 𝓡𝓮𝓷𝓮 💪

I alway go for two-year term leases. It’s how I fully pay off rentals. I just had a tenant leave after staying with me 10 years and I increased the rents their entire stay.

I hate it when I hear DIY landlords say they don’t increase rents on “good” tenants—that’s a cop out!

I have an entire process that’s too much to go into here. You’ll figure your own path out because I can tell you have the right frame of mind.

4Δ 𝓡𝓮𝓷𝓮 💪

How old is it?

Just wait (you said next year you're planning on house hacking). House hack a duplex and self-manage the other side of the duplex.

This is a simple decision. In the mean time start learning about self-management. It's really not hard, especially if you build out the hands-off system of DIY property management.

I do something I call "self-service" property management. It's how I've been able to self-manage my rentals from Baghdad, Iraq for 10 years. I'd be on the other side of the world, no cellphone, crappy internet working 12-hours shift, and when tenants had problems, I trained them to fix their own problems. There's much more to it then that, but that's the down and dirty.

You got this bro!

Rene 💪

Just self-manage, it's your livelihood. You can do way better than any middleman PM that is just doing a job. What is holing you back from going DIY? Too busy? Well, guess what? It takes effort either way: you either have to manage the PM or go DIY.

IMO too many newbies think they have to hire PMs because that's what all the big REI peeps do. No! If you're a small mom and pop landlord it's best to go DIY to learn the ropes and if you scale beyond 10 rentals then maybe hire a PM later, but at least you'll "really know" the ins and outs (only if you go DIY 1st).

Tell me. What do you think? Did you notice the distinct difference between my comment (as a DIY Landlord) and the PM comments you got?

Why do you ask?

Everyone here will give you their opinion in search for more upvotes. It's always best to do your own experiments and in your case you have a two-year successful case study.

Not sure if you self-manage, but either way, did you get into real estate investing to get a second job with more to-do tasks, or did you get into this for cashflow?

In my case, as a DIY landlord, I'm in this for Cashflow Forever and Real Freedom. That's why I've developed "self-service" property management to simplify my rental management...to make it so easy my kids can take over (and won't sell everything when I die)!

NO! Don't use AI to write your rental listing descriptions... unless you want to miss the mark. Your target audience is renters; they are not homebuyers. If you use ChatGPT you'll get steered into writing a novel about the area they're already interested in with a bunch of fluff.

Think of it this way: the more words in your rental listing, the less likely people will read it.

Why waste time writing about the area when they're already sold on the area (that's why they are looking there)?

Why waste time writing about stuff that GOOD photos SHOULD tell about your property?

Why do you waste time answering the same questions over and over again?

Because you probably have a bad rental listing with bad photos, and the prospects aren't even reading it!

This is why I teach the mom-and-pop landlords in my skool community not to listen to what people say on the forms online. Most people are winging it 😑🫤😐

No problem Hayley, awesome stuff...

I built a Rental Repair Forecaster with automatic formulas that change color depending on the year and depending on the life expectancy of the item. I use that forecaster to anticipate major repairs ($10k+). I'd share the link with you, but BP might block me/remove this post. 

You don't have to worry about the major repairs IF you plan accordingly and know the math. My forecaster makes it really easy so you don't have to think about it. It comes in handy when you have multiple properties. So you can track everything at a glance.

Yeah, I bought all my rentals in Central Florida, from Tampa to Orlando.

I sent you a private message. Let me know if you get it.

Hayley,

Where are you going to live when you get back from your deployment? Also, when are you up for PCS?

When I was stationed in AL, but I didn't want to purchase there. I knew two guys who would buy using their VA loan in AL, they both had the intention to sell for a profit later, but that didn't always work out...

I remember two guys specifically — one profited and the other had a loss. Looking back, I think it was due to the house's location. The one buddy who made a profit was in a really ideal location... Only problem was, that his BAH didn't cover the entire mortgage and had to come out of pocket to afford the mortgage while he lived there. However, that other buddy who got the "deal" (i.e. cheaper house where he made money after his mortgage with his BAH), he had a big loss when he PCS-ed...

The lesson here is location, location, location. It's the most important, I'd almost want to say, it's more than getting a deal/cheap house...

   When, you asked, "Should I have waited for a cheaper house?"

   And again when you asked, "Should I rent my house out for the year lease and then look to immediately sell to buy a cheaper house..."

NO! Cheaper is NOT what you want lol 

When you look to purchase a house, I recommend buy with a "Landlord" perspective. Meaning, you don't buy looking for cheap, you look for what will make a good rental. I also, like to approach things with a Forever Difference perspective. Buy stuff that you want to hold forever...

Kinda like that famous Warren Buffett quote, where he says his favorite holding period is forever. This idea helps you seriously consider what you buy, so you don't end up with cheap crap, asking what to do after the fact. You know?

...I have so much more to say and my heart goes out to you as my fellow military patriot. If you'd like to connect offline, I'd be happy to share how I've been able to manage my rentals from Iraq, I'm actually here in Iraq now.