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All Forum Posts by: Gabriel G.

Gabriel G. has started 13 posts and replied 204 times.

Post: Inherited Tenant Problems at my first property- need advice!

Gabriel G.Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Posts 215
  • Votes 123
Originally posted by @Account Closed:

If you just want some fast money out of the seller, what you could do is first contact the seller asking for a settlement amount, which they'll probably ignore, then after you've done the request for money (which is required), you can then file a claim in small claims court.

Or, hire an attorney to scare them into paying you some money, but that will probably cost you more money.

What ever happened to just talking to the seller first? Not to pick on you Sue but court should be the last resort and from the words that you used, it sounds quite like a shakedown. Yes, the situation does suck and lots of blame to go around but I think that good ole conflict resolution deserves a chance. 

Post: Good areas in Maryland

Gabriel G.Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Posts 215
  • Votes 123

@Keith Ledesma Not sure if you are meaning good areas to invest in or to places to network but either way:

-Areas to invest in: simply depends on your strategy. I wrote a blog about the Baltimore Metro market. https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/8179/51343-pra...

Feel free to check it out!

-Place to network: There is Friday lunches at Spirits West in the city that is really good and then there are a few meetups including one that I organize every month in Anne Arundel county. I would look on meetup.com and search for real estate groups, tons of great ones out there!

Post: Charm City Newbie Passed the Agent Exam!

Gabriel G.Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Posts 215
  • Votes 123

@Paige Marie congratulations and great job! Something I've implemented more recently that has helped me a lot is trying to add value to people's lives. Basically help others get what they want and eventually you'll get what you want. I've passed up some leads before that I thought weren't going anywhere but turned out to be very serious investors and ended up doing lots of deals. Had I focused more on just helping with no strings attached I would have been able to work with those investors on their deals. (Great commission on them too). So just my $0.02, really focus on helping others and you'll eventually get the success you want.

Post: Maryland Commercial Banks

Gabriel G.Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Posts 215
  • Votes 123

Have you thought of Hard Money Lenders? I know a few in the area that would be able to help.

Post: Inherited Tenant Problems at my first property- need advice!

Gabriel G.Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Posts 215
  • Votes 123

@Emily McCabe I would be nice but lethal. I file a failure to pay with the court the minute they are late. I also use a website called Myrentcourt.com which will file all the paperwork for a fractional cost. Depends on county but I pay less than $50 for Baltimore city/county. There's also a couple other similar sites. These sites will save you a ton of time and headaches when dealing with rent court. 

Additionally, I explain to all my tenants in a nice and courteous way that the notice that they will receive in the mail is only a notice and everything will go away as soon as I get the payment in full. 

Side note, if tenants offer partial payment, I would take it! You can still cancel the eviction process after they pay the rest but hopefully you'll be out of pocket a little less if you do have to go through with it. 

Lastly, don't spend money on attorney's just yet. I'd give one of these eviction companies a call and explain them your situation if you need any more support but you'll  see a big change in responsiveness from tenants as soon as they see the eviction notice. It works like magic sometimes. 

If there is anything else I can do for you, please let me know. I'd be happy to connect you to some attorneys as well (if it ever gets to that point).

Best of luck!

Post: Cooling issues on the top floor - HVAC issue

Gabriel G.Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Posts 215
  • Votes 123

i've also heard of dampeners being put on some of the basement and up word so that more flow goes towards the top level. I've never done it, but I know it could be done on some houses

Post: Cooling issues on the top floor - HVAC issue

Gabriel G.Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Posts 215
  • Votes 123

@Greg S. I had the same issue with a few of my rentals. What typically has happened is that since the homes are very old, the ductwork was designed for heat only. Another common issue that I face is that the HVAC is not the appropriate size for the type of ductwork that is installed.  In a nutshell, sounds to me like it's a similar type of ductwork issue that I faced and most likely you'll either need to upgrade the ductwork throughout the whole house, put in a separate system coming from the attic to the top level (dual zone is quite expensive though), or you could just provide your tenants with some window units (which is what I did in one house and they were ok with that). 

Anyhow, I would be happy to give you the info of some HVAC guys I use, just shoot me a private message since I don't think I can post their contact info on the forums. (Anyone else that needs their info, just shoot me a PM as well)

Post: Newbie moving to another area

Gabriel G.Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Posts 215
  • Votes 123

@Matthew Keeney Hey brother, thanks for your service and welcome to Maryland! I did 5 years in the service as well and know it can be an interesting time transitioning to the civilian life. If you need anything at all, I'd be happy to help as best as I can. 

I also recommend you check out some of the local meetups. There's a lunch every Friday in the city and a few other great ones including our very own Anne Arunde County Investor Meetup (trying not to shamelessly plug ourselves). Let me know when you're in the area and maybe we can grab lunch or a beer.

Post: Accountants in Baltimore?

Gabriel G.Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Posts 215
  • Votes 123

forgot to add, adminbooks will teach you most of the ins and outs of quick books too.

Post: Accountants in Baltimore?

Gabriel G.Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Posts 215
  • Votes 123

@Sam Frank I think you got some great advice from folks already. I would add on that most accountants expect you to know how to do your own bookkeeping or if not, they want you to pay A LOT of money for them to do it for you. I personally used Adminbooks, which is a company that teaches industry specific bookkeeping to small business owners. They walked me through the appropriate charts of accounts for rentals, how to enter purchases of rentals, normal monthly transactions etc. I highly recommend them if you don't have the bookkeeping piece figured out. I also use Katz Cohen as my accountant. 

Anyhow, hope that helps.