All Forum Posts by: Gloria Sheridan

So, @Kevin McCarthy: Did you ever get any feedback on this question or make a final decision? It's Oct 2018 and I've just selected "IRA Financial Trust" to set up my self-directed checkbook IRA, with their sister company "IRA Financial Group" as the custodian. Who did you ultimately decide to work with and how did it turn out?

Thank you to all who have participated in this thread. Super valuable to me, as I trying to make a final decision on which self-directed IRA custodian to work with. Equity Trust was in my final decision set, but no longer. This feedback is too consistent and too recent to ignore. This thread just paid (in value to me) for my BP membership for the year...

I'm experiencing this same situation right now with one of my (inherited) residents. I set the "late" date to be the 7th of each month because they told me they don't get paid until the 7th of each month. Well, after a few months of waiting around for payment past the 7th, I've (finally) gone ahead and started assessing late fees. This month they paid an extra $90 in late fees ($50 for past the due date and then $10 per day for each additional day). So, despite the small hassle, I got an extra $90 paid to me this month. They now are crystal clear that the late fees are going to be assessed each month going forward. If they want to pay me what amounts to at least an extra 7% in rent each month, then I will go ahead and take it. It's easy to bill them for this as I use Cozy.co also. I have not had to spend a dime to fix up their unit since I bought it, so I think I'm not going to rock this boat. Let them pay their late fees. Their inability to plan/budget is my extra 7+% revenue gain.

I'm dealing with this right now. I just finished separating the water meters on a 3-unit property. Brand new tenant in one of the units agreed to pay her own water bill and was supposed to contact the city to set up her account in time for Sept 1 start. I noticed she had not yet done so on Sept 7 (a Friday). I called the City, set the turn-off date for Sept 11 (a Tuesday, not a Monday, cuz I'm nice), and alerted her of her responsibility, framing it as completely out of my control. I have not responded to her calls or texts. She's freaking as her water is getting shut off tomorrow if she doesn't open the account and pay the deposit. Suffice to say, this doesn't bode well for the future.

I am transitioning two rental properties right now to multi-metering for water. Wouldn't the prior leases no longer be valid once the property has changed hands, regardless of how long until their former renewal date or the stated duration of the old lease? You should absolutely have your own leases in force and then you can set the rules to what you want (i.e. they pay their own water bill going forward). My humble opinion...

@AJ Singh That is **exactly** my strategy. I’d love to own the whole neighborhood 😁

Thank you to everyone for your insightful comments and points of view! Super helpful. I’m just about to complete the cash-out refi of my 2nd deal (a value-add situation with 3 separate cottages on a single plat). I will post again when those figures are finalized. 👍👍👍

@Matt R. While I've started with a reasonable estimate (1 month empty out of 12 months = 8.3% vacancy), what I plan to to do is keep track of what the vacancy rate is actually trending toward in my area / for my properties and just be realistic about it. No need to be overly pessimistic or optimistic--Just calculate what it actually is, and use that as your assumption going forward.

@Account Closed Yes, I’ve accounted for those anticipated costs (snips of the BP worksheet showing all my  assumptions is shown in the original post). I’m using a 5% reserve for Repairs & Maintenance and a 1% reserve for Capital Expenses (since everything is new). While I did put down 25% at purchase, I don’t see how I’m not making a net profit on Day 1 and forward. Fully renovated duplex, already rented to reliable, pay-on-time residents, where I haven’t had to spend anything except mowing the grass. I have no intentions of selling. I’m certainly open to feedback— What did I miss? That’s the whole point of my posting this deal detail is to learn from others. Thanks,

@Jay Hinrichs I better look into needing to be licensed in GA to do property management for others, stat!