All Forum Posts by: Derek Gendig

@Chris Cerny - very neat service! We mostly work with Out of State/Country investors that are always expanding their portfolios. A video of the home and area could provide to be invaluable to them. If an opportunity arises, I'd be happy to refer them to you and give your company a shot! 

Congrats, @Aladdin M.!  Happy to see your portfolio growing. 

I Can't provide much more information about the area that what @Ross Denman has already provided. For an area to have an average of a C-, there will be quite a few D class properties very near to your home. While properties can be improved to that of a higher class home, you will have a much more difficult time reshaping/reeducating your future Tenants into behaving and treating your property any better than they have treated every other house they have ever lived in and around the area. Most of the area will be made up of rental homes thus giving the Tenants the opportunity to very quickly move should you ever need to hold them accountable for repairs or fees they "don't feel they should have to pay". With this being said, keep looking. Indy is a great city for out of state investments. You will find what you're looking for so long as you stay active, keep learning the neighborhoods & don't fall victim to the grand illusion only numbers can show on a spreadsheet with respect to how good a rental property will perform or not. Feel free to use myself of my team as a resource as you work towards finding the right deal.

Each Agent/Broker operates as an independent contractor so, in most ways, they are "the owner of their business."  While they will have operating stipulations and other guidelines set forth by the brokerage they are associated with as well as regulatory license law etc., the Agent is free to operate as they see fit with respect to having exclusive agency agreements in place.  With that being said, we encourage our Agents to do so if they are working with serious buyers as they will have personal time invested, they will provide assessments and share knowledge with the buyer, they will have travel and wear and tear on their vehicle, etc.  At the end of the day, most transactions call for the seller/wholesaler to pay the Agent, not the Buyer.  While some will argue that they can get a better deal without having to pay an Agent, this may or may not be true, however if you are not familiar enough with the state real estate laws nor have the resources to protect yourself in the case that another Agent or wholesaler takes advantage of you then I would encourage you to use an Agent anytime purchasing a property.  

@Ev Aguiar congratulations on the purchase. Sorry to hear about your PM situation.  I am available to discuss your property today if you have some time.  

@Brent Shaffer hard to tell from the picture but with the bottom being a stone product & the siding being tan, you can do almost any color, other than green as there seems to be some red tones.  Navy blue goes weill with both the stone and tan siding so to make the home seem longer & larger, I would say white shutters, white garage door, and do a deep navy, almost a black on the front door.  Paint the gutters & mailbox white and do a black mulch bed. Repaint the gutters white to make them look clean and remove all the shrubs from the front and plant new box woods but don't buy them to large.  Make the home look long, tall and clean.  As it is a rental, dont put too much $$ into the garage.  There is no return on a pretty garage so long as it is clean, dry and the doors work! Best of luck!  Keep us posted after you complete the project!!

@Joseph Beazley welcome to the Indy market! I recently went to a meet up that was organized by an Out of State Investor in which they created an event in BP and invited all the types of people they hoped to connect with during their trip to Indy. I thought it was a brilliant idea. Rather than having to hunt people down, navigate the city and hope to match up schedules, they got a group of us together at a pub, shared some food and a drink and got to meet with us. After which, you can schedule meetings with the ones you hoped to meet but were unable to attend the event. Just an idea. If you are looking for a PM resource, need helping navigating areas or want to discuss specific deals, you've got 2 great resources in myself and @Ross Denman.

@Ki Lee how many bedrooms and bathrooms are the units? Is this a building that was converted at some point? Having to pay for all the utilities makes me believe so. To be honest, as a PM (take it for what it is worth to you), I don't see the PM fees as a major contributor in the 12%+ in additional operating costs, but I am not privy to your Owner statements. In my personal experience, we have found that older buildings typically have less insulation than newer construction, older windows, older boiler/furnaces, etc. Are there any provisions in the lease to handle the months when the utilities go above what you expected? Is it typical for buildings in the area to provide laundry? If not, I would suggest removing them. The electricity and water required to do a load of laundry multiplied by the number of Tenants per week will add up very quickly. Is there anything you can do to separate the utilities? We have done this for our Owners with great success. The expense is all front loaded but having a building in which the Tenants are responsible for all their own utilities not only provides cash flow advantages each month but it should lend itself to a higher value to future investors when the time comes to sell. Just some thoughts I had. I am not in your market, just felt it was important to provide a voice for your PM as they are not in on this and have more insight than all of us as to what is actually happening with the Tenants and the building.

Unfortunately @Judy P. you should heed the advice given by the group. As a PM, I can understand how difficult it can be to separate your behavior from your emotions especially when you take the communications involving your business as a personal attack. Just remember though that this is your business. You need to take all actions necessary to keep your emotions in check as you have the most to lose in this situation. If you don't feel that you can separate your emotions or feel that you may behave in a way that will give the Tenant an advantage later, then please hire counsel and have them handle the situation. An attorney has no skin in this game and will handle things accordingly and per the law. When attorneys get involved Tenants will often concede as the Tenant loses the ability to make vague legal threats that you or I might feel carries weight as we don't know the laws, as well as an attorney but your counsel, shouldn't bat an eye at anything the Tenant threatens. Your counsel should be billable back to the Tenant, depending on your lease. Keep calm, hire a pro and issue your non-renewal notice. The tenant doesn't leave, call in your counsel. Tenant leaves, take a breath, strengthen your lease for next time and be better for having dealt with it!

If your an investor looking to purchase a rental property in Indianapolis but; 

1. want to know how much the home will rent for before making an offer
2. are uncertain about the area, neighborhood, or type of property
3. want to know what types of finishes to use on your rehab to ensure you get the most for rent but don't spend unnecessarily
4. have questions about what appliances you should include with rent

We are more than happy to help.  We find that many Out of State investors are having a difficult time deciding just how much to pay for their next property or rehab because they don't know how much they will be able to rent the home for.  

To receive your no obligation Rental Analysis, provide the information HERE and we will get back to you with a comprehensive rent report.