All Forum Posts by: Derek Johnson

Hello,

I just bought a house from a seller this past month. Now I got a letter from my county treasurer stating that there are delinquent property taxes and they've been sold to a buyer, and I have two years to pay them back with interest or risk losing the property.

WHAT? 

I got a conventional loan through a bank, do they not do a title search to check for liens? Am I really responsible for this? I've already contacted the mortgage officer I worked with and he is supposed to make some calls today and let me know what he finds out. Any advice here?

I am looking at replacing the windows and siding on one of my rentals and was wondering if I would be able to take a deduction or I'd have to depreciate them?

Hello,

We are closing on our third property and after reviewing a few different options we've decided to set up an erentpayment account.

My question is about the reminder email, and the notes/messages to current renters box.

I can't seem to find where to review what the message looks like that they send to tenants. Am I supposed to completely compose the reminder message to send and put it in this box? 

Also, any reviews positive or negative about their service would be appreciated! Thanks.

Welcome Cody,

My wife and I have started investing after 3+ years of studying and close on our third rental on the 22nd. This will be our third year of "investing" in real estate, as we bought our first property in 2009 and started renting it out two years ago. We lack a lot of construction knowledge and have had a lot of help from my dad and her uncle on fixing things up. What's helped me is my drive and passion for studying our market and running the numbers. I'm sure once you get ready your construction knowledge will be a great asset! I keep BP in mind whenever I need a refresher on tenant screening and use their guides as a reminder of the steps to take. 

Let me know if I can help you out with anything and welcome to the community!

Inventories are pretty low in Black Hawk County, Iowa as well. Thinking about flipping a house instead of renting it out that were under contract on. Typically a buy and hold investor, but I think it might be a better flip.

Cheers! I'm a Hawkeyes fan but I never hold it against anyone. I root for all Iowa teams unless they are playing the Hawks. We're closing on our third rental in April. Hope for success in your pursuits!

Hello BP,

I am a relatively new investor. My wife and I own two SF rentals and our plan is to have 10. If we get there and we feel we can take in more then we will at that point! I am trying to stay organized and business minded so I was wondering if anyone had a spreadsheet or other document that they use to track features of their properties with. (I.e. Windows in 2008, roof in 2012, tenant data, purchase price, and any other relevant info). I could make one myself but I thought I'd ask and put the feelers out for someone already better organized than me. Thanks!

@Brandon Turner - It is very enjoyable/exciting to do the research, run the numbers, find a property like this one that should make a great rental and actually have it all come together. The character in this home is amazing. We debated on moving, but our backyard now is so much bigger and we've been really enjoying it. It is always a possibility down the road! That's the nice thing about rentals... 😎

@Ben Leybovich - It is only projected cash flow for now! Lol, but I am anticipating it will be pretty easy to achieve!

@Mike H. - Thanks, I appreciate it!

Hey,

@Shaun Weekes - Thanks for the info. We have successfully completed a re-fi cash out and are closing on our second property in July! Got it well under assessed. Assessed at $98k, purchase price is $71k. It was an estate sale... Should be able to duplicate this strategy and still maintain 20% equity after a few improvements!

Hello BP,

I wanted to post some info about our upcoming property purchase, we close on July 1. I am really excited about this one, and only a year after buying our second property and renting our home out. I leaned on Bigger Pockets OFTEN when I was researching real estate, and it has always been a great resource when I need to brush up on something! I especially connected with @Brandon Turner's blogs about being in your 20's and being a successful investor. Okay:

Our first home was purchased for $99,000. I overpaid, and had no knowledge of real estate or investing. I was 20, and that was in 2009.

I read many books like Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, etc.

SO----->

We bought our second home last year. Our first home was able to be rented for $900/mo, and the mortgage is $720. It's not the best, but we lowered our payment by moving, and it is a solid house in a nice area. The new house we moved into was a foreclosure, priced starting at $118,000 and dropping all the way to $65,000. We won a four way bid on the place at $69,100. It was assessed around $98,000. We fixed a lot of things ourselves and had it appraised for $108,000 this year. We re-fi cashed out $18,000 and have a purchase agreement on what will be our second rental property.

It is a 4br, 1.5ba SFR. Awesome woodwork, nice open main floor dining room and well taken care of. It was an estate sale, and the woman who lived there had been there for 60 years. We talked to the neighbors and they said she was always out in the yard taking care of things even at 90! It was listed at $79,900 and we ended up getting it for $71,000. It is assessed at $98,000 and comparables are selling for that in the area. It doesn't need too much updating in my opinion. Maybe some paint and new carpet from the living room to the upstairs.

My wife and I are now in love with real estate investing. I actually enjoy scouring the MLS / Zillow / Local Listings for the best deals. We were able to put 20% down for this property, and will have enough equity to pull out another $20,000 and buy another property when the right one pops up. The cash flow should also be very nice, upwards of $300-400/mo. I can live with that ALL DAY. I am still learning and still don't have all the service / skilled professionals in my roll-a-dex that I'd like to, but I have acquired some. I want to thank the BP community for sharing your knowledge and expertise with others. When I am comfortable enough with my decision making and number crunching, I will definitely try to help others as well.