All Forum Posts by: Jason Wiser

We are very new to REI, in fact, we have not bought a property yet. That said, we have placed several offers and some we even offered cash and went 5-7% over asking... and lost.

We're in Northern Michigan and like everywhere else, inventory is extremely low up here. 

Anyway, we are wondering if maybe sellers are steering clients in ways so they can double dip ~ 6%. 

Right now, we have a seller agent that is not being very cooperative and we are wondering if they are holding our offer so they can work directly with some Zillow leads directly so they don't have to share? 

Ok, so that is off topic, so let me come back. Is there ever a time when you might reach out to the seller directly thorough FB or email? 
It is really easy to pull the plat book, look up the owners, search for them on FB, and find them.

Anyway... I don't mean to ramble, but just wondering if any of you experienced buyers ever reach out to sellers directly though social media or email to "do some research" 

Interesting @Scott M. you "always do 1 yr" 
My concern would be things like:

- am I stuck with bad renters

- what is the cost for the "lessons learned"

- can I evict in yr 1 if necessary? (Michigan) 

It seems like an all in strategy, and with your track record, I really appreciate your answer. Did you always do it this way or you learned this was best over time. and now this is your new "always"? 

Thanks man for jumping in here. Really appreciate it

Hey @Will Fraser Thanks man. I mean, I know these kinds of questions are like REI 101 and it can feel stupid even asking, so thanks for not just answering, but giving a thorough answer. I was kind of thinking the same way. Of course there is not a one size fits all (is anything one size fits all in REI except "CashFlow FTW" ?)
The fear is that if month to month, will the property stay rented, and like you say, that is addressed by finding and vetting good renters. The fear of long term is that you are stuck if you get bad renters and you are stuck on rent rates. Again, vetting and finding good renters. 
So your answer helps to reinforce that it is less important to concern yourself with long term vs periodic, and much more important to make sure you focus ion vetting and getting good renters. 
Thanks man for being a part of  my first forum post! you rock Will. 

We are first time landlords and just bought our first duplex. As we begin to decide what lease agreement to draft, we just want to ask others what they personally think is better and why? We have read a lot of blogs on the topic and understand the hypotheticals, but we want first hand account of what you prefer and why?