All Forum Posts by: Clayton Plank

@Derek Rocco, Do you know the sellers motivation for selling? If you can find this out and why he wants higher payments a month it may help you. Do you know they want higher payments or did you assume that because they offered a 15 yr mortgage? It may be that they don't want to hold the mortgage past 15 yrs. You could do a 30 yr amortization with a 10 or 15 yr balloon. Maybe a 30 yr amortization with a 5 yr balloon for less money down. It really helps to know what the seller is trying to achieve by selling and then work back from that to make the deal work for you. You may have to offer more on the price to make it look appealing to have a lower down payment. 

@Tyler Mutch, several of the books Brandon Turner wrote are very helpful starting out. The book on managing rental properties and The book on rental property investing. I hate reading so I use audio books to allow me to drive and listen to the books at the same time. There are some good podcasts as well on Biggerpockets. 

@Steve Cheslock, it doesn't sound like a bad deal with the ruff numbers you provided. However, I think you would find a greater return if you found a property that already had the additional units included (Duplex, Triplex). If you are in a high price area, the new construction prices are going to be close to that as well. Unless there is an overwhelming demand for units in that area I feel you may have a hard time making the numbers cash flow for a decent return. 

@Christopher Anello, I'm not too far from you in Jacksonville. We have a pretty strong Reia up here if you decide you want to make the drive. We also have some good networking dinners. You can find them in the website calendar. I'm no expert, but would enjoy sharing some of my experiences. Good Luck, Clayton 

@Account Closed, Biggerpockets just put out an article on this "How to teach your kids all the money lessons they wont learn in school."   https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/teach-kids-money/

@Chris Walters, No as I acted like I was interested in renting the unit. I would go on zillow and find units around the one I was interested in or drive around the area and call for rent signs. If it is a local property you could also look at actually set up some viewings of units so you can go inside them and see how your possible purchase stacks up to the competition in the area. (I.E. granite, tile, upgrades etc)

@George C., I have not heard of fighting it, but I have heard of using an attorney as a registered agent for a fee. Last I heard was $100 or so a year which seemed reasonable. I like this idea as they had nothing to do with the managing. If you sign the property management as the registered agent you would have to change this if you changed property managers.

@Chris Walters, that is a good option. I also do my own research and call for rent ads in the area to get a feel for if the numbers a good. I had a investor friend that purchased a out of town turnkey rental with the tenant already in place. The rents were above market and seemed too good to be true. Later turns out the tenants were family of the seller boosting the rents for the sale. They up and moved shortly after the sale and he now can not get the numbers he had when he purchased. 

@Jon S., It worked great. I have a business account and prime through them so shipping was free and fast. Also their customer service is great to deal with.

@Jonathan Breton, @Account Closed does bring up a good point to ALWAYS have your own copies of everything. I bought a portfolio that was under management and things went south between us and it was a hard lesson learned on my part. It was a pain trying to get records. Now if I purchase anything already under management I request copies of everything while we are in good terms so if things go south I have my own.  This can be a heated moment sometimes when they find out they are losing your business.