All Forum Posts by: Jaymie S.

I use erentpayment.com. It can take 5 days or more for my account to get the rent credit. It pulls from the customer the 1st of the month. My lease states its late on the 3rd. There is no way I would charge a late fee in this case. I honestly don't blame her for being upset.

I purchased my first property with cash. Second property was 25% down with a conventional mortgage using my W-2 income. Third property we did a refi on first property pulling out enough money to pay cash. I then formed an LLC and went commercial. As long as I bring 20% to closing my banker doesn't care how many I purchase from this point on. We just closed on #6 and are looking for more deals. I have moved all properties into the LLC and have 75% LTV mortgages on all 6 properties. This left us with enough cash for the next four properties at 20% down.

I only buy 2/1 on a slab in my area. Easy to rent and maintain. All of them cash flow as well. I usually end up with young professionals.

I don't know the specific guidelines for Fannie Mae. I can tell you that Wells Fargo is a joke in my opinion. I had been given a pre-approval letter after providing a verbal app with one of their loan originators. I then provided them with all documentation and verification for my financials. I obtained an acceptance of my offer on a rental property and WF ordered the appraisal ($600). The day before the scheduled closing (around 30 days later) I received a call from the originator telling me that she had resigned and that the loan was no longer approved. She later told me that she was leaving because she had so many extremely qualified buyers that were denied loans for no apparent reason. I was told that I had not given them all the required documents even though I had a letter from them stating that I had FINAL approval and all needed docs had been verified. I was referred to a local bank that managed to approve this deal and close only 2 weeks later. I have closed on 3 properties since then with this local bank with nothing more than a phone call for approval. 

In situations such as this I would meet the installers when they first get there and then come back later in the day to check on progress. I would also be there once they have finished the job to make sure it was done properly and to my satisfaction. You are spending money on your investment, you should always make sure you get what you paid for.

I only give out apps at an "open house" that I hold for each property. I do not charge an app fee. I simply tell each applicant that I will only contact the person that I am offering the property to. If you do not hear from me by a specific date and time then the property is either no longer available or you did not meet the requirements. I don't see anything wrong with this approach. I do not have "showings" by appointment to avoid wasting my time with no shows. This process has always worked for me. Anyone have any thoughts on this? 

Any recommendations for a CPA with experience for REI? Peoria, IL area. Thanks

I never tell an applicant a reason for rejection. I hold two open houses and make it very clear to any potential tenants that I will make a determination on a specific date and time and will only contact the individual that I will lease the property to. I do not charge an application fee so I feel no obligation to give a reason for rejection.

This scam just happened with one of my properties. I posted it to Zillow (I hate everything about CL). A couple of days later a coworker asked me why the rent was so cheap on my unit. Sure enough someone copied my Zillow ad to CL and set up a bogus email address. I notified CL and it was removed the next day.

I schedule two open house type showings for each listing. Typically a weekday evening and a weekend afternoon. Seems 2 hours for each is more than enough. I have never had a listing not rent after these 2 open houses.