All Forum Posts by: Jeff B.

@Lydia T. You got guts. Best of luck. Quit my job recently, a big reason I was able to do it is due to my real estate investments. Just accepted an offer for a bit of a lesser job in hopes to kickstart my RE investing again.

@Anthony Wick

Hey, maybe they are reenacting “Griswald Family Christmas”. What’s wrong with that??

Best thread I have read in like forever. Hahaha. People?!

@Matthew Perry

Great story. Similar situation here. Own a four family and a duplex. I’ve been in this game for about 4 years. I had the next door 4-plex in my sights sine I bought my quad. I networked to buy it this fall, but the deal fell through. None the less, I’m going back at the market this spring and plan on going bigger. I’m happy to hear your story, because all I see is the people going to like 100 doors in six months??? Can it be done, yes, but it sounds like a house of cards to me. My Midwest, engineers brain can’t handle that level of leverage. Slow and steady wins the race. Keep it up.

I am very choosy on whom I rent to.  As soon as I put a sign out, I start to get some less desirable potential tenants and a ton of phone calls. ( I have a day job)  I have found that a lot of people are looking to move to this area. from all over.  By using Zillow basically, I cast a wider net and can view the pool in my free time.  I just rented to a guy that was super commuting from Tampa into the St. Louis area.  Best tenant ever; never there and paid his rent on time. (he finally moved on and out).  He would have never found me without Zillow.  You get the point, I'm looking far and wide for the best tenants and I have not used a sign in several years and I never have had problem renting.      

@Billy Smith I don’t use a sign. Zillow is my preferred location to advertise.

Simple: No pets. Problem solved.

Thanks for the input.  Prior to having the trailer removed, I contacted the city police and my lawyer, the certified letter that I sent them stated that I would remove the trailer after 2 weeks of no action on their part. 

John Anderson

John Anderson

I’m a relatively new investor and looking to the BP community (which is great) to help me navigate my most recent lesson and potential actions.Let me explain.Just over a month ago I bought my second rental property, a duplex in a nice part of town.The property lacked general maintenance and was one of the reason’s I was interested in the property in hopes to force some equity. During the purchasing negotiations, the previous owner was required to have a new roof installed.This was good or so I thought.What I didn’t foresee was that they used a less then admirable contractor. The work looks good, but as they were completing the job we were right at closing.  At closing I received the lien waiver and receipt for the work completed.The problem was that the contractor had not removed all of his equipment from the property.The next day they removed one of their two trailers. I “thought” they would come back and get the second in the next few days.Unfortunately four weeks went by and despite certified letters and phone calls to the previous owners from the realtor, it was never removed.Ultimately I paid a guy $275 to make it disappear.

Obviously, I have not been happy having to deal with this problem for the last month and the fact that I had to pay for its removal is maddening.Especially since I feel that both realty companies, the previous owner and the contractor all walked away with my money and I was left holding this bag.In the future I will not make this mistake.But, my question to BP is whom should I attempt to get reimbursed? I have considered taking title company to small claims court since they provided me the documentation and or the previous owners.BTW, the roofing contractor has turned into ghost and doesn’t respond to anything.Maybe I should just let it go and just take the minor loss and chalk it up to experience.

What would you advise?

I stumbled into this old post during my lunch and wanted to throw in my 2 cents.  I'm 45 years old and have considered getting into the RE game for numerous years.  Just 2 years ago I made my first deal, but it was a foreclosed house I bought to rent to my son.  No risk there (ha), but 12 months later I purchased a 4-plex and just closed on a duplex last Friday.  I truly believe the despite the work, ( which many deeply fear) the barrier to entry is capital.  I have been very fortunate in my career to make an above average salary and my wife and I are pretty frugal savers. It has taken a lot of effort for us to save and then invest in something that is going to or better yet "might" pay dividends sometime in the future.  Which isn't exactly true since both or our "true" rentals have positive cash flow.  It has been difficult, I have had to part with nearly $100k in the last 3 years.  (my wife wanted a pool)  I'm not saying that the "No Money Down" scenarios don't work and I know about them (as do many others), but IMO most options or just borrowing to borrow.  Okay maybe your paying 5% and earning 15%, that's a win right?, but these No Monday Down, risk and reward scenarios can be a difficult pill to swallow for most. Not to mention that "in a marriage or partnership" you have to convince both parties that this is the right place to put your money and efforts.  Very difficult.  

I have been following BP for 6-9 months and enjoy reading and learning about the RE Investing business.  I want to Thank everyone for their contributions, this is a great website. 

Yesterday afternoon I closed on a duplex in St. Charles MO.  This is my second property.  I purchased a 4plex, 13 months ago. (its going really well)  I don't have a slick "no money down" story, just my wife and I have lost faith in Wall Street and have been sticking some of our money in real estate for passive income and future retirement.  

This duplex is in the heart of St. Charles which is a great town.  The property is on a street where there are duplexes on one side and standard middle class homes on the other.  This particular duplex is the worst property on the street (go figure).  It was owned by your stereotypical slum lord.  (Bushes over grown, paint peeling, A/C looks like it was from the 70's, etc, etc etc).  I worked there all day today and have found numerous other items that need attention.  One side is rented while the other was refurbished by the previous owner just before the it was put on the market.  I think it was in such bad shape that they had to do it, just to make the property marketable. They upgraded the carpet, paint, bathroom but not the kitchen cabinets and countertops. All in All, it is nearly ready for a tennant. I plan on putting it up for rent as soon as I get the bushes removed, which should be in just a few days.  

Just a quick dive into the financials,  The property was purchased for $155,100. That was $100 over the asking price, which my excellent realtor suggested. (We were the second offer on the 1st day it was on the market).  A similar ( albeit nicer) unit was for sale at the same time for $175K on the same street, so I think I have some equity to gain with some inexpensive improvements and good tenants.  The property should cashflow @ $500 monthly.  

I just wanted to take a few minutes to share my story in hopes that someone will be able to use it for inspiration to become more successful.  Good Luck to everyone and keep posting on Bigger Pockets.