All Forum Posts by: Jeffrey Gignac

I have mulled over this for some time now, but never given it a try. I believe you can give a firnedly gesture to your customer while also hinting at proper care being taken of your asset at the same time.

I have had the same tenant in my first and only property for three 1-year lease cycles and I credit that to common courtesy on both of our parts. No "tokens of appreciation" have been exchanged but a tone was set from the beginning regarding both of our expectations of the arrangement. Common courtesy and clear communication have gone a long way to making my individual rental experience a positive one!

As backlground, I am a CPA formerly in public practice but now focusing mainly on trust administration and strategy. For your situation and many others like you just starting out, there will be little no advantage of having your property under and LLC at closing. Trust is another story entirely and really won't come into play until longer down the line.

As stated by @Edward B., financing and insurance rates will be less favorable when done as a commercial entity as opposed to in your own name. Also, for tax reporting purposes, a single-member LLC is classified as in individual person anyway, so not looked at any differently by the IRS. As you stack properties, umbrella policy would be the way to go and they can always be retitled to a business entity at a later date if you so choose.

To add what many have already stated. Underchargind rent is a tricky swamp to get out of. I was timid with my first rental property when choosing an initial ask. I asked for $950 and settled on $900 to lock in a good tenant. The tenant has been IMMACULATE and has treated my property better than I ever could have without the hassles of lat night calls for non-issues. For this reason, I am not sweating the reduced rent very much.

On the other hand, I know of similar properties on my street renting out for over $1,100, so the extra $200 a month would go along way towards covering repairs/saving for my next property. The same tenant has stayed and I have kept rent flat. I have now foregone several years of rents that are lower than market. I did not do my research, nor did I have enough confidence in my property which was in superb shape.

Thank you @Jill DeWit, @Sarnen Steinbarth. I am excited to have discovered this and no longer have to get crazy looks for always talking about RE to my friends and family!!

I've successfully owned and managed a cash-flow positive residential property since 2012. After paying down personal and mortgage debt and getting my financial ducks in a row, I have begun the hunt for another house in the same general area as my 1st house. I am looking for similar specs in size, amenities, purchase price, etc. so that I may duplicate the blueprint from my 1st house as close as possible. My ideal property is a 3/2 or 3/1.5 that could be easily converted to a 2 full bath house. Both a small university and a reputable elementary school are within walking distance of my first property. Like everyone, I am interested in getting a deal (it is investing after all), but my largest concern is the speed with which I can turn a new purchase into a cash producing property. 

I've seen one property that meets this criteria that has been on the MLS for over 500 days!!! It is a classic victim of having been bought right before the bubble popped and the owners have 0% chance of selling the house and getting what they paid for it. To boot, the owners have not lived in town for several years and long distance landlording has not gone well for them. This is information gleaned from neighbors and close associates who know the owners.

Rents for the area in question are trending up and comps are being rented for over $1,100. My first property is on the same street and is renting for $900, which I will use as my assumption of rents for conservative estimates on the project. Paint, wood floor refinishing, and a small section of water damaged ceiling are the repairs noted from my first walk through with my agent. My realtor is currently doing homework to learn more about the property for things I would not see on first glance. I'll be giving this property my 2nd walkthrough next week and after nailing down renovation costs, would like to make an offer. I will keep this post updated and any thoughts, comments, or questions are appreciated!

JDG

I am new to Bigger Pockets and was thrilled to hear that such a community existed. Like many folks on this site and on the podcast, my eyes were opened to the idea of "streams of income" outside of your 9-5 day job through Rich Dad, Poor Dad. My first exposure to RE investing came in highschool when my Dad bought a rental property, but quickly moved into the flipping as the larger pay-days enticed him.

Fast forward several years and I am graduating from Virginia Tech and ony my way to becoming a CPA working in a public accounting practice in my hometown. I lived at home to stock away cash for a few years and with this money was able to invest in 2 houses that my Dad was flipping. At this point he had about 40 successful deals under his belt so they were great, low-risk ways to get exposure to all of the ins and outs of turning a ruined piece of property into something more valuable. Flipping has never interested me though as it is a job and not passive so this leads into my first rental deal.

I bought my first house (3 bedroom, 1 bath) in 2012 originally intended to be a personal residence. The property was essentially a floor, four walls and a roof as the inside was uninhabitable. I purchased the property for $70K and have put another 50K into it. My personal situation changed and no longer had need for my own personal residence so this property instantly became a great rental opportunity.

Since September of 2012, this property has been rented out for $900/ month with a mortgage of $401/ month. There have been virtually no repair calls as EVERYTHING was replaced and fixed before tenants moved into the property. The higher than average rental rate does most of the tenant screening for me, although I still used a background and credit check upon landing my first and only tenant in this property (same tenant since 2012). The monthly free cash flow (FCF) get plowed back into paying off mortgage debt and also toward a reserve fund.

I am completely new to bigger pockets and learned about the community through the poscast which I also stumbled into after not finding very many good RE investing podcasts. I am currently on the hunt for my second buy and hold deal and plan to journal everything on this site as a record for myself in addition to maybe being valuable to another BP member. I am excited to jump into all of the forums, articles and community as a whole!!!

Jeff Gignac