All Forum Posts by: Jenni Utz

#1 piece of advice is build your team of trusted all-stars. If you have that, you can invest anywhere. For example, I am a Property Manager in Maryland. I am very well connected with other property managers across the country. Any of my investors looking to invest in other areas, I have the perfect referral for them, wherever they decide to buy!

Check out my Blog, Who Needs to be on Your All-Star Team

https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/13287/90920-who-needs-to-be-on-your-all-star-real-estate-team

I like to wake up by 6ish. I follow the routine of Miracle Morning. I then follow the key component of the "One Thing," meaning what is the one thing that I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier of unnecessary. Once I get that out of the way, I spend the rest of my time doing the odds and ends that need to get done in a typical day. I like to golf, cycle and spend time with my kids. So to me, as long as I get my ONE thing done and it sets me up to make the other things in my life easier, or unnecessary, I have had a productive day.

Unless the property has a separate tax id and can be sold separately, you will not be able to do that. I would check with your local municipality to find out if a sub-division is feasible. If it is not, you are basically adding value to your sisters property. I wouldn't do it if that is the case.

I don't think so. Most banks are looking at the same criteria as a regular loan. And in some cases, even more stringent since it is a cash out. If you live in the home, the cash out value may be higher. For a rental property, most will only allow up to 80% LTV cash out.

If you are looking at hiring a VA, you need to have your systems and processes perfected. You need to be able to put anyone in that position and they should be able to know what to do. My guess is since you are just starting out, you don't have these systems ready for someone else to take over. A big factor for me in determining is this something I need to hire a VA for is, are these tasks money making tasks or are they busy work. If it's busy work, I hire out. If they are tasks that I excel in and they are money making tasks, I do them.

Continued free training, commission structure, high level Realtors at the firm, support structure (if any), expectations of me, etc

@Diane G. I don’t think it’s a legal issue per se, however I do believe that choosing to accept or deny applicants based on ANYTHING other than their background/application criteria is a slippery slope. When we provide our owners with applicants, we don’t even give additional information. They should only be making decisions based on pertinent information. If you look to scale your investment portfolio, having these types of rules for # of occupants will be a hinderance. 

@Diane G. check on your local laws. Is there a limit to the number of people in a unit per square footage or based on # of bedrooms? If so, you can deny them. If not, and they qualify, I am not sure why it would matter. 

Hi Diane, You can't reject a tenant based on any fair housing issues. However, if there is another reason to reject them ie: not grossing enough, credit score, bankruptcy, poor rental references, etc then age is no longer the reason. 

I manage hundreds of rentals and I can say we have used this method a few times for tenants. It is not our go-to  option, but one that gets considered. We have a pretty strict rental criteria and a less than 1% eviction rating. When we have a tenant that checks 3 of 4 of the larger criteria boxes, or if they have a ding on their credit that is medically related or directly related to a divorce, we offer other options. One may be 6 months up front, or 2 month security deposit, or adding a co-signor, etc. I would say that the full payment up front should be one tool in your toolbag, and not the only one. I would also say that as a manager, we never give the landlord all of this money up front. It is held in a reserve account. If something goes wrong and the tenant isn't in the property for a full year, you need to come up with their additional funds.