All Forum Posts by: Manco Snead

Greetings good people,

Wondering how you would approach the following situation:

In one unit (2 bed/1 bath, class B/C) of my OOS duplex lives a middle age woman and her 8 yr old son on section 8. I dealt with this tenant's advocate friend from their church alot before I hired a PM for this property. This advocate friend has contacted me asking if the tenant's older (maybe 30) son can move into the unit with her as the tenant is having health issues. The older son has some past legal issues (don't know specifics), but according to the tenant's advocate friend they have maybe been "resolved." The current tenant has been ok, not great, paying late sometimes.  

I believe in working with tenants but don't want to create a mess for myself. Given that I also have a PM, how would you approach this situation?

Much thanks.

There is science then there is junk science. Junk science is obviously junk. True science is derived from our unbiased scientific, largely academic, institutions. These institutions are the ones that create models for weather, climate change etc., and are based on available factual evidence. They are peer reviewed. If you choose to not believe them then you are free come up with whatever beliefs you wish. Our job is to distinguish the true science from the junk science.

If you're going to have non-family property management know that they can easily turn your investment into a stressful money losing mess. Don't underestimate this. Figure out how to verify you're hiring a quality PM before you hire them. I actually don't how to verify a PM in this way as words don't seem to count for much these days, but you really want to avoid getting tangled up with one of the many bad PMs. Just speaking from experience. I'm on PM #3 with my out of state property.

Horrible PM experiences are normal. I've used 3 PM companies thus far and fired all of them. For my out of state property I'm now just starting with my 3rd PM. If this doesn't work out I'm selling. I had a long term plan to buy at least a few more OOS properties; that plan is now out the window as the probability of ending up with a crappy PM seems more likely than not. The messes they create make it not worth it. Some people manage their own properties from a distance but personally I'm just not comfortable with doing that.

Just my personal experience. I'm going onto PM # 3 within 1.5 years for my LTR OOS property. If this new PM turns out to be good I may at some point buy another property in that area. That aside, I won't buy OOS again because the likelihood of ending up with a crappy PM is too high. Again, just my experience.

I would definitely not buy OOS as your first property; way too many landmines. I would also be wary of most people on this site who say they want to "help" you.

King, I'd read a bunch of books, podcasts, whatever, on the basics so you understand the numbers and what you want out of re investing. Be careful on this site as many people are trying to sell you something. I.e. the agent from Memphis will tell you Memphis is a great place to invest. In other words be careful who you trust in RE. Some people will give you honest advice in terms of location, but nobody is going to give you their hard earned secrets. I would also definitely not (N-O) buy out of state as your first rental. Way too many landmines. Buy down the street and manage yourself so you can learn how to do it; there's a million moving parts. And beware the property manager; they'll make or break your investment; many are unscrupulous.

No. ...no. Unless you charge them a $1 million deposit. Those dogs will probably make a lot of noise then your neighbors will hate you too.

I'm a novice, but my answer is no. But plenty of people still make it happen. I'd look at past interest rates, values, and long term graphs to have a context for the current numbers, then you can know where today fits into history and what you are up against or have going for you.

Don't know much about your situation, but put simply RE investing costs alot of money. Focus on having a good reliable income first. You also won't be able to get loans without this and without loans you can't buy anything. It's best to look at all of this as a very long term plan. I went back to school at 39. It set me back about 4 years, but I didn't really have any other choice. And as others mention, ditch the American consumer lifestyle. No fancy stuff, no eating out regularly, no $300/month TV bill, etc.