All Forum Posts by: JJ Conway

Never been called a millennial before.  Lol.  One thing 20 years in ministry (and a decade of landlording) have taught me is that when people find out that you give handouts, you end up getting more people who want handouts. Somehow word spreads.

It's about being businesslike vs being compassionate. You can be both.  I most certainly work with good tenants who fall on hard times.  But isn't it funny how ever since I became stricter in my business practices, to the point that my reputation is "pay your rent or she'll file," I hardly ever have tenants who have those kind of hard times anymore.

@John S. I can't really give specifics - it varies market by market. And it depends on your goals (my highest cash-flowing property is one in the hood). My others are less headache, but they are substantially less profit. 

One thing I will say is that if you make it too nice, and set the rent too high, the people that could afford it won't want that neighborhood. They'll buy/rent up into a better neighborhood. 

I used Brennan Title when I lived out that way. Will PM you details

Hi Karl, while we're waiting for the experts to chime in, my first question to you is: do you already have relationships built with the kinds of people you need for your team? I mean, investor friendly contractors who will do consistent, quality work? If it's an in-house team will you be managing the laborers or do you have a trusted GC who will manage that for you as part of your team? Do you have access to needed funding? A strategy for acquiring properties/land to develop? Things like that. That's where I would start- making sure I could execute before spending the money on an LLC or INC.

And don't forget to seek out a Real Estate Investor Association or Group in your area.  The guy who taught me is not far from there and I can send you the recommendation if you like.

I used to pay birddogs $5 per lead, $25 per lead with contact info, 1% of closing if deal went through.  Worked well until I became an agent.

The problem with bird-dogging is people promise they'll pay you on the back end and don't.  So be careful.

And, yes, I would love leads in Arlington, so pls add me to your list.

All of the above!  One thing I might do, if the seller seems to need it, is include an explanation of the trade off between selling your house fast with a small fee for my time to make this headache go away vice taking the long route, incurring costs for repairs and realtor and possibly not selling at all in this market.

 I've broken up Ryan's post with bullet points I would use as an argument - that plus the $700/mo of insurance you said they're paying.  As a financial planner one thing I've often seen about heirs is that they're always trying to maximize the money they get from a relative's assets so for a Realtor to tell them $130K and you to come in at $100K isn't initially palatable.  You might need to show them how the property is going to sit there all winter empty (because winter is approaching, because maybe you can show the realtor used too high an estimate, etc) and actually cost them $XK in holding costs.  Present it as a win-win and you'll have a better chance.

Another point, and I hope this isn't too callous, is that since you don't seem to have an emotional attachment to your grandfather's house (you're not writing about fond memories of him or how he wanted to keep it in the family but, rather your post reads to me like this is a great target of opportunity), perhaps let it go and find another property where the seller is more motivated to sell.  You can always come back with your lowball offer in a few months when they realize you are right.  Big concern if I were in your shoes is that my family gets offended pretty easy so I wouldn't press too hard if they feel like I'm trying to cheat them out of their inheritance. May not be your family dynamic, just throwing that out there.

@Shawn Ackerman

Lots of good discussion above.

You said you are worried about setting a poor precedent. That has already been set with it being this late in the month before you are getting around to collecting rent. Even if it’s an understandable situation, the tenant doesn’t know the details of your business, just knows you didn’t get around to collecting rent until it was 20 days late.

I feel there are issues with your PM as well- couldn’t tell if this is a PM you inherited with the property or a PM that you have worked with for a long time. Non-payment of rent and partial payment is something I like to have already worked out where they don’t have to ask you each time. I prefer a standard process (i.e. they don’t pay on time, send letter, they don’t pay by XYZ, file in court).

In some jurisdictions, accepting partial payment pushes back your right to file for eviction so please check your local laws first. Again, this is something I would expect to lean on my property manager for, and I could be reading it wrong but it doesn’t sound like your PM provided you that knowledge up front (i.e. you could accept partial payment but it will push you back X weeks in eviction). Maybe this is a new jurisdiction for him/her and it takes time to get up to speed but it’s been 3 weeks that you’ve had the property.

I do have one property in a jurisdiction where accepting partial rent hamstrings me, so in that case I would be tough. Pay or quit with a late fee.

I have others where that’s not an issue, so if something like this happened there I would probably take it with a late fee and ensure (in writing) they understand the next month’s rent is due 1 Oct. My concern is, Sept is almost over and if they don't have Sept’s rent, they probably won’t have Oct's on time either. My other concern is I’ve never bought a house where the existing tenants were a dream (smile).

Look forward to hearing how things worked out!

 That's the nature of this business - live and learn!!