All Forum Posts by: J J Moody

The partnership used to include a discounted fee until they announced this change about a year ago. It must be old copy that never go updated? When I signed up via my pro membership, I was charged $1 to set up the account with RentRedi. As long as you login to their app through the pro area it will recognize your membership and should give you the software at no cost. Hope that helps! 

I am also researching this topic and all of the advice I have read so far is to treat your vetting of any MTR tenant the same as a long term/traditional tenant if you are not using a booking platform. Meaning, they will enter into a lease agreement with you that spells out the terms and conditions of their stay. I would perform a background check or have your property management site do that thru the application process. Keeping in mind that a lot of licensed professionals must go through a background check as part of the hiring processes. This is true for travel nurses, for example.

Now, if you're booking through a site like AirBnB the process outlined above may not be necessary. However, if you're using sites like Zillow or Furnished Finder to get leads on possible tenants then you will need to vet them on your own or through your PMS (property management software) and sign a lease. I ask for personal and professional references as well as any prior landlord references and the PMS I use includes a background check in the application process. Again if you're using a site like AirBnB or VRBO then you have the reviews from other hosts and some of the protections offered via the booking platform.

When I travel for work I bring certain kitchen necessities with me. It is so helpful to be able to cook meals in the place I am staying for weeks or months at a time.

Great wifi is also important!

I will start by saying that I don't have anything to compare it to. RentRedi is the only software I have used for property management. I think it's great! I use it for all communications with my tenants, have received maintenance requests with additional documentation attached, and of course manage payments and leases, etc.

They have some demo's and videos showing the portal view on their site. Those may be helpful to dig into to see if the system is right for your needs.
 

I also use zillow because that seems to be where most leads are coming from. However, I will transition them over to RentRedi for things like pre-qualification and/or applications, as needed and of course for lease signing and management, etc. Since I am also self managing, I always talk with them on the phone and then meet them to show the unit once the pre-qualify. 

I set up my unit and advertising thru RentRedi, which will also publish on Realtor.com. Then, I will set it up separately on zillow (since it's a free service). RR offers to publish on other platforms for a fee. To me, it's not that difficult to duplicate the listing over manually at no cost.

I am in the area and have not had luck finding a local meetup. The Mobile Area group seems to only do webinars now. There are groups in the panhandle of FL or around Birmingham Area that are actively meeting in person to network. 
If you have found a local meetup that isn't virtual, please let me know!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $120,000
Cash invested: $13,000

Hi Joshua, 

I have heard of this strategy and personally love the idea of borrowing against my custom whole life insurance policy or the variable universal life policy that I have. 

Of course, there are other types of life insurance policies out there but these two in particular are structured to include a cash value and investment vehicle with a flexible death benefit. These are the only type (that I am aware of) where you can access the funds you've contributed and use for other purposes while you're still living. You can leverage the funds to then invest in real estate and pay it back at a later date, or choose not to pay it back and instead you would be reducing the death benefit. 

It's an interesting concept and one that I plan to deploy in the future. I'm in the area and would be happy to connect you with my insurance agent if you're looking for any other quotes. If so, shoot me a message.

I used an attorney to set up my LLC and create the operating agreement. In my opinion, it's money well-spent. Like others have mentioned, it's beneficial to you and your business partner to ensure the LLC is established in a way that does in fact limit your liability. It would be worth hiring an attorney to review the OA.

Thanks for taking the time to explain some of the ways you recommend vetting a property manager or firm. A critical point that you and others have made is that what is important to me and another investor is going to be different. I agree that it's key to review and assess all possible aspects of the relationship and agreement with any PM that I may bring on in this role. Certainly there is some level of control that I would be giving up, but this is where vetting the company, reviewing the agreement, and building trust comes in. Not to mention there is the ongoing management of that agreement and relationship that will ensure a better experience (hopefully) for all parties. 

Thanks for linking the article!

Really great feedback from everyone. 

This gives me quite a lot to think through should I transition from self-management into bringing on a property manager.

Thank you all so much!