All Forum Posts by: John Myers

Congratulations on your success.

Make sure you understand your state's tenant landlord laws.

Then follow the laws.

The key to success in rental properties and property management is get good tenants.  Good tenants, good life,  Bad tenants, Life sucks.

Make sure you have a great screening process.

Investing in real estate rental property is a great way to build a college fund for your children.  Purchase a rental property with positive cash flow.  Make additional payments on the home in order to pay off the home prior to the children entering college.  Let the renters pay off your mortgage and you will have a nice nest egg for college education.

You have a great question and has made me think of my situation.  We own 8 rental homes and my wife could not find the homes if she had too.  I need to get her up to speed on what is going on with our investment properties.

There are entire classes and books written to answer this question.  One strategy is to look at foreclosures and short sales.  This is one area to find good deals.  Not all foreclosures or short sales are great deals.  If you are searching bank owned homes and short sales, you will need to find a real estate agent that understands real estate investing.  Most real estate agents have no clue when it comes to investment properties.

I have created my own spreadsheets to analyze properties, however there are lots of software and calculators to help you.  You will want to learn about cap rate, cash flow, return on investment, and cash on cash return.