All Forum Posts by: John Mireles

Put me down in the have her sign a lease and pay a security deposit. I like Kyle's idea of letting her pay in installments. I wouldn't worry about her moving because any place she moves into is going to make her pay up anyway so it's not like she's likely to find a better option.

One property that I purchased had three stoner guys living in it with next to no security deposit. I wanted to kick them out but I was afraid that they'd trash the place. The first thing I did was get all the occupants on a new lease and collected a security deposit from each one. Just as I was getting ready to jack up the rent, they gave me notice. Because I had their money, they left the place nice and clean. Whew! People always act differently (more responsibly) when they have skin in the game.

I'm a bit uncomfortable with your plan. What is your stepfather's and mom's appetite for risk? How old are they? Here they have a very stable asset that they can use for their retirement. You want to turn it into something more risky. Is that in their best interests? You can make money in real estate but you can also lose it. You can also tie it up so that it's not easily accessible.

Now if they're wallowing in their cash and can afford to lose their money, perhaps you can discuss some sort of investment partnership. That said, I wouldn't chose to invest my money with someone who's been off globetrotting and now has decided to settle down into something convenient - that being my money.

I don't hear anything in there about a college education. The surest way to success in this country is through a college degree. As of 2012, the unemployment rate for those with only a high school education was over 8%. For those with a four year degree, the rate was 4.5 percent - which is a rate that's considered full employment.

Sure, you can succeed without an education, but, believe it or not, you can and will learn a heck of a lot of useful information. Also, with a solid degree, you stand a much better chance of working at company where you can learn. It's so much easier to learn your profession when you're guided by others with a lot more experience than you.

When you're young, your mind is still open to learning. Once you get past a certain stage, it becomes much tougher to listen while others tell you what to do - but that's an important part of the process. While it's tempting to just jump into the deep end of the pool, I think that ultimately you'll go much farther with a solid foundation of knowledge and skill.

I am not a stager nor a set stylist, but the staging in those photos is absolutely horrible. Just says cheap. My first thought from seeing that in a house would be that whoever did the remodel was cheap and cut corners. I'd head straight for the door.

Better to show nothing and let the buyer think that you know what you're doing than to show something and confirm to the buyer that you don't.

My advice is that life is short. Don't live somewhere that you don't love - unless you've got a clear plan for the future. I have to say that being a tenant is great. No taxes to pay. Just call the landlord when stuff breaks. No worries about upkeep. Being a homeowner is expensive!

I'd suggest saving your money. Keep looking at the markets where you want to invest. When the time comes either buy a home you love and can afford or invest in something that makes financial sense.

I don't see any advantage to putting all the properties under one loan. Essentially you're cross-collateralizing all of your properties to the other and limiting your flexibility in handling your assets. Like Bill Gulley says, you're putting all of your eggs in one basket. In general, you want to keep things as separate as possible.

What happens if one property burns to the ground and you decide not rebuild? What happens if you decide to refinance in a few years but one or two properties have declined in value (say market conditions change)? How will that impact your ability to refi the others?

I suppose you'll save on the costs of closing on one loan as opposed to many. I just wonder if you'll regret having your hands tied down the road as different opportunities come up and your priorities change.

Few things:

The less money you put down, the higher the interest rate that you can expect. 20% down is the standard these days so it's going to be tough to find a lender willing to accept anything less. On top of a higher interest rate, you can also expect to pay for Private Mortgage Insurance which may be another $100 to $200 or so. So 4.25% doesn't sound too bad. Consider yourself lucky that it's not 8%.

Getting your credit pulled shouldn't ding your credit score too much. Basically, you need to be above 720 for top tier credit. If your credit score came out below that then it's going to be tough going to find a bank willing to work with you on low money down. If you got pulled from 728 to 718, that's one thing. But if you went from 680 to 660, the problem isn't so much a little ding to your credit score as it is the fact that your credit score isn't what most lenders want to see.

Finally, echoing what Joel said, unless you're an owner-occupant, forget about borrowing from a traditional lender with less than 20%. You may find it to be more like 25% down.

The 5% down party crashed back in 2008. It's over. Nowadays banks want their full 20% down. FHA will do 3% down for owner-occupants but you've got to have a pretty sterling credit and income record. I recently received a 3% FHA loan but man, they put me through the ringer. They wanted documentation for every last thing - including invoices and sources of funds for every $1000 deposit over the prior three months. (Given that virtually all of my deposits are for in excess of that, we had to do a lot of digging.)

Jonna W. Unfortunately, I don't really know much about cameras in that price range. My suggestion is to visit a local camera shop that sells to pro photographers - not a big box chain. Let them know your needs and see what they have to offer. Most will match the big guy's pricing plus you get some good advice.

The other thing that I'll add to that is that a better camera isn't going to take better photos on its own. Probably the best use of your time and money would be to take a day-long photo class in your area so you'll have a better idea of what camera to pick and and how to use it once you get it. All too often I see people walking around with great cameras but no clue how to use it to its best advantage. The skill of the photographer definitely does not increase with the price of the camera.

I completely agree with all the advice given here. The one suggestion that I'll offer is that you take some classes that will help you in the future should you wish to go down the REI road. Take those accounting courses so you understand and become comfortable working with spreadsheets and numbers. Maybe do a minor in business management.

So much of what I see here is emotional investing. "I like this property, what should I do?" Very few have the knowledge and discipline to look at a property by the numbers to make a sound financial decision. I'm an artist by trade but what has helped set me apart from my starving brethren is my ability to make sound business decisions.

Good luck in your schooling and your career!

"It's not me, it's you." That's the old cliche that one partner says to the other when breaking up so as not to hurt the other person's feelings. The problem with asking prospective tenants about why they didn't rent from you is that they're not likely to tell the truth. They don't want to come out and say anything negative about you or your property - which might hurt your feelings. Instead, they say that there's something wrong with their credit or whatever - that there's something wrong with them, not you. Bottom line, you can't entirely trust the feedback that you're getting.

In the end and regardless of the feedback you're receiving, this is about how the price of your rental relative to the value that you're offering. You must either increase the value or lower the price so that your rental becomes competitive within your rental market.

Instead of offering to install a washer dryer in the future, go ahead and put in a nice clean set right now so that prospects can see it. If everyone else is including water and trash, you should too otherwise you look cheap (and your property more expensive) by comparison. Fix up that landscaping because it's the instant drive up appeal that you need to get tenants to fall in love with your place.

The fact that you're getting so many tenants through there tells me you're doing a good job of marketing and that you've got a desirable location. You just need to do a little more fixing up to get the tenant you want. The other options of letting it sit until someone finally does come along or you lower the price don't make sense in my book.