All Forum Posts by: Julie Haveman

We had a terrible case of fleas in one of our rental units. We did the treatments in the bombs and it helped but it didn't take care of the tough ones. I read a little home remedy online and thought I would try it. It worked like a charm. If you put a lamp on the floor and put about five or six pie tins around it with water in it then squirt some dish soap in it and turn the light on. We put these in each room of the house. I think the first day we did it we had over 50 fleas in the tins. We did this for about a week, and the problem was taken care of. When walking through the house we wore rubber boots at all times. I hope this helps!

Kevin Swanson We have 9 duplexes in and round the Grand Rapids area. Our last one we just closed in May. Every one we purchased has a but factor. 2 times we bought 2 at a time because the seller wanted to sell both. 2 times we purchased with termites being treated. I called exterminator and we were ok with small damage areas and no longer active. 2 times we purchased the week of Christmas. The last one we bought was listed 18 days. They would only show the unit on Fridays from 4-6, one unit had a pit bull, and rents were extremely low. We got this one for $12k under asking. We try to do clean offers. The other offer on the last one we bought wanted seller to evict a long term tenant. We have since May got rid of the dog and raised rents $200 on each side. It is harder these days, but they are still out there!

Did you know you can get up to 10 mortgages now? Some husband/wife teams get 10 each. It used to be 5.

Have the seller start the eviction paperwork.

Derrick Lloyd Don't forget to keep track of your mileage. That really adds up.

Devon Tronrud We do manage ourselves. Some weeks it can be very busy and other weeks we don't hear a peep from anyone. We both still work full time also. My husband works 60 hours a week at his day job, but the day jobs are only for another 1-2 years.

We own 9 duplexes and with those numbers, we would snatch it up. You have no numbers for repairs, capex and management, but there is room for all of that and vacancies. I figure $100 per month for repairs and $100 for capex for each duplex, and we have been really close with those numbers.

Lynn DeShazo Wear rubber boots until you are sure there are no fleas! Flea bites are miserable!

How much is your deductible?

Casey Schreiber Do you know when each of the leases come up or if they are on month to month? If M2M then I would just put in offer that unit #? Must be vacant by close. If they are in leases, just schedule closing close to the end of a lease. You could do cash for keys also.