All Forum Posts by: Jerry Rode

I don't see how people stay in business when they make it difficult for others to pay them. Pretty fundamental in my book. That's like a landlord making it hard for a renter to pay the rent...

And don't touch my food.

Thanks all for the suggestions. I likely need to keep "training" the agent I have now. We've bought 4 houses together but I might need to get a little more direct at how I think he can help out.

Ok, I've been working with 2 different real estate agents over the past 2-3 years. 1 was referred to me, the other is a friend of a friend.

Problem is, when trying to buy, the best that any RE agent has done for me is send me an automated listing of what is in the MLS. Once I scrub what I'm looking for, then they seem to help out by pulling comps, market analysis, etc. The time consuming part is scrubbing the MLS.

Are my expectations out of line for what an RE agent should do? I've literrally told the last one, "I have $xxx amount for use in purchase and rehab and am hungry to buy. Just need help finding the house." Then comes the list of what is available on MLS, and I won't hear from the agent unless I find a house that strikes my interest from said MLS list.

What does a good agent actually do in terms of helping investors find homes?

Thanks.

I'm with Ryan and try to stick with the 50% rule on the lower end rentals, here in central Indiana. Appreciation has not done anything for me, but I fall in the "less than 5 years of experience" bucket. I would like to think that appreciation will be a factor in another 10 to 15 years.

Some of my other rentals are newer homes, circa 2003-2005 with decent major components (roof, furnance, etc) and have not come close to needing the 50% rule to make solid cash flow, Yet.

-Jerry

Max - You're luck is more common than an exception! I just purchased 2, 4 unit bldgs in Indy this past July. Bought them on the cheap, but settled due to have decent plumbing, electrical, and structure in place. Since buying the houses, I've had a rash of bad luck...

A) 2 - 20 yard dumpsters filled and emptied of old tenants trash
B) Electrical fuse boxes and lines stolen from one home for the copper - $7500 to replace 5 breaker panels, meter units, shut off switches, etc
C) Copper plumbing in second house stolen, replaced with Pex
D) Multiple frozen / busted water lines throughout the houses, was never "winterized"
E) And though the houses have been vacant for over 2 years, Indianapolis dept of health has found someone to pick on, giving me multiple fines for unsafe housing (missing gutter downspouts, cracked porch near steps, and get this...the plywood that was used to board up the windows was not painted the same color as the house!), etc. Code enforcement had me pull a permit for replacing exterior doors, windows, some siding, and I couldn't reshingle the roof without permits. Trying to fix the place up and make it much nicer than it was and I've had nothing but trouble from the dept of health / code enforcement.

Good luck, keep the head down and grind away.

@ Jon -- $1100/mo. 3/2.5 w/ a 2 car garage. Newer home, built in 2006.

@ Rob -- The downward spiral started just 2 months ago. They want to get a small loan to pay December's rent, so we will be back down this path again soon.
I got another request today that they would like to wait until the 7th as they need a co-signer, that's right a co-signer, that will be able to sign for their loan on Monday. I guess I'd feel bad for them too, if it wasn't for the 2 big flat screen TVs that great you when you first walk in. I guess it's not so much that it's December that makes this so interesting, is that the priorities that people place on TVs, cars, new furniture, etc but can't seem to keep the roof over their head at the top of the list.

Oh yeah, there is no decision to make. If they can't pay rent by the 5th per the agreement, off you go.

/start rant

Just venting more than anything. Decent renters, took care of the house for 6 months, but over the past 3 have gotten into a downward spiral of late rent. October was late by 15 days, which was the first late payment. I agreed as long as a daily late fee was also paid.

November was paid on time, but only after I found out that they borrowed (of course because the ATM hit the daily limit) from their boss to cover the rest of the month.

December has been multiple excuses and they finally gave in today that they wouldn't have the necessary rent by the 5th, which is when I post the notice to quit. Told them it would be best to move out peacefully and leave the house in the condition they found it and I'd 'forget' about the remainder of the contracted rent and not push through eviction. After all that, so far peacefully, they tell me that they found a co-signer for a small loan and *may* have rent in time for the 5th. Talk about people fooling themselves.

At least they are grown adults (making nearly $95k in household income) with no kids at home. This is definitely a spending problem and not an income problem. And right befor the holidays too....

/end rant.

I absolutely would change the date. I do this alot for tenants based on when they recieve their income. You'll likely loose a tenant if she has to keep paying late fees, when all that is needed is a small modification to the rental agreement to make it easier for you to get all of the rent.

Now, to your point, if the tenant was a pain to deal with, I'd be much less flexible.

Aaron,

Regarding the international, I was under a bad assumption. Appearently the company the husband works for has put the brakes on him buying, as I would *assume* that the company does not want to worry about the hassle of relocation costs associated with an employee on a temporary dute assignment.

I need to get more info from the sellers before I can proceed as if this is a good idea. The basic principle of taking ownership on a home, with little out of pocket (back to the prepaid rent that nobody has commented on) had me interested, but like you say, more info is needed.