All Forum Posts by: Kai Van Leuven

I wanted to ask if anyone has thoughts on fighting to have your FEMA flood insurance lowered. Right now I have a property that is in the AO zone. I was thinking about these 2 strategies right now: 1. Get a quote though Lloyd’s of London. I read on BP that people had been doing well with them. 2. I just talked to a surveying company. I asked for a bid on what it would be to get an Elevation Cert. and file it with FEMA. Anyone have an idea on other companies or how they have lowered their bill?

I agree with Jay Helms on this one. If there was a great investment on the other side I would sell it. What would you be doing with the money otherwise? The Seattle Market is insane right now. I am just a little further up North. If you are serious about selling it let me know, I am an agent. I would just look into what would be your next step with the money.

I would say to educate and hustle at this point. I remember taking years between buying to just find the right deals. If you scale with a crappy portfolio you just have a bunch of headaches that may or may not be performing. I am in the Seattle area. The hottest in the country. There are still deals out there. I think there is tons of ideas out there on BP. I have always liked tax records and knocking on doors. Find what works for you.

I use Cozy and love it. Very simple and easy to use. The processing time is long but it is a FREE service. I try to use their screening tools. I have buddies that use appfolio and love it, but I can’t justify the cost being this small. The main drawback I would see would be that there isn’t a dashboard that shows all your accounts. I have to go into each property individually and see if folks have paid and when it will hit my bank. It is really simple to use for both the tenant and myself. I really don’t expect anything more for something that can be free.

Jerry, I don’t know the right way for you but I will tell you how I did it for the first couple. 1. Really know your investing market. I am north of Seattle but my investing area is only 5 or so cities close by. 2. Drive that area. Learn the schools, neighborhoods, people that want to live there. 3. When you see/find a good deal hopefully you will have educated yourself enough on your area to be able to pop and buy it. My wife and I slept on the floor for a few years while I renovated one of my first properties, as newlyweds. Looking back we went to extreme measures to make it happen I think buying locally is the only way to go. You just have to really know your market.

Nathan, I just set up an LLC in Washington. I think there is so much info out there it can be frustrating. This is what I did. 1. Watched YouTube. More specifically I watched 180 law group LLC. Co. The lady on there runs the “all up in yo business” series. She is an attorney and talks about all things LLC. Super funny and knowledgeable. 2. Went on legalzoom and set it up. I purchased the most basic plan. Everything else that was on there more expensive plans seemed like fluff. 3. Started putting assets into it. Started a bank account, ein number, changed all the expenses to that account, refinanced property into the LLC etc. I am the registered agent. I didn’t want to pay for that. I made 100% sure it looked like a separate entity. **** I am not a lawyer and information is for entertainment purposes only.****

I think they are called acoustic ceiling tiles. They can be glued or stapled or both. If you think they may contain asbestos, you could drywall/ sheetrock over the top of it. The biggest concern I would have would be the water damage from the tiles. Is the roof new? Is there any type of damage to the roof above there. I feel like either way you are going to have to have to do some drywall work. If it were me I would take off the trim, (carefully as I could) take down the tiles and see what I have. You may be able to put up a cool coffered ceiling or something to accent you cool old house. It does not look alike a drop ceiling to me. Usually those have metal between the tiles.

Whenever I rent to folks I take a very relative approach. I usually ask myself these questions; How badly do I need to rent this place? Are these the types of renters I want here? What is my gut saying? At times I have been financially in great shape and not felt any pressure to rent to people. At others I have been pretty strapped for cash or burned out and rented places with my “eyes half closed”. It really just depends on where you are at on that spectrum.

I wanted to introduce myself on BP. I have been a Landlord for 10+ years. I own, manage, and fuss with 16 doors. All maintenance is done by me... I am looking to get out of that. We have 4 single family and a 12 Unit apartment complex. All of our (me + wife) stuff is nice and we have above average rents. I set no goals and take each property as it comes. If I see something I like, I try to buy it. We are in the Seattle Area so real estate has made me look a lot smarter than I am! **** Question***** I am doing a refinance on my apartment complex. I have been working with a local bank and they have talked to me about doing a SWAP. I think it sounds like a nice product if you are planning on owning for a long time. We are going to do a 20year term with a 20 year amortization schedule. They are quoting at 5.75%. I think it all looks good. I just don’t know anyone who has done one... I just turned 30 last week and am looking to hold this property into retirement. Any thoughts?