All Forum Posts by: Kalene Smith

@Brendyn Dabrowski Quickbooks has been a lifesaver in getting my rentals started.  I only have 1 but I can see how scaling to 15+ will be easy to distinguish in Quick books.

Hey BPers,

Being new to the investing game I often find myself running in circles of where I should spend my time on a daily basis.  

I am investing in Long Term Rentals and still have another business I am running part time on the side.  For those of you investing in rentals, what does a day in your life look like work wise?  (developing leads, hunting for new properties, education, weekly to do's, etc)

@Alan G. thank you so much.  The local company that does this work says the same as you... of course they will rave about it because it is their product but it is nice to hear the truth of it from others as well.  

@Mags S. my rentals are approximately $1200 per month.  The one I currently own has the painted tile however I did not paint it, the previous owner did and that was no concern when my tenant signed the lease.

Here is an example of a before and after.

@Ed Matson and 

@Mike Hanneman thank you both so much for your feedback. 

@Ed Matson I believe the company I am looking at does the acid etching to allow the paint to adhere.  I am just hearing from so many people that doing this in a bathroom is not the route to go however the company has painted tile in several home bathrooms and say it is the new route to go.  I'm nervous to try it taking the inexpensive route only to find I have to invest more money in the long term re-doing it however it seems so quick and easy and a few people seem to have had success with it.

@Stacey M. thank you so much!  I agree it may get labor intensive as these homes were built to stay :)  I will definitely look into the bead board depending on what route I choose to go and I for sure new a new counter top, etc to give it a more up to date feel.  

Thank you @Andrew Syrios

@Geno Christian I have been watching the market and 2 zip codes in particular for 5 years and have been too afraid to actually invest.  I realized I was never going to reach my goal if I didn't jump on a house that I felt was within my perimeters.  I would start with an area of town you are familiar with, research the rental rates in that area, watch the housing market in that area for recent sales, new sales and purchase price so you have some rough figures to run then run your numbers to see what purchase price you can make work for the estimated amount of rent you will be able to capture.  Once you have that you will know as soon as a house comes on the market that meets your perimeters its the right one and you can take the leap.  I hope that helps :)

@Patrick Purviance thank you thank you! I will be out of town for the REIA meeting this month and I am sad to miss it but I hope to join one in January. If you run across any other events you think I should attend please shoot me a message... I am diving deep into learning through books and podcasts right now. :)

What kind of investing is your focus?  Are you doing flips or rentals?