All Forum Posts by: Katie Andrews

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted here in a while, since my husband died in 2016, but his estate is finally finished; the reno to my big condo is now finished; the condo is rented out and producing income; I've bought and renovated a smaller house to live in! LOTS of changes. Also, my retirement is approaching, summer of 2023. I'm a teacher, and will move from Los Angeles back to Louisiana.

The sale of my condo here should net me, conservatively, about $500k. I intend to use that money to buy and hold houses in Louisiana. I know about A-D property zones; I know about how to reno, having done it twice now, both large and small. My questions are the following, in no particular order:

1) What do you look for in a good property management team? I will be retired, and may or may not get another job. I want a property management team to start off with, simply because I don't know the ins and outs, and need people who make this their business. Suggestions welcome.

2) How much cash should I keep on hand for when things eventually need repairs or if there's a lull in times between finding renters? Is there some kind of formula? For example, number of houses x percentage of rent = $$?

3) I want to take the cash I get from the sale of my condo here in Los Angeles, and invest in Louisiana properties. How many are "enough" for a newbie with a little experience starting out? 

4) Any other ideas that come to mind?

Thanks to everyone in advance. I'm happy to be back on here, after an extended absence getting things ironed out.

If you also weren't able to see inside, I'd see a big red flag, that it might need a lot of fixing up on the inside.  If this is a mobile home, from what I'm beginning to understand, you might put a lot of money into fixing it.  I think mobile homes earn steady income, but might not have much, if any, equity accrual.  If you paid $35 and had to put $25 into fixing it, how long would it take to earn that money back, and start making a profit?  Would it be easier to demo the mobile home, and build new, or just sell the land at a profit, minus the (probably trashed) mobile home?

@Logan Allec, what do you mean by house hack?  I do have a mortgage on the condo.  And I'm looking to refi (again) once my credit gets better.  Please tell me more, thanks.

In other news, when I wrote to my property manager and said I wasn't happy with his progress and was considering switching, I "suddenly" got a really good lead within 12 hours!  He had been fiddling with the price over the past few months, but now I know, don't let it go on that long.  Live and learn.  That's what life and this business is all about.  I just want to minimize the learning curve so it doesn't cost me, literally and figuratively!

@Matthew Teter, I'm looking in Alexandria mainly, but anywhere in-state would work.

@Ryan Cox, thanks for this.  Clearly some more time and thought is needed, as well as some networking.  I don't know any investors.  Any advice on getting to know people long distance?

I own a condo here in Los Angeles that I just finished refinancing and renovating.  Learned a lot, got scammed only slightly on this first renovation, so I suppose it all worked out okay in the end.  I work full time as a teacher and I travel, so I'm going through a property management to get it rented out.  My time and inexperience is worth paying someone who knows property management. I finished the reno during fall, so my condo is still not rented out.  I'm hoping that will be soon. (And how do you know when to switch property managers?  How long do you give it with no or few results?)

Because I stupidly put a lot of the reno on credit cards (lesson learned, paid off now), my credit is still recovering.  However, I just came into some money, about $50k, so except for my credit score, I think I'm ready to start investing... but am I really?  Should I take a few months and improve my credit score?  Let my condo get rented out and save some of that money to invest also?  Or just jump in and invest in something small?  I've read BP articles, books, done reno, know a good bit about what reno costs, and have helped a family member look for a good house to buy.  And I've looked at a few houses, walked away from one I knew was a bad deal (foundation issues, roof, flood zone, zombie houses around it), and waited too long and had houses bought before I could make an offer. I feel like I've done homework and had real-life experience.

That said, I'd like to start investing in Louisiana, where I plan to retire in a few years. It's where I'm from, where my family is, where I'll return to. And the housing market is much different than Los Angeles, obviously. However, I want all my money to end up in the same place, and to that end, in about four years when I retire, I'll sell my condo, use the 1031 rule, and invest in SFH in Louisiana. I'd just like to get a jump start on that investing now, since retirement is still a few years away. I'd like passive income from both my LA condo, and from where I will be living.

My question to the forum is, how to start?  Start small, by buying something like a mobile home in a good area?  (But would there be any equity in a mobile home, or just long-term passive income?) Or buying a small house, doing minimal reno, letting it accrue equity, then buying another small house?  Any and all suggestions welcome.  Thanks.

@Bob B. and @Amit Kal, I'm doing that, having a lawyer send a letter.  @Thomas S., the condo is going to be in really good condition, renovated extremely nicely after not having been renovated in over 20 years, in a very desirable neighborhood, and I would expect to get quite a bit for it, not just 60 percent.  

Hi all,

I'm having a major issue with my HOA president, who did not know what CCRs were, and who balked at providing me, a tenant of my condo for 17 years, of the financials. I asked for the financials to see just what had been going on. (Full disclosure: my late husband, also with JK initials ironically, was the HOA president for years, but was in declining health and kept few records. I know for a fact he was honest in his dealings; I was the HOA VP.) Every SINGLE discussion, this guy (I'll call him JK, his initials) ducks out from doing anything concrete, or does things slowly or just whenever. He doesn't want to provide CCRs, financials, or fix the rooftop hot water heaters which only get up to 99 degrees, not the LA city mandated 110 degrees. Nothing ever gets done or gets done but we're never told, gets done slowly, etc. So my questions are these:

1) Is it worth it to go ahead, get the line of equity, fix up my condo really nice, and just sell, rather than dealing with this shifty responsibility-evader for the next six years until I retire? There are plenty of other properties, both here in LA and in Louisiana where I'll ultimately retire.  I'm not attached to the condo anymore, since my husband died there August 5, 2016.  I'm now evaluating it as a cost/benefit issue, and the costs are beginning to outweigh the benefits.

2) Is it worth it to fix up the condo and be a landlord, all the while being a full-time English teacher AND dealing with a shifty HOA president who is rather passive and hands off, and who could possibly be lying and/or embezzling? If I did do the landlord route, I'd hire a property management company since I'm new to landlording, do NOT know the business, and could use the income. But I'm also sure that getting JK to do *anything* would be a constant thorn in my side.

3) Other than a lawsuit, or taking over the HOA presidency myself (stop me before I volunteer again -- I just cannot do this too!), is there a way to MAKE JK step up and do what's necessary? He seems as an HOA president what a really crappy PM company is like, except there's no getting rid of this guy. None of the other tenants (in apartments 2 and 3) want to take on the HOA president job, are too busy working, etc. So I'm stuck with JK the passive, JK the shifty, JK the ultimate hands-off non-manager go-to person. (Should I call this the Hands Off Association, rather than a Home Owners' Association?)

Thanks again for any thoughts, suggestions, anecdotes, websites, etc.

Katie

As a brand new poster to this site, and someone who's new to the whole game, as well as someone  who's also a teacher, I'd love to know how you "grade" these properties.  Got an official rubric, or is it more of a judgment call?  Thanks!

Katie

 Being the teacher that I am, I can see myself posting directions on how to operate the washer and dryer.  I can also very much appreciate the concept of training tenants, and will probably be posting another thread about that.  I have a feeling it's much like good classroom management: set expectations early, provide limits/boundaries, assert and enforce consequences like who pays for what.  Don't escalate, and don't take it personally.  Make the problem the issue, and be an ally with the tenant against the problem.  And listen, don't just proscribe solutions.