All Forum Posts by: Katie Camargo

Hello! I have a STR on a lake that I've self-managed for about a year. I love the guest interactions (believe it or not) and my husband takes care of the book-keeping for all our properties. But the general administrivia - tracking guests, scheduling the cleaner, paying the bills and monthly taxes, coordinating with contractors - is already getting old. I don't want to turn the property over to a property management company but I am looking to bring in some help to support the tasks I don't enjoy. I remember listening to a BP podcast where someone had trained virtual assistants to support property management. Does anyone have experience with this? I also don't remember who the podcast guest was, so if anyone has any suggestions about where to look, please send along!

Recently purchased a new property with an upstairs attic studio. Planning on doing a light reno to replace carpet, repaint, etc. Should I keep this fireplace, or get rid of it? Because it's an attic, it's pretty cold up there in the winter, but I am planning on installing a mini-split. The space has this room plus one other, so pretty small, if that helps at all. 

Recently closed on an older property that needs some updating. The AC is old, but I’m planning on holding off on replacing it. Meanwhile, I have been getting a number of ads for home warranties. I don’t generally buy into those as saving all this money, but I’m wondering if others have an experience or perspective? 

Sounds great @Chris Seveney - thank you!

I'm just starting out as an investor (about to close on our 2nd investment property - this one is in Virginia and our other property is in North Carolina). I don't have any pending legal issues at the moment, but I've been thinking I should find a lawyer that I can go to for questions, to review documents, leases, etc so that I can have confidence that I'm not making any silly mistakes that will get me into trouble later on. However, this is a totally new space to me- Any advice for how to go about looking for a lawyer who works with individual investors and won't break the bank? Is it better to find one that's close to where I live (Fairfax, VA), or one that has knowledge of the local jurisdictions that my properties will need to adhere to? Appreciate any tips or advice!

My husband and I put in an offer on a house under our personal names with "or assigns" as part of the contract. As soon as the offer was accepted, we set up an LLC and transferred the contract over to the LLC, of which I am the sole member. This has now been signed by the seller for over a week. Our realtor has continued to have us personally sign all the documents as they have come in (home inspection, personal property sale, etc). My husband thinks he shouldn't have to sign these documents anymore since we transferred the contract to the LLC but my realtor is telling me that we have to personally sign all these documents despite having done the transfer. Does anyone have experience with this and know one way or the other?

Also, if anyone has a legal advisor in Virginia that is interested in working with a small investor (this will be our 2nd investment property), please pass their name and info along. Thank you! 
  

@Jaycee Greene ~3k/month between the 2 units combined. 

@Nicholas L. and @Jay Hurst - thank you both! I'm planning on putting 25% down because that is a requirement of the loan. It's a 2-unit house, if that matters at all. Does that help? 

Looking for advice as I am a relatively new investor: I found a house with positive LTR cash flow projections and negotiated the seller to under-asking ($340k). Our plan was to use a DSCR loan to finance (25% LTV). I just received the appraisal back and the house appraised for much higher than even I expected ($407k). For those of you that are more experienced in this space, would you change your financing approach based on this new information? Appreciate the advice!

@Raymond J. Rodrigues - it's a house near Charlottesville, VA and that's solid advice. Appreciate your and everyone elses advice, very helpful!