All Forum Posts by: Ken M.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐞 ‘𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬’ 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐥
“I’m not a sales person.”
Neither are most of the investors closing creative deals right now.
The idea that you need to be slick, pushy, or persuasive to succeed in real estate?
Total myth.
What you really need is:
An offer that solves a problem. That problem is often unwanted or unmanageable debt.
A simple conversation that clarifies how your solution addresses that debt. For example, monthly income that covers their monthly expense.
The ability to listen more than you talk.
Sellers aren’t looking for a pitch. They’re looking for help.
Creative strategies are help when done right.
Most of the new investors I know with start off nervous, awkward, and uncertain.  I certainly did.
A few weeks later, I was having confident, low-pressure conversations with sellers.  You will too.
It’s not magic. It’s reps, feedback, and guidance.
You don’t need sales skills. You need people skills.
If you’ve been holding back because you’re “not good at sales,” DM me. I'll send you an audio file of my conversation with a homeowner who had a vacant $2.1M condo. 

Thanks everyone for the generous advice and actionable steps I can take! 

@Claudia Buchegger, I appreciate your insight into the traveling nurse markets. It’s interesting to know that FF is not reflective of true vacancy. 
@Ken M. do you have a recommended method to look up this info? I quickly checked a big chain and it wasn’t very clear what the vacancy was. 
@Nick Maugeri You’re right, the financials have to make sense. I think I can reasonably get $1000 more per month with MTR but would incur $400 more utility expense per month. I’m a long distance investor so I’d need to figure out the logistics as well as my current PM only manages LTR. I’d probably first try out self managing with a single unit when there is a natural turnover, as @Miguel Del Mazo suggested. 

Hello BP Folks!

Has anyone accepted tenants for a SFH who have a gross income of only 2.2X the rent or 2.4X the rent, and did that work out well for you?

I hired a new property manager for my rental property in California (SFH, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 car garage, fenced in yard), and told her my screening criteria were: Gross Income at least 3x the rent, credit score at least 600, good landlord references. Asking rent currently is: $2300/month. After 2 weeks, she presented me with an applicant with income 2.2X the rent and then a week later someone with income of 2.4X the rent. I declined them both. When I told the PM, "She makes 2.2X the rent," she said, "They're close to 3X the rent."

In looking at Zillow ads for another PM company, I noticed that this company is asking for a minimum gross income of 2.8X the rent.  

Is this the new normal?  What happened to the old standard of gross income of 3X the rent? 

It feels too risky to me to take someone that you know from the beginning is going to be paying almost 50% of their gross income on rent and utilities, plus they might have credit card debt too.

I told the PM to lower the rent to $2200/month, and she said it's still going to be hard to find someone that makes $6600/month.

What to do? What are your minimum income requirements?

Thanks in advance for your input! :) 

First,  
YES - I plan to reach out today to a real estate attorney. 

Looking for advice and if anyone has encountered this before just to get some preliminary data before making phone calls to lawyers. 

I have, under contract, a single family home that is a short sale.  The sale contract was fully signed and my agent was informed that the primary lender accepted the offer.  The offer more than covers the outstanding 1st lien, based upon what I've seen in the county mortgage records online. 
Closing day came and went - and then suddenly a day or two after the closing date was to occur I receive notice that the seller "needs to send a cancellation notice, as there is suddenly a 2nd lien who won't agree to the sale."  
Rumor is that the 2nd lien is a general contractor, but I find zero record of this in the county websites.  

I've already paid for liability and flood insurance (had to be paid before close, I paid it 24 hours before the closing date) and now I'm being asked to sign a document basically mutually agreeing to cancel the sale.  I'll now need to fight to get the insurance cancelled and refunded, and something just seems very fishy about this whole situation.  
I do not understand the following: 

- How can there suddenly be a 2nd lien, with no evidence of such on the county websites, and how could the seller have agreed to the sale and executed the sale contract fully to begin with, stating that the short sale was accepted a month ago if he had evidence of this second lien?  

- Doesn't the execution of the sale contract bind the seller to sell me this property?  Once he signed and accepted this offer - he can't suddenly decide that he needs more money to close out a 2nd lien.  If that were the case -   he should have never accepted the offer to begin with, correct?  In FL law, there are only certain reasons why a seller can cancel a contract (buyer can't get financing, force majeure, mutual agreement of both parties, title issues, etc)

- Can this 2nd position lien holder prevent the sale of the property, even though the sale was allegedly agreed upon by the primary lien holder?  Again - I see no evidence of a 2nd lien in the county websites, but apparently its a G.C. who did work on the home. 

- Can I still force this sale or somehow recover damages from this seller?  I'm certain I won't get every penny of my insurance payment back (had to pay 6 months in advance), I've had GCs and builders out to the space to give quotes, I did a sewer line camera inspection, etc. 
I know some of this is the cost of doing business as a real estate investor (sewer main inspection, for instance) - so I'm not concerned about that.  I' m more concerned with the $2400 in insurance costs, the seemingly fishy way this is all going down, and the lack of transparency around this sudden "2nd lien".  

I also plan to call the title company this am and see what info they have.  

Does anyone have any suggestions, information, tips, etc? 

Thanks!!

Hello all, I recently purchased a small multifamily  with six 1/1 units, located in Midtown Sacramento. It is fully rented out to long term tenants. This is a nice urban area with tree lined streets and very close to the CA capitol and several hospitals. 

I'm considering turning one unit into a furnished rental to potentially increase cash flow.

However looking on Furnished Finder, there appear to be around 100 MTR listings in a 2 mile radius with around 40% currently vacant. Is this a clear indicator that the market is saturated? 

I have decided to sell my next few flips to home buyers with sellers financing. Is this a dumb idea? What do you think could go wrong?

Hi all!

My wife and I are currently paying about $1,800 in rent for an apartment and thought about the possibility of purchasing a manufactured home in Mesa (C house in C+ neighborhood) for about $75,000+rehab when our apartment lease is up. 

The monthly rate should be significantly less than what we have to pay in rent, allowing us to simultaneously build equity and save more for real estate properties and/or a better house to start a family in.

Theoretically, when we've saved up enough to purchase a nicer property, we could move into that and rent or sell out the manufactured home in Mesa.

Thank you in advance for your input!

It’s time to replace one of those higher cost items in a rental: the air conditioning system. I was quoted $12,000. The system is 15 years old and the climate here in Northern California can get over 100 F in the summer months.

The alternative is to replace the control board which is $1150. But I was advised (by AC company) that it’s an older unit so it will continue to give me issues in the future.

I am considering replacing the system but was wondering how beneficial this is for my income tax write offs. Still a newbie in the home rental market so not sure. I have a day job so the rentals help with my W2 income tax returns. My questions:

1) is there a max on how much I could claim in a tax year for each rental property?

2) should I ask for a payment plan or pay for the AC unit in full to maximize my tax return for 2025?

3) loan through the AC Company is 6.5% interest for credit scores over 700 (I’m north of 800)

I’ve always been the DIY person but recently had to pay to get my taxes done. May need to hire a tax advisor. 

Thanks for your input!

• My renter would like to install an EV charger in the single-car carport, at his own expense. He is not a longterm renter - he will be moving in 12 to 18 months. #1 Are there liability or safety concerns with having an EV charger in an easily accessible carport? #2 When renter leaves is it necessary to remove the new wiring or is it something that might be of benefit to me (in case I get another renter with an EV)?  #3  Pros and cons, things to consider ??   THANKS IN ADVANCE for any advice!