All Forum Posts by: Lacee Beitler

hi  @Yael Fuerst  we use Phil Scolieri- http://www.greaterpittsburghsettlementcompany.com

Good luck! 

Lacee 

hi @Cameron C.!  My husband and I live and invest in Pittsburgh, too! 

My advice- ask a real estate lawyer and also a CPA (preferably one who works with investors and can help you with tax benefits etc. too). Make sure you think long term where you want to go, how many properties you want, etc. They'll be able to guide you and keep you legally compliant :) 

As far as what we do - we have 1 LLC and multiple properties under that, with a separate business bank account . It's easier IMO when it comes to keeping the accounting/books, plus then you know how your properties are truly performing.

We use Phil Scolieri as our real estate attorney (Greater Pittsburgh Settlement Company) and Wilke and Associates in Carnegie as our accountants. Both are investor friendly and worth every penny! :) They helped us set everything up. 

Best of luck to you! Let me know if you need anything else. 

-Lacee 

Hi @Bob Mastroianni -- I'm so glad you're still doing your MM. GREAT blog post - we can relate 110% to everything you said. We have read a lot of the same books, so I'm on the same page as you. 

My husband and I are still MM'ers too! We do our SAVERS everyday - on vacation, at home, on weekends, after a long evening with friends - doesn't matter. We never miss waking up before we HAVE to and love our Miracle Morning routine. We actually started getting up even earlier just this week to make our SAVERS a little longer. My husband Matt is also my business partner, so we are even incorporating a little bit of daily tasks at the end of our MM routine. The SAVERS focus us and the daily check in for our business gives us motivation first thing in our day. 

We've had some crazy positive experiences (both personally and professionally) happen in the last 6 months because of the energy from our MM. I would recommend it to ANYONE, in Real Estate or not, to give it a try.

Hi @Joshua Potter, 

Welcome back to the 'Burgh (next year) :) I'm glad you found Bigger Pockets, it's a tremendous resource for real estate investors - especially newbies! 

Good luck looking for your first multi family. I suggest to set up a search in the area(s) you want to buy in just to get a feel for the market and what's out there. It's also good practice to evaluate deals and look at numbers to see what makes sense for those areas. 

Let me know if I can help you out in anyway. 

Best, 

Lacee 

Ps- I went to Duquesne and graduated from the School of Business. What college did you go to? Any other Dukes out there? 

thanks everyone!! 

@Scott Trench - I started looking at his early posts, I definitely have enough to read through, but it's good to know he still posts! 

@Joshua Martin - I hear ya on not biking everywhere. Would make my daycare drop off and pick up pretty interesting :) and best of luck on retiring in 10! I think I'll hold you to that! So will @Dave Carpenter :) 

@Frank Jiang - thanks for taking he time to pull those links. Going to look at them today! 

@Trevor Ewen - thanks for the article! Great read. Some of the stuff MMM does seems a little extreme, but I'm open to try anything! 

Hi everyone, Just listening to BP podcast 183 with Sarah Pritchett and she referenced the website mrmoneymustache.com . Just checked it out and it looks pretty awesome. Anyone a follower of that blog and if so, have any good articles to start with or any must-reads? Thanks in advance!

hi @Corey Drexler and welcome to BP! 

That's great you want to get started! I highly suggest going to local meet ups or ACRE in Pittsburgh. The next meeting is 7/5 at 7pm at the Double Tree Hotel in Greentree. It's a great group, and a great way to learn if you're new. You'll meet vendors, real estate agents, legal experts, etc. I think the first time you go is free, so definitely check it out. There are also several meet ups All over Pgh every month. Message me and I'll tell you who to get in touch with if you're interested. 

Best of luck! 

Lacee 

Hi everyone, We are looking at a 4 unit property. It's a great deal, great area, and would be great cash flow, but there has been a smoker in there for 60 years (owner). His unit is very smoke damaged, and 2/3 other units have smokers in them, but aren't as smoke damaged. . What's your experience with turning over severe smoke- damaged properties? I know paint/carpet is a must, but we have no experience with smoke units, as we don't allow smokers in our properties. The walls are covered in wood paneling, so I'm not sure if removing that would greatly help with the smell? Not sure what we are looking at as far as hidden cleaning costs. Thanks in advance!

hi @Izzy Zehner - welcome to bigger pockets! I second @Dmitriy Fomichenko, check out the podcasts. Such good content there. 

Let me know if I can help with anything! 

Hi everyone, Just curious on people's pet policy. We have allowed small to medium sized dogs before with a monthly pet fee, but no cats. They were really good tenants and the unit was very clean when they left, never complaints about the dog, but it was a small Yorkie. We have a vacant unit and a woman is very interested, but has a large German Shepard, who is (and I quote what the lady said) "she wants to be everyone's friend and is very sweet". Other than the large dog, she fits all of our qualifications. Anyone have any insight into large dogs in rentals? Is maintenance more after they move out because of shedding, chewing, etc? Do you make the tenant take them out and have them stay on leash? This property has a fenced in back yard but is a duplex and so the yard is shared with the other tenant. What are the rules as far as outside space? Do you make them provide evidence of renters insurance incase of a bite? Can you make them provide paperwork that the dog has all shots and is registered? Some consider German Shepard's "aggressive" so that's why I'm asking. Thanks in advance!!