All Forum Posts by: Diane Menke

Sarah I am afraid I agree with the guys too. Pay the bill and the rent.

FYI I set my own house hold heat at 54 at night and 60 or lower during the day. I put in about $1000 of insulation over the last year + a programable thermostat and we cut our energy use by 30%.

Oh yeah, I WEAR A SWEATER!

Sorry you feel jilted but thats winter. Its only gonna get worse for us all unless we conserve.

Good luck

Diane

Hassan thanks for this proactive advice. I will impliment these ideas during the month of February. Since you mention grilling I think I can throw one in as an incentive!

Diane

Hassan,

I have never been to Korea. Menke is a common German name. I hear the northern mid west is crawling with Menkes.Sounds like a Peter Seller joke :wink:

You know I have been noticing that the realtors I know are all sitting back waiting for buyers to come to them. I see very little advertising or marketing other than MLS and their usual newspaper ad and the yard sign.

I have a house I need to see to get cash out of. It has enough equity in it for me to do 2-3 more just like it. Its in a transitional neighborhood where, while this block and nearby are fine, 2 blocks in the other direction is a little rough with some new gut rehabs underway, and some shells. There are lots of old time neighbors and also many young families moving in.

3-4 block away this house would sell for the high 400's to the low 500's. A professional couple from the neighboring university or hospitals would be the buyers.

I am selling this house for 299K. Its turn key ready all new. I have a tenant in there now paying $2700 per month rent + utilities. So its a cash cow and a very large nice family home.

The feedback I am getting from the realtor is that people are calling but they are "not buying in that price range but hopefully we will get a spring uptick".

To me he sounds a little lazy. I prompted him today with a suggestion for the direct mail and to make sure a newspaper ad campaign is underway.

Any other suggestions for some marketing to move this house?

Thanks very much.

Diane

Ricahard,

Your method and reasoning make sense to me.

The buyer felt the deal was good, the price was good, so thats what they paid.

Same thing in the diamond business. Some people buy wholesale because they know they are not rare. Some pay full retail because of the romance they see in the purchase.

Diane

HUD has to disclose lead paint just like my remodeling company has to and like your realtor. HUD has been sued by the people it sold these affordable homes to!

There is no way you want to learn to be a lead paint specialist in order to save money. I have had a few customers now who's kids have been poisoned in nice suburban homes from crawling around on floors of houses where the previous owner (1970-80's) decided to strip paint. I have had proffessional painters who were poisoned on the job. This is not a joke.

New federal and state laws are coming along all the time which will control who can handle this material.

You can pull off the lead covered trim and get new trim doors and windows. Ditto the siding. Make sure you check with your state about this before you do it. Some states require a certified contractor to handle it, and provide correct disposal papers.

After your work is done, you get a pro in there to certify its clean and lead free. Thats a ticket to a clean record for your house. You will get a better sale price then and you will be protected from a law suit in the future.

Diane

Dave can you update us on your progress with this "maybe mentor"?

I must say the idea of using a credit card to do this is a huge red flag to me. Do some people do it? Yes. But they know how to do it and their mistakes are their own if they screw up. If your mentor guy screws up you get screwed.

Let me also say that you are all over the place in your search right now. You will be tempted by the "lotto riches" the "painting hidden in the attic", "the free ride".

The best thing you can do is to become financially disciplined, pay off all your CC debt, get your house in order. Maybe even sell off your collector car, boat or get a part time job to start your investing war chest of cash.

There will always be good people out there to help you learn. A good mentor will not suggest you get in over your head. They make you start with the housekeeping.

As my dad always says "sanitation comes before cooking!"

Let us know what you are up to. What housekeeping have you done with your finances?

Diane

Mike thanks,

I meet any new contractors or service people like cleaners too so that we get on the same page with what I want, what they are selling me. New folks do not get a pass code.

But we work with the same bunch of subs and suppliers all the time for stuff like plumbing, electric, appliance maintenance, and my crew too, so they all know how to use the lock boxes. Our plumber for example might do 2-3 jobs for us each week. Same with the HVAC and electricians. They are a great team.

D

You all use lock boxes on your rental properties right?

Jason just posted on his blog about using them to sell houses far away. But we keep lockboxes on all construction projects and on all our rental houses.

If a dishwasher in our rental house springs a gusher like ours just did this past week, I can send the plumber there and I don't have to meet him. He can let himself in and out and we don't hold each other up. He sends me a bill.

All my subs and suppliers are always relieved when they learn a place is on lockbox. They are in and out pronto, and I don't have to babysit them. I can send my realtors out. Everyone likes it.

No we NEVER give the code to tenants or customers. That box is ours.

I usually mount the boxes on the door jamb by the front door. The knob mounted ones are not as good.

Diane

All of our rental and flip props have been in city limits. These are all houses built from late 1800 - early 1900s.

We buy where pressure is moving prop values upward. So we have made really great cash flow and equity growth in short spans of time.

All of our 'in money" on the loans has been taken out via refis. So now its simple cash flow to cover the expenses which leaves literally hundreds each month in excess cash flow.

We do not buy in war zones. We buy where coffee shops and artists and crafts people are moving in, bringing with them revitalizing energy.

Even a house from the 1970s would need to be brought up to code if you remodeled. Don't let prop age put you off. If the house is sturdy and you buy right, you will make money.

Diane

Hassan,

Thanks for keeping us posted on your progress.

I was interested to see that you have a fair dollar amount in your budgets for marketing for each property. I have only sold a few houses, and I have always expected the realtor to produce marketing materials. Are you not using a realtor or perhaps on a reduced basis? Is your marketing in addition to what a realtor might normally do? signs, caravans, web site, etc.?

Recently I was shown a house marketed in the 1.2 mil range as a fixer upper. Here the realor had paid for professional photography, large color multi page brochure lots of fancy stuff you might expect on a high end house.

What kids of materials are you going to produce on these medium priced houses? What do you find works there? Who and how do you target.

Thanks very much
Diane