All Forum Posts by: Lee Carrell

Hi Rhonda!

I had obtained my real estate license to assist in my investment plans. There are plenty of advantages to it: RE knowledge, access to MLS, first contact with home sellers and buyers, professional contacts, etc. However, I was so overwhelmed with helping clients find their own homes that my investments took a back seat! If you work for an agency, they want you helping their clients find homes, not yourself!

If I did it all over again, I would get the RE license and knowledge, work for a company a year or so for the experience, then get a broker's license and open my own shop for personal investing.

Good luck either way!

Contractor costs can be a large part of any remodel, rehab, or repair. Depending on which ones you use, you could make money or lose money on the deal. I don't like paying a lot for a muffler or a contractor. So, I learned how to professionally do everything that I could for myself. I traded sweat for money and I'm glad that I did! I learned a lot and saved money too! 

However, you can't always do it all yourself, so obviously, it pays to have people that you know you can depend on for a good job at fair price. I say fair price, because it has to be good for both parties. I must have excellent quality work and I always shoot for the goldilocks price: not too high, not too low - just right!

Hello everyone!

My church is possibly looking to sell the property and we need someone with knowledge of North County (around Spanish Lake) for a CMA to give us an idea of what it may be worth. I could just call around, but any suggestions from personal experience would be appreciated!

Hi Caleb!

Good idea to start slowly and get your feet wet while still maintain your job. Knowledge and experience are king and queen!

Speaking of egress windows, I was downtown at a high rise apartment building that had just been renovated. There is one entry/exit door to the hallway. There are the outside windows which do not open, because they are several stories up. I noticed a framed-in window high at the top of the wall that separates the living room and the bedroom. I mentioned how that was a nice way to allow light to stream into the bedroom. The representative said that was an egress window! I told her that egress windows are to provide an emergency means of exiting a dwelling and that window did not count as an egress. She said it WAS considered an egress window! I guess in an extreme emergency, you could use a ladder to climb up and bust the window out with a hammer! (what???) I guess that's how they got around the requirement!

Hi Ryan!

Getting an RE license to assist in finding deals is a good idea! Welcome to BP!

I have been blessed to have a good relationship with Section 8! I hope things keep going well in the future too. Section 8 doesn't always pay market rate. But, the reason that I like Section 8 is that the rent is always on time and I have never had a Section 8 tenant tear up my property. I have had market rate tenants destroy my units though!

First, I would find out what the problem is with the late payments! Although, two late pays isn't bad.  However, if I were constantly not being paid on time and the tenant was breaking things, I probably would not allow that tenant back. There are always more fish in the sea!

PS   I wouldn't pay the sewer bill either.

Welcome Dylan!

There is a wealth of information here on the BP website! Learn before you earn!

I had the exact same issue with my 4-plex. This may sound funny, but my agent asked me if there was any way I could physically separate the units? If they were 2-plexes, the cost would be a lot less. I wasn't able to without major renovation, but maybe you can.

Excellent reply from Sylvia B.!

Follow your State statutes as written! In Missouri, whatever time period you put in the lease is what the court will  go by. Therefore, be very careful with ALL provisions of your lease! It is always prudent to have a competent attorney review your contracts if you desire.