All Forum Posts by: Tom Lipps

FYI, I just went ahead and created anew FB account with the name of my LLC. Hope this helps someone else!

Keeping this thread alive. I have this same problem.  

@Ryan Slicer Hey Ryan, if you haven't seen this BP infograph already check it out.  It hit's the big items to look out for when screening: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

As far as software goes, I'm a big fan of Google Forms. I utilize two forms to help me screen tenants:

    Form1 = Pre-Showing Form: It asks very basic questions (contact info, income, prior evictions, credit score, reason for moving etc) and takes about 5 mins to fill out. If any requirements are not met, I send them a rejection letter. If all looks ok, I work with them to schedule a showing. If showing goes well, I give them the application (which is Form2)

  Form2 = Application: This gets much more involved with questions, tho the questions are very similar to those found in Form 1.  Once this form is complete, I go through each question and verify/scrutinize it to the best of my ability (using some landlording tricks). My application is almost identical to the one found in Mike Butler's book "Landlording on Autopilot". 

I can't recommend enough Mike's book for screening tenants. It's completely changed what I look for and how. 

My aim is on the West Side of Cincy (C+, B- multi-families) and my Cap Rate Target is 8%.  However, I'm conservative with my numbers, so generally expect a little bit of upside.

@Julian Sanchezundefined

Hey Julian. The seller ended up paying the past due taxes, and transferring the Security Deposit to me.

To help ensure this, I made sure to highlight to the Title Company that the Seller was responsible.  They likely would have caught this without me intervening, but you never know.

In the end it all worked out fine. Hope this helps!

I have two Duplexes that I use Cozy and Stessa to manage.

Cozy is great for collecting rent, running background checks, and handling maintenance requests.

Stessa is very similar to Mint.com, but geared towards Buy and Hold RE.  Before Stessa I was using XLS, and this worked well, but for the level of detail I want, took a decent amount of time to manage each month.

Stessa helps automate all this. I linked it up to my Landlord Credit Card and Checking Account, and for the most part it works great. I see the charges come through, and categorize them as  I do.  Then at the end of the month, I do a "status" check self review to make sure everything is in order. Then, for Tax Season, it has a good export feature to export your Income Statement, Cashflow Report, Transactions, and receipts. (I really like the feature of adding receipts to transactions.

Overall, it's a great tool. However, it does have some issues. For example, I linked it to my Capital One account. I need to re-link my Capital One account each time for the transactions to download, which is  a pain.  I asked Stessa Support what bank they recommend (one that works well with Stessa), and they literally could not recommend one... so I'm not sure what to make of that. 

I'm speculating, but I don't think I'd use it for more than say 7 properties. My goals is to continue to acquire properties (40 doors in the next 4 years), and I expect I'll ultimately need to upgrade to Quickbooks.

Hi BP!

I'm looking for a Handyman on the West Side of town (between Delhi and Cheviot) who I can call for random odds and ends maintenance items. Any recommendations?

I've had a handyman in the past who would charge $55/hr plus Materials. What rates have you guys seen on the West Side of Cincy?

Thanks as always!

- Tom

Hi @David A.

I went with @John Frank's advice above.

One caveat, since I don't have my property in an LLC (yet), I also took out an additional Umbrella Policy. So if any of my insurance policies exceed their limits (personal residence, auto, duplex, etc)., my Umbrella should make up the difference. (I pay ~$300/yr for it).

Hi BP!

I've found a property that is... interesting... but feels like it could have real potential for value-add.

It's about a half acre with the 2 following buildings:

   1. Duplex

   2. Office Building (about 2k sqr ft)

Ideally I'd like to rent out the duplex like a normal Duplex, then figure out how to rent out the office building (this would be very new to me). Maybe I could convert the office building to a 2 bedroom??

Here's the concern. It's listed as "Zoned B". I've Googled "Zoned B"  and found that it means it's designated as a Commercial Property for business use. Given this designation, does it make it illegal to rent the Duplex to normal tenants?  I assume it's illegal for me to convert the office to a normal rental?

Also, can anyone confirm what Zone B means, or where/how I can find more info on it? 

Thanks as always! 

- Tom

@Slocomb Reed

Hey Slocomb!  Thanks for the advice. It's a duplex, and it's not on a cul de sac but it is on a pretty quiet "Residential" street (see pic below). To your point,  I could easily see a family moving in for their high-school aged kid to go to Oak Hills. Even cooler, the basement is already 90% finished with a full bath (what high school kid wouldn't love that?)