All Forum Posts by: Lisa Miller

Everyone has added a lot of great information.

You may be able to go online to the county web site and do a property search for the lots. With no address you may have to find it by the owners name or the nearest neighbor's address. Once you have the property map in sight check for 'unknown areas'. These are usually old planned but never created roads and alleys. They could also be adjustments from the old survey method of 'links and chains' to the new satellite GPS. Some counties want to hold this land some will sell it to the adjoining neighbor and raise your property tax. If it was designated as an alley, you may be able to reactivate and use it as a roadway.

While looking at the property map make note of small pieces cut out of the corner or section along the side. Usually easements for utilities or nice old ladies sometimes give drain field easements to a neighbor in need. Also the main road in real life may not be how you see the road on the property map. Roads are usually 15' for each lane = 30' wide, on the map the road may be 60' wide. Don't assume the road is paved exactly in the middle, it may be tight against the lot or tight on the other side leaving what may appear to be giving you an extra big front yard area, until you chop 30' off. Be aware of fences as neighbors some times take advantage of vacant lots by aggressively fencing and using the land as their own.

Best practice; get permission and walk the property. If you have one take a metal detector to buzz the corners, a shovel to dig around the old survey stakes (don't dig them out), a can of pepper spray and some pink plastic ribbon to mark the spot. Tie the ribbon to a tree branch someplace where you can see it from a distance but not so obvious that everyone can see it.

$1000. dollar assessments are common in my area for senior citizens in effort reduce their property taxes, compliments of our county tax payers. You shouldn't ever use the assessed value as actual value. All the information you were given by the other BP folks have you on the right track. Don't be afraid but as with all purchases be diligent with your research and learn from what was missed. Good luck and enjoy a great day walking raw land.

While walking make note of the beautiful things you see as these will help after you decide to develop the land. At some point in the process you will need to name the development. NAME IT, with a big wood carved sign, on your letterhead, as you curse, or pray, and beg or scream, all of it as it will be a part of you! Remember that walk before all the beauty was removed... Name it;

Running Deer, Sunny Meadows, Tall Pines, Whispering Winds. What did you see? The name is what everyone else will know and at some point they will pay you for all your hard work.

I also have a collection of judgments that have proven to be just paper. I'd love to see what answers come up. What I've learned is that I could garnish their wages, if they have jobs. Or I could sell the judgments cheap to... someone who collects on them. I have not garnished or sold because I'm not sure how to do either. Looking forward to your responses.

Lisa

I've sold a few, built a few, purchased a bunch, rented a few, flipped a few and lived in many homes. There was a period when we would be moving before dust bunnies developed. My children were master packers and I could have my 3300 square foot household wrapped, boxed moved and unpacked in less than 2 weeks. I kept every box, broken down ready for the next move.

My children were running joist by age six. My son hung out in the trusses while my daughter balanced the plank from dirt to full basement foundation wall. They have painted, used power tools, measured and cut siding, placed trim, dug ditches, cut sheetrock, pulled carpet, filled dumpsters, swept roofs, raked yards, cleaned driveways and gutters, built walls, hung new cabinets, hung notices, sat in court, and so much more; if they knew it or not learned more hands-on Real Estate than any book could teach them.

All that said, my 23 year old daughter wants to get into the business. Her question to me... What's the first thing I do? I thought I already taught her everything I knew. When in reality she was having fun while I was working.

So the advice I gave her...

Stay Off The Highway!

Ok she didn't get it either. Highway's are for point A to point B. Real Estate is everything in between. Take a different route to work every day. Leave earlier in the morning and get home a little later at night. Drive down roads you never new existed. Make note of the areas, write down addresses of homes that need to be rescued, FSBO, for rent, vacant. Get familiar with road names, towns, little stores. Stop and talk to store owners; ask directions to that house that's for sale, even if there is no house. They will lead you somewhere. Tell them you are looking for a home to purchase. Ask if they know anyone who needs/wants to sell. Post your business card from your day time job; write across the front in black sharpie, LOOKING FOR A HOME TO BUY. The seller sees your card and that you have a real job making you a viable buyer.

I've always told my children to be the Driver of their life not the passenger. Now I'm telling my daughter to literally drive. Turn off your GPS and drive down every road and when your done, do it again. You will meet people and when talking with them you will know where they live just by the street name. When sellers want meet you at their property, you will know where to go.

Real Estate is not easy but I've always felt time spent getting to know my area's neighborhoods is an investment towards owning a property within them.

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!

My daughter is coming over tomorrow to tech me how to respond properly and faster. There are a lot of new buttons, routes and setups to learn as a member vs an outsider just reading. Again thanks for giving this newbie a few minutes of your time, it is appreciated!.

Any quick tips or links to setup my account? Other than the learn button.

As a landlord I have had many successes and more than my share of nightmares. Every tenant a lesson, learn or repeat until learned, both the good and bad. I learned to take the opportunity of the proposed tenant previewing my rental property as also my opportunity to preview/screen them as a tenant before the application stage. A few things I've learned...

Do they keep the kids under wraps; quiet and minding with calm, stern parenting.

Do the adults talk with each other vs arguing or ignoring each other.

Do they trash talk their last landlord or owner? Do you want to be next?

Have they ever taken anyone to court for anything? Once there it is a familiar place with little fear of going there again.

Engage in conversation when they mention anything about their old house. If they painted a room in the old house, they are now professionals and may paint your house too.

I use to check out how clean their car is using that as a reflection of how they may keep house. But my Jeep is always on the job and dirty when my house is clean so I stopped doing that. I don't care how they are dressed or how old their car is. Long ago I sold our home and needed a rental while building our new home. I had been working in the dirt all day and didn't have time to change clothing before meeting the rental owner and later a banker. I shook the owners hand and she stopped me from going further and said, 'Uh, I don't think so, thanks for stopping by'. What she didn't know was that I had four occupied rentals and $50,000. cash in my pocket. My banker was happy to see me dirt and all.

One thing that has never failed me is the SNOTTY NOSE. If the adults don't take the time to wipe the snot off their child's upper lip are they really going to take the time to soak up the spilled drips of coffee or pop across the living room carpet flooring? My bet is no.

Your screening process is not just the application of family referrals, bank accounts and the jobs they had yesterday. These people will be the caregivers of your property. Screen from the first phone call, screen at the preview and screen the application. I can't stress it enough... Screen.

What little hints and tips do you have when meeting prospective tenants and the things you note or look for when they are walking thru your property?

Originally posted by Bobby:

From what I understand and seen on facebook research. The parents were an a car accident and were left to a grandmother that later past away. The 18 year old is the supposed legal guardian.

If that is the case which is rare, 18 year old guardian of 13 yo, then the state should be funding their decision with monthly support to the children. If you have another rental property offer to put the children there and the state may pay you directly every month for their rent and utilities until the youngest is an adult.

Bobby, I would question why an 18 year old is taking care of a 13 year old and they have no place to go? Where is their family? That seems like a child protective issue. Call your state Child Protective Services, CPS and ask them if this is something they should be involved with. They will at least investigate and may remove the children taking them to their parents/guardian or place them in a legitimate home until everything is sorted out.

Your contracted tenant, seeing this action may turn for the better and won't push the line anymore knowing you take action or turn for the worse destroying property, pissed that you took action which allows eviction. The concern here I feel is the young drop in children with no place to go. I'd call the professionals at CPS first thing in the morning.

Dianne, I can't tell you what to do one way or the other... Personally I would offer low on the duplex with little down and not tie up my money with the short sale. I've never purchased a short sale but read here at BP that short sales can take up to a year to close. Unless of course the "could rent for $10,500 + per month" isn't a typo. lol

Make sure to factor in realistic repair costs for the duplex. Rentals take a beating much harder then an owner occupied home. Tenants also make repairs on their own without asking or talking to the owner. Eyeball everything, take lots of pictures, get in the habit of photographing everything especially if you are going to be a landlord.

Good luck with your adventures.

I find myself reading BP posts till 1 or 2 am and finally decided to sign up and fly with the flock that has rekindled my flipping fire.

My x and I were General Contractors building spec and custom homes. After the big D all was divided and I sold 7 of my 8 properties to stay on top my debts. I took a full time job, went to college for my associates, Marine Electrician and flipped houses, all at the same time to support my children. I loved flipping and then the economy tanked. I was stuck with two properties not ready to rent or sell. It took years to recover being caught with no savings and nothing sellable. I didn't want to turn my back on my debts so I became a landlord. I've learned a lot of lessons that I can share at another time. The market is finally sparking in my area allowing the flipping to flow.

I need to figure out how to change my current property status to my desired cash flow status. As of today I own a duplex that I built in 98, two single family rentals, my home and three lots. Money is still tight, any movement and the juggling status quo will change from oranges to flipping knives. One wrong move and the show is over.

The duplex is a money maker, when rented, so it will stay in my portfolio. One vacant rental I want to sell to gain a chunk of cash but may not be enough after taxes as it won't be a 1031 tax exchange. One lot to sell because it's out of my area. Another vacant rental I want to ??? This property ties in with two lots and my home which leads to my question...

Plat or not to Plat?

These four lots together (my home, 2 lots & rental) equal 2.5 acres with UR zoning of 9 homes per acre. Sewer is not close enough to pepper my property with 22 homes but can be short platted with boundary line adjustments. 16 homes max provided all the soil logs test good. This however is not cheap! Hence the Question. In this economy is it financially worth the expense?.. Surveys, soil logs, BLA, Short platting all this money to be spent and there is no guarantee that the county will approve it.

Penciling the numbers for these four properties with the BLA and platting, I find four different Options:

1) Sell as is no plat 2) Upgrade or 3) Tear down the two houses and sell the lots or 4) Build all new homes.

Q) Which option would you choose?

A) Everyone at my regular job can only see option #1. Everyone with BP sees the Bigger Picture, we buy from option #1 sellers!

Of course I want to maximize the income but the cost/risk to get there is the question that must be factored in with the economy and current debts.

Grateful to be out of the stuck economic mud and finally able to consider moving properties again. If now is the time to juggle the knives I want to do it standing on firm ground with my eyes wide open vs a high wire tragedy.

Your platting thoughts, hints and tips are greatly appreciated.

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Forward

Beautiful day in Puget Sound to be shopping for depressed homes. Looking forward to throwing some questions out there and getting real, been there done that advice. I've been in real Estate at many different levels; General Contracting, Associate Broker, Buyer, Seller, Landlord and my favorite... Flipping; by far the most satisfying. Taking a pile of you know what and turning it into gold.

I'm joining because you speak to my passion, RE. Always giving great practical advice and everyone no matter the question receives response. There is such a wide reach at so many levels that this has become my one stop search, Q&A shop.

I mostly love to read the successes and lately have found my self wanting to add a comment or two to congratulate and share what I've learned. Until the other day when I had a big question and no one around me knew the answer. It will be my next post; To Plat or not to Plat.

Looking forward to joining.

Lisa