All Forum Posts by: Margie Kohlhaas

Congrats! Your biggest regret would be selling this cash cow!

Hi Chris,

I'm not familiar with Buildium. If you're curious I can connect you with the sales rep for Genesis2. She could explain the differences. As you grow you definitely want a software that will allow for that. Genesis2 is a great Mom & Pop software that will allow transition for growth into Voyager 7S.

Margie

I like your ambitious goals. You may wish to consider investing in property management software. Genesis2 by Yardi Systems is a good start for managing smaller sized multifamily properties. Voyager 7 also offers more robust features (tenant screening, online rent payments, facilities management, energy solutions, etc.) - many of these add on features will help automate your properties and free up the property manager to be more available to tenants.

Count me in. I purchased my first rental for $35k and my second one for $20k. On both properties, I have 5 year personal unsecured loans. I split the first one into a trip-plex and tripled my income. My 20K house only rents for $600 a month which leaves me with about $10-20 profit. I try to project estimate of repairs, prop. mgmt costs, prop. tax + ins., and loan payments. If I have to put some personal money into it for repairs, that ok, but I look for cosmetic fixers. 

I will have to check out Google Wallet and Paypal for rent payments. Thank for the suggestions. The only downside I see is that when tenants have control of paying at their leisure and are late then you aren't able to easily access late fees. Does anyone have experience with this?

It's a great time to be a landlord! 

Nationally, rents grew by 5.6% on a trailing 12-month basis, which averages the past 12 months compared to the prior-year period. 

http://www.globest.com/news/12_1207/national/multifamily/Apt-Rents-Continue-Their-Climb-362115-1.html

Clayton - I suggest looking on hudhomestore.com for investment opportunities inSacramento.

I should clarify a few things. My accountant suggested that I purchase properties in the Midwest to eventually pay for my mortgage in Santa Barbara. I eventually married a guy from Iowa. His parents handle our property management and repairs locally. I manage finances. I am seeking more info on setting policies for resident screening. I recently used Screeningworks.com to screen some tenants and was told that a PM should be consistent with policies. I would also like to automate rent payments without paying an outrageous fee to do so. Right now I'm using a simple excel spreadsheet to manage finances but am looking forward to the time when I should transition to something more suitable (it's fine for 4 units).

Hi everyone,

I live in California and have 2 investment properties in Iowa. I am interested in more info on investing, screening policies and property management.

Margie K.