All Forum Posts by: Marrio Barnes

Using the 80/20 rule,  80% of your problems are from 20% of your tenants.  Never let tenant damage things without charging them.  Make sure you document all repairs, inspections, any other conversations that are important. 

 You provide safe, clean, affordable housing for those who need it. If someone cannot follow the rules, evict them and give someone else a chance to appreciate the service you provide. Good luck.

I also supply appliances to my tenants.  The ones that are the most tenant proof are flat top electric stoves.  I also install oven liners in them to minimize the clean up when the tenants leave. Below is an example of an oven liner. Hope that helps.

http://www.wayfair.com/Fox-Run-Craftsmen-Oven-Liner-4720-L608-K~FRU1098.html?refid=GX71596705830-FRU1098&device=m&ptid=132849029790&gclid=Cj0KEQiAqK-zBRC2zaXc8MOiwfIBEiQAXPHrXqlO2TkZ3KOeaL_UivxMAC06sosKfq_xzP5eUXp5kO4aAlGn8P8HAQ

The goal in financial freedom is to stop trading time (your life) for money and to acquire more assets that provide passive income. Right now it seems you need to continue to try and spend more time with you're old real estate friends, read more books,  and listen to more podcasts.  It will help you adjust your mindset, because if you can't see the benefit of a small amount of cash flow you won't buy a property.  Good luck.

Here's a tip for you.  In the future store 2-3 extra radiator heaters at your house.  If the furnace goes out you can still provide heat to your residents until it gets repaired.    Tenants always apprieate the guesture and it could save you a weekend service call.   Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.  Good luck.

The issue  is leveraging your handyman's time. The easiest thing to do is set up a semi annual inspection schedule of all your units and then coordinate the required repairs with your handyman to maximize his skills and minimize the number of trips.  Good luck.

Make sure that you get plumber to note on the invoice in their opinion what caused the clogg and if it was the fault of the tenant.  It's hard for any tenant to fight that in court.

There is nothing wrong with investing in the inner city.  As long as you take proper precautions, know your area, and always calculate the numbers you will do fine.  

Be happy that everyone doesn't like inner city rentals. If most investors really knew how much money (as well as good) that could be made in the "hood", the houses would not be so affordable to you to buy.  

Keep your positive attitude and make a difference.

Landlord locks are more affordable and with landlord locks you can have a one master key that opens all doors. Plus its a expandable system.  

Hello BP members,

I  have been wrestling  with the idea for the last few months on if I should make my next property a rooming house in Milwaukee, WI.

Before everyone just screams a collective "hell no!", let me tell you my thought process. 

1. I have been a property manager for over 15 years and my speciality is low income housing and inner city management, so I am very familiar with the issues that landlords face (drugs,crime, and the like).

2. There is a definite need of good rooming houses in Milwaukee.  I visited a few of them for research and I was shocked by the living conditions of the properties and the screaming neglect of the owners.

3. The cash flow would be 2-3 times more than a typical rental, but then the property would require more management to run properly.

4. I have researched local ordinances regarding rooming houses so I won't break any laws and I will run it past my lawyer before starting one.

I am primarily looking for advice from other BP members who have rooming houses to see what processes and systems they have in place to run a quality rooming house.

Thanks in advance.

The best first time landlord books for me were:

-Landlording: a handymanual for scrupulous landlords and landladies who do it themselves.

-Landlording on autopilot

You can't go wrong with those books.  Let me know what you think.