All Forum Posts by: Martin Zawarski

Recently a tenant moved out of my most expensive rental---a 4 bed, 3.5 bath, fully fitted out basement with 9' ceiling that is a walk out, 5 year old "Builders Model Home" which is now a rental for me at $2,500 a month

These people left the home in pristine super clean condition. There were only a couple issues. Remember this is a beautiful home that was my model home in a new community that is built out. They were the first tenants of this home so it was in great shape. But there was a 4" tear in the vinyl in the wet bar area of the home. And I needed to replace 30 lightbulbs. Spotlights everywhere plus high end lights which take 8 bulbs. I deducted $150 for light bulb replacement and $300 for the vinyl damage. The ex tenant hired an attorney and he tried to scare me. Didn't work --- I stood firm on the issues and haven't heard from them in 6 weeks.

Should I have given him his full security deposit???

Typically my average rent is $1200 per month and with my better units where I get more I do not offer discounts for a long term lease. With my entry level units that rent for $1,000 for a 2 bedroom 1 bath townhouse that I built in 1974 I reduce the rent by $50 for a two year lease. These units at the lower end seem to have a higher turnover rate so this incentive helps my keep the unit occupied longer.

I just recently joined BP and started listening to podcasts. It is definitely a wealth of information. The podcasts are informative while being entertaining as well. I have worked my way through 15 of the podcasts in the last week while I work on my projects. Keep up the good work!

David. However it still depends on your mortgage term. At my age, lol, I typically get 20 year loans. A 30 year loan will have a significantly lower return. I should have specified this.

Fortune Builders is a really good even great start to get you motivated and pumped up to enter this business. It will be a great place to network. I enjoyed that experience totally. It is worth the price. $197 for 2 people I believe.

Did I sign up for the program that they were offering??? - No Way! The information you need is here as well as other places. Just this week I started listening to Bigger Pockets Podcasts while working on my current FLIP. I use my smartphone with a $16 bluetooth speaker bought on ebay. If the speaker gets dirty, painted, kicked ---who cares. I already have listened to 12 different ones. Great Information!

Will you be doing the property management or will that be subbed out to a professional. Yes you should account for it even though you are doing it yourself but it does add to your bottom line. Another item I track is principle pay down as a percentage to 1) my investment 2) balance owed 3) total value. I know this May be anal but I like to know how much I am paying off each month and the percentage as compared to this number it is. I bought 8 properties in the last year and principle pay down is about 3% of total value 4% of balance owed and 20% of my investment. Where could I put 160,000 and get $32,000. You can't spend principle but it is a wealth builder.

One of my tenants is moving out of my apartment and is buying a new home. He is upgrading his appliance package and offered to sell me his "new" unused appliances. I offered him 50 cents on the dollar of list. He came down to 65. We will see what happens. Then I have to store it and yes I will find a use for them but I still then have to move it again. Not sure it is worth it.