All Forum Posts by: Matt Bishop

@Alba Cheung,your property manager should have already handled this and you should not be involved.

@Melissa Faraias, go with a absolutely fantastic property management company and leave it to the experts.

@Ramon Torres, that sounds vague, uncertain and indefinite. It is not the language a state Real Estate board would have in their standard 1-4 family sale contract. Did you have a state licensed Realtor, not just an agent, represent you? This is another example of why you only want to work with the very best RE professionals. A top notch Realtor and her team of in house attorneys, etc would have already handled this for you. And everyone in town would know better than to ever mess with the clients of that agency. If you decide this particular purchase is not worth the hassle, let it go. Surround yourself with the very best RE professionals, learn and move forward. Those professionals are wildly successful because of the benefits you will enjoy as you become wildly successful as an investor. You're only as strong as the weakest person on your team. Don't ever settle for less than that. Put in the effort to succeed.

@Coe Davis, you continue to be an honorable man and you make up the negative cash flow and you make the mortgage payments until rents come up. Unless you are in a declining market, hang strong and come out a successful investor. If you believe property value is going to decline long term, sell now and buy into a better market. Most important thing is to maintain your strong self esteem by honoring your word and make your lender whole no matter what you have to do.

This doesn't seem like an immediate crisis so think "long term" I bet things get better for you.

@Randall Alan, I think Coe was saying comparable rents have gone down and he is experiencing negative cash flow. I agree with you, short term fluctuations in sales prices don't matter unless you're selling. Would you agree selling is a last resort? I regret ever selling any of my houses. Even though I rode out vacancies and vandalism at a couple of class C houses, time has been good to me and those nightmare houses are now paid off, worth 3 times what I paid for them and are steadily cash flow positive and still appreciating.

@Coe Davis, What area is your investment location? Do you want to keep living in that area? How much equity do you have?

@Myeasha Jones, even at a whopping $100000 salary, I don't believe your income would qualify you for a two bedroom apartment. I believe they require income to be 3X rent.

@Alon Attias, don't do it! Im speaking from 20+ years of experience. Engage a truly Great property manager and you will be much better off than trying to do it yourself, especially with no experience. With a truly great PM company you will make more money than trying to do it yourself. I work with a fantastic PM and there's no way I would ever go back to being an owner / operator. If I was a banker, I would never loan money to a self manager.

@Himateja Madala, and this is why my property manager finds the tenants and negotiates/signs the leases. This way they have a direct interest in securing the best tenants. And my only responsibility-involvement is to receive a consolidated monthly wire transfer from the management company . I leave the operations to the real professionals. Just like if I bought a jet airplane, I would let professionals maintain and fly the plane and defer to them to comply with all regulations. I will never go back to trying to self manage and lease my properties. Plus I net more income by engaging a professional property management company. They also advise me on whether a potential property would make a good rental investment. Plus, they have a legal team/ Leasing and sales agents in house. Plus they have a list of quality tenants waiting for a property. Plus they handle Section, 8 paperwork and inspections. They send my CPA an annual financial statement in the format she requested. The efficiency they provide actually more than pays for their fee. And I don't have to know anything about fair housing or be concerned about compliance or lawsuits. I don't know who any of my tenants are and they don't know who I am. I am not involved except for making money.