All Forum Posts by: Matt Eklund

The increase in the trend of break ins is alarming. As soon as a for rent sign goes in the yard it's an open inventation.  Especially if it's a known turnkey company that has a reputation for exceptional rehabs with new everything. These properties are generally in good areas because reputable turkeys won't buy in war zones. I've had two break ins and luckily for me they were the day before close of escrow. I would like to send out a challenge to property managers to come up with a technological solution for securing the properties utilizing massive improvements in home automation.  Nest, Arlo and alarm.com all are in this game. For a monthly fee PM's can facilitate this. It's about the increasing the risk factor to thieves and making your property less of a target.

You should add Basecamp for the initial sale process.  Another turnkey provider uses this as a communication platform and it worked great for my sales.  It has message boards and to do lists so every party knows who has the ball.  It's much better than trying to constantly dig through my inbox for emails and attachments.

I wish my real estate worries were limited to paint not matching. Talk to a paint shop that sells to local pros. Find out what the tried and true colors are and standardize your color schemes. 

I currently use PropertyTracker.com, but it’s got some quirks and bugs.  I’m looking into Quickbooks online, but I need some handholding on getting it set up properly.

Make sure you talk to your tax advisor regarding Helocs and the new Tax law changes.  I think interest is only deductible on improvements to your main home and second home.  For this reason I went the cash out refi route.  IRS Link

In the spirit of Rich Dad Poor Dad, look at it from an income/expense balance sheet prospective.  Even if your home is paid off,  you still have expenses in the way of taxes, insurance and maintenance.  If you were to take out $300k out of your house and use it to put 20% down on 9 houses that cash flowed according to the BP calculators you could be making and additional $35-$50k per year (after Tax, insurance, mortgage and management but before maintenance and vacancy set asides).  If you can take out $600k than you could put $300k toward safer managed Turnkey properties and use the other $300k for your rehab Brrrr business.  Treat your primary as part of your real estate portfolio and the answer to if it's a liability or asset will reveal itself in the math.

Link to: Rich Dad Scam #6: Your House is an Asset 

These guys cover more than one state and specialize in rentals.

Ross Diversified

http://www.rossdiv.com/

You probably have duct leakage or disconnected ducts at the plenum.  You need to have a pro HVAC technician do an analysis of the system which entails temperature and flow tests at each register.  You also need to make sure the unit is sized properly for the space.  More importantly, you need to make sure the tenant knows that you care and are trying to fix the problem.  If you don't fix it, the tenant will fix the problem by moving out.  Fix the problem now or pay for it in lost rent later!