All Forum Posts by: Matt Faix

What is everyone's experience with Financial Planners? We've been wanting to start working with one, however I'm not quite sure what to look for, or how to find a one that is a good fit for us - especially when involved with real estate. Like any profession, there are different levels of experience/knowledge between individuals, so how do you know who to use when advising on how to truly grow your wealth? Personally, I would look for someone with a high net worth as the #1 qualifier to be a financial adviser (seems logical enough),  but that's not always easy to figure out. 

We've met with several, but I always get the impression that they have alternate agendas or are interested in selling us term life insurance or some other product. For those of you that have financial planners/advisers - How did you find them? Are they a true CFP, or more of a high net-worth individual/advisor? What other experiences/advice can you share.

For the record we're in Pittsburgh if there are any local contacts that people can recommend. Thanks!

Agreed - You need the Cap Rate and as much detail about expenses as possible to get a true NOI. Use that to figure out your value: Value = NOI / Cap Rate

Andy Madden Welcome to the site! There are a lot of active Pittsburgh investors on here. Would love to connect some time. Also, there are a lot of local meet ups and real estate groups in the area. Be sure to check those out.

Love the changes! Looks great on mobile too!

Hi All - We are in the process of renewing leases/increasing rent for the first time since we've owned rentals. I'm curious how this should be done properly in Pennsylvania?

Do tenants usually sign a new lease every year? or do they need to sign a rent increase letter and return it? OR is it fine just to send a letter indicating that rent will go up without needing a response?

We have it in our lease that it "will renew for the same period of time if unchanged by either party"

Also, does that have to be sent via certified mail? We just want to make sure we do everything right. Thanks!

Hi @Lindsay Hovis  Welcome to BP! We're right down the street from you in Carnegie. If you haven't already, check out the Bigger Pockets podcasts. There is a ton of information here. Also, there are a lot of meetups and real estate groups around Pittsburgh. Definitely try and check those out as well. Happy to help if you need anything! 

We had a tenant sign a month to month lease starting on Oct1 that goes until the end of the month and renews. We told her ahead of time though that there will be a contractor there the first week, and if she's able to wait until the 15th that would be great and we would prorate her rent. This was fine until her circumstances changed and she had to move in on the 3rd. It wasn't a huge hassle, but since her lease technically was starting on the 1st so we had to honor that. 

Is there a way to have a lease start on any day of the month (say the 15th), and still have it be month to month based on the 1st day of the month for all other months. This seems like it should be pretty straight forward but the way our lease is setup I'm not quite sure how it would work. Here's the wording we have. 

3. STARTING\ENDING DATES OF LEASE

a) This lease begins on 10/1/2015 . This lease ends on 10/31/2015 .

___X__This is a month to month lease

43. RENEWING LEASE

a) This lease will automatically renew for the same term as the original term if not ended or changed by either party.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Anyone in this business knows that numbers are at the center of every deal, and that understanding those numbers and financial terms as well as you can, will only help you. Which is why I wanted to share an app that I’ve been using for quite a while now - It’s called powerOne FE - It’s a financial calculator available for both Apple and Android in their app stores for $5 (I'm not sure if I'm permitted to post a link to it here, but a quick search in your app store should get you there).  

If you are doing deal analysis for flips, wholesales, buy/hold calculations, etc., then the BP calculators are DEFINITELY the way to go! They have a lot more to offer for those specialized calculations and reports. But if you’re looking for more of a general purpose financial calculator then I highly recommend this one. It’s a calculator that has a library of pre-configured financial (and other) calculations that are categorized into groups:

• Real Estate (Property Calculator, Mortgage, Gross Rent Multiplier, Cap Rate)
• Business (Depreciation, Breakeven)
• Finance (Time value of money, Commercial Leases, Loans, Cash Flows, Auto Lease)
• Investments (Bonds, ROI, 401k, IRA)
• Construction (Drywall estimator, crown molding angles, stairs)
• Conversions (Date, area, length)

There are many more templates available in the app than what I have listed above. Those are just some of the ones I use most often and a few others that I saw. Another bonus is that it has tutorials for how to use and apply these calculations using real world examples. It’s a great way to run numbers and learn about the different calculations, especially when you’re on the go.

I am not affiliated with the company that developed the app, I just think it’s a great resource and wanted to share. Enjoy! 

Thanks @Dawn Anastasi and @Rich N.

The child support is roughly 1/3 of income. We'll do month to month for sure then. I like the suggestion about grades too. Thanks!

We have an applicant that wants to use her child support payments as additional income. Without it she does not meet the 3x rule, however with it she does. Her daughter is nearing 18, but she says it is good through her college years. Otherwise she seems like a great tenant (1st impression), we still have to run the background/credit check/references. So who knows, but in the meantime, here are a few questions. 

1. Is there a way to verify the child support end date (we're in PA)? She sent the court ruling, but it does not show an end date anywhere. 

2. Would you still sign her as a tenant knowing that when the child support is gone she will not be able to afford the rent.

3. If so, is it better to do a month-to-month lease in this case. 

Thanks for any help!