All Forum Posts by: Matt Gehrls

In the process for saving up for the first down payment to start investing, I'm looking for an apartment to move into for 9 months to a year. As a former leasing agent and current real estate agent I thought this should be a relatively easy endeavor. I started contacted property management companies to get some showings set up for downtown Grand Rapids.

That was four days ago. I've made a dozen calls a day, and only gotten one single company on the phone. It is incredible. I'm a hot lead and these guys won't answer their phones. I know there are bad companys out there, but I haven't found a truly good one yet. Any recommendations? Or any of you working with property management and wonder if your company is one of the ones I called or emailed? I'll let you know in a private message.

Thanks for the advice everybody. I figured that just calling or emailing and just having a conversation was best, but wanted some confirmation. I've sent a few emails and have a few calls to make. I appreciate the support!

I'm moving to Grand Rapids Michigan in about two weeks and I just passed my salesperson licensing exam yesterday. I've been looking at brokerages in the greater Grand Rapids area and weighing my options, but I'm feeling stuck on the next step.

If it helps, my goal is to be a listing agent primarily, (I had success as a leasing agent getting listings) and working with investors. I expect that to start I may have to work for first time home buyers, and I don't mind doing that while I get my bearings and learn the field.

I have no problem calling a brokerage and inquiring about a job, but I'm not sure if it's rude to ask questions like "What was your sales volume last year," and other blunt questions to really get to whether I want to work there or not. I want a brokerage that gives decent training, and maybe will even have me working under someone for a bit. I'm not sure if that is the standard, or how to ask for it, or if there is protocol for even asking a broker if he/she is looking for agents. So any advice would be a great help to me here. 

So they have decided what to do, at least for now. They are renting it to another pastor (same denomination) for a church without a parsonage. 

@Olivia C. The church already has a basement they rent to different groups in the area. There is either no demand for it in the area, or no one knows they do it. Any advice for advertising meeting space? It might not help the house situation, but if they can rent the church out more effectively they might not be in as bad a situation.

I totally agree, Linda. I was hoping that there was some strategy I was overlooking, but I'm pretty sure there isn't. They have all the space they need, but don't have the money or people they need. 

Board president says he will quit the board if they make him manage a property, no one else is willing to, and they worry about someone not paying to take advantage of a church. This church is too small and old so none of it's members rent.

Edit: Also, I would do it for experience, but I don't live in the area.

The legal side of things is certainly a factor. No church wants to und up in the local paper for evicting a single mother. Would property management make that situation more avoidable?

Another idea is for someone to buy the house outright with their heloc for the amount of debt the church still owes. which is about half the value (we have a person in mind and they are willing). Then he rents it out for a decent profit based on the numbers I've seen. If the church ever needs it back he can sell it using seller financing for whatever is left on his heloc plus closing costs. Any problems popping out to you here? My biggest downside here is if the church can't make the payments, which is not unlikely, and will this person be willing to foreclose? 

I won't go into too much detail because the details are not in stone yet and I have no numbers to use. I figured innovative strategies made sense as a place to post. If there is a better forum feel free to suggest.

A church is getting a new minister that already has housing in the area. Meaning this church has a parsonage that will go unused. It still has financing to deal with. They don't want to sell incase the minister to follow their new minister needs housing. They don't want to manage the property as a rental for obvious reasons. And they can't make profit on the building because it is not taxed as they are a religious organization (from what they, and I understand we could be wrong). My latest thought that I haven't ruled out for one reason or another is putting it under property management and the management fee would be any profit made after expenses were paid. This way the church retains title and isn't gaining profit. The only one benefiting financially is the property manager for dealing with the headache of helping this church retain title on something it can't afford without the help.

Any advice or ideas would be helpful. I'm not emotionally invested but my mother is involved and could use some guidance. She wants to sell but she only has one vote on the board.

A property was bought by my grandfather and two relatives as a tenancy in common concurrent ownership. The three have died and all had heirs that split the property, but they all had a different number of kids.

First question: Are those shares split evenly? Or does the second generation split their fathers 1/3 of the property?

There were something like 12 people who had shares in the property, then one died and had no heir so we aren't sure where that share went.

Second question: Any ideas on where it went? If not specified in a will would be it split evenly between his three sisters? Could this happen without a court getting involved?

Either way now there are 11 people who own the property or something along those lines. I haven't met many of them as they are pretty distant relatives at this point who live all over the U.S. and some in Canada. I would say about half of those owners don't want it anymore and are tired of paying property taxes on land they have never once been to. The other half feels personal connection to the land but even some of them never use it. It is almost exclusively used for deer hunting. Most of the owners don't hunt.

It cannot be partitioned easily. It is a long and not very wide piece of land, and of course the not very wide part is on the road.

The people who want the land don't have the money to buy out the other shares. It has gotten to a point where some have stopped paying their share of the property taxes as they have been advised their interest in the property won't diminish and there will be no real ramifications for doing that.

Some day I am going to inherit this mess, and I know the details will definitely change before that, but I was curious about legal ways other than going to court to help simplify the situation at the very least.

From what I understand each share is worth something around 30k so I don't think anybody wants to just get rid of their share for nothing.

Also, if I misunderstand something or said something that doesn't make sense, it could very well be that I lack some understanding and would appreciate any clarification you could offer.

Hi @Jake Lowing,

I'm moving to Grand Rapids in a few months and am planning on house hacking as well. Sounds like you are heading in a great direction. Appreciation can be sexy, but you are working hard for the money you make. I wouldn't suggest gambling. If the numbers still work as a rental and you want to bet, you have little to lose if you are wrong. Welcome!