All Forum Posts by: Michael Colello

@Taylor Dasch, @Greg Scott, @Tim Miller, @Will Kenner, @Joshua Messinger, @Will Gaston

Thank you guys so much for the quick and very insightful responses.  It seems that I would be putting myself in too much of a liability situation for not much return.  Especially since the tenant is offering to do it themselves, I should just let them handle it themselves.  Thanks everyone for the guidance here, have a wonderful weekend!

Hi BP, in one of my rentals in Indianapolis, I have an amazing tenant who always pay on time, really takes care of the property, and seems to be really making this a long term home.  Unfortunately they have had their car broken into twice now and asked if they can install security cameras.  They weren't asking me to pay for it but I'm wondering if it might be a good investment for me to do so.  I did just bump of their rent a little bit but since they just signed a new lease, I couldn't increase any further until next Jan.  

I saw SimpliSafe outdoor cameras were only $170 each and the tenant could install it themselves.  I personally think it could be worth it to buy 1 or 2 to make the tenant feel safe in the house and further incentive them to stay long-term but I'm not sure if this makes the most business sense.  

Has anyone seen a big difference in rent or value in the house if they have security cameras?  Is SimpliSafe the way to go?  I plan on running this by my PM as well but any input here would be greatly appreciated thanks everyone!

@Griffin Brenseke I would highly recommend you check out T&H Realty.  I switched over my 3 single family homes to them last summer and it was an incredible improvement from my last PM.  They are extremely responsive, have a ton of resources, and documented/standardized processes for everything you can think of.  Going through my first turnover now and they have also helped compare bids for the work to ensure we are saving money and manage the whole process.  Good luck!

I would highly recommend using T&H Realty. I recently switched over to them after dealing with a horrible PM when I first started investing in Indy. They have been extremely helpful with stabilizing my 3 SFH, getting me highest rent, and keeping the tenants happy by being very responsive and communicative. I would connect with @Jake Knight.  Good luck!

T&H Realty have been extremely helpful stabilizing my 3 Indy properties after my previous PM left a mess on my hands.  Highly recommend!  

Thanks @Aaron Singer, appreciate the insight, I will look into this.  Thanks for the help!

Curious to find out what type of rental assistance programs everyone has been pursuing for their properties in Indianapolis (especially now the eviction ban was extended). My tenants applied for the Indy Rent Assistance (https://indyrent.org/) but this only provides 3 months worth of unpaid rent. Is anyone combining multiple programs, either local or federal, to make up the difference if the tenants have accumulated more than 3 months worth of late rents? Is this even possible?

Thanks for the help!

Hi Dustin, I recently switched over the management of my 3 rentals, on the west side as well, over to T&H Realty.  They were extremely helpful with the transfer of management process, and communication couldn't have been better.  They are very well-established, have great back-end processes to deal with tenants and owners which was important in my opinion. The owner, Jeremy Tallman, is a BP member as well I believe. My first PM company was an absolute nightmare so I am more than willing to help answer any questions you have so you don't make the same mistakes I did, let me know!  Best of luck!

Hi BP, no matter how many times I re-read David Greene's "Long-Distance Real Estate Investing" book, I still have trouble understanding how to quickly estimate rehab costs when you are looking at multiple different potential deals being sent over from out of state.  
I am currently looking at properties in Montgomery and Indianapolis (I live in San Diego) where some of the deals fit the 1% rule at first glance which warrants deeper analysis but this is where I get hung up...  I can see through pictures that some parts of the house could use a touch up, paint, new appliances, or tile in the bathroom but I'm having trouble quickly understanding what this number would be and what I should make as an initial offer. 

I understand the concept of having your contractor go in and getting an itemized scope of work, estimate materials and labor, but by the time this is done, one of you other OOS investors already swooped in and took the deal ;)   As we all know...a good deal will go quick, so I think the skill of being able to quickly estimating these rehab numbers when analyzing a "good" deal,  especially being out of state, is absolutely critical. Do I ask my RE agent, contractor, PM to help?  

Thanks for reading through and any insight would be greatly appreciated!