All Forum Posts by: Gina McKee

I have a rental in VB, and prices decreased substantially due to the large number of foreclosures. Only now are prices starting to increase again. Rents have been pretty stagnant too. I imagine this depends highly on the area though. However, there are many people moving in/out of the area all the time so finding tenants is not too bad. 

If you stay away from the coast then you might not need flood insurance. Look at elevation on the street you are interested in, and look for properties that are at the high end. Norfolk is constantly flooding so I would be wary in investing there. Also watch out for PB pipes, if any property has those replace immediately, its just a massive headache otherwise. 

Anyway that's my thoughts and experience.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

I just used Painting By Michael. They gave a good price, were flexible, and really seemed to care about the job. Painted the entire rental. It looks great.

We recently did this same replacement on our rental in VA. Went from PB to PEX. It cost around 6K for the plumber and then the drywall company to come in and patch all the holes. This was for a 1300 sqft townhouse.

You are making the smart move with replacing them, we have had a leak on our property every year since owning it and took advantage of a tenant turnover to do the replacement.

You could put your tenant up in a hotel if you don't want to deal with a turnover. It took 2 days to do the plumbing work. Drywall took 3 days, but the tenant could be in the house at that point since there would be running water.

So sorry I missed this! Didn't see the post until today. Hope to make the Feb meeting! Will it be in the same place @Dan Mackin?

This happened to me actually. The PM was overcharging 20% on all work done a property even though it was not allowed in the contract. After several months of requesting original receipts of the work done (they send in-house invoices) one of their new workers sent them to me. I immediately found the overcharge and called them out on it. I suggest you do the same. The PM agreed to refund all the money they overcharged, and I started managing the property myself.

Thank you all for your comments. They were very insightful. I do have screening criteria, and use a scoring system to accept/reject tenants. This tenant did not make the minimum score so I did reject them. I am just getting a little anxious of the vacancy due to the time of year, and lack of applications received. I have had several people who seemed well qualified take applications and I never hear from them again. I wonder if I am doing some wrong or if I should just continue waiting. 

The property is rented to the same/less price of similar rentals in the area. It is in a class B neighborhood. Tenants moved out at the end of October, but rehab work was being done on the property until just before Thanksgiving. So its been ready to rent for just under a month. 

It is located in VA, and I am in CO so I hired a leasing agent to show the property. However, I am not convinced they are doing a good job since I have had negative feedback from a couple of prospective tenants. There are not many options for other leasing agents in the area just willing to show the property so in a bit of a bind with the current company.

Considering reducing the rent amount to generate more interest, getting 1-3 leads a day (or was when I had it listed, before hiring leasing agent and they took over the listing).

Any thoughts or advice?

Hi all,

I am conducting my first tenant screening process and would like some advice. I have received an application from a prospective tenant who has several collections (from 2009-2012) and judgments on their credit report. One judgment was from their present landlord. These are obviously big red flags and the only reason I am considering this tenant is their co-signer family member. The family member has stated that they will be paying the rent to us directly, and they have excellent credit, income and low debt.

Any advice on whether I should consider the tenant?

Thanks

Gina

Hi all,

I am a long distance real estate investor based in CO. I currently have one rental property in Virginia Beach which unexpectedly became vacant due to tenants receiving new military orders. I am currently renovating it, but repairs will be completed next week. 

I currently have it listed on the major sites and am getting good interest from prospective tenants. My main issue is that since I am in CO, I am unable to show the house on a continual basis. I am looking for a licensed realtor in Virginia Beach who would be willing to show the house, and make a few simple notes on the prospects (eg. were they on time, car clean, what questions did they ask). I will take care of all the paperwork etc, I just need someone to be my eyes and ears in the house. Of course I will pay for your services. If you, or you know of someone who can help, I would love to get in contact. At the moment, I have 3 people waiting to see the house!

Thank you

Gina

I have a property in this area and had a bad experience with my PM. I was a reluctant landlord so knew nothing about renting a house when I first started. Now 4 years on I have done a lot of research both on BP and joining my local REIA group (I also manage the property from afar and have had no issues since). If you are having trust issues with your PM company you need to do the following (which is what I did):

1. Review your management contract with them carefully. In particular pay close attention to items mentioning how repairs and maintenance are handled (are they being followed?).

2. Ask for invoices received from the actual contractors not just statements produced from the PM (I did this and found when comparing between what I was charged and what the contractor charged the PM was adding 20% to the bill-it was not in our contract). If costs are high maybe make it a requirement for your PM to get quotes for jobs over a certain price. Or maybe give them a list of required contractors you want them to use that you have ok'd.

3. Require photos be taken before/after repairs, and regular visits by the PM to the property with reports (if they are unwilling to do this then this tells you something).

4. Do as several have suggested here and analyze the properties to see if you should actually be cash flowing at this point (if its about what you expect then you make a decision to stick with them or sell or use a different strategy).

5. Make sure you have a cushion of money for big repairs, you need to make sure you are covered if something big happens at one of your properties. Look up in your records how old all the big ticket items are and then you can figure out approximately when you will need to think about replacing them. Then make sure you have a buffer equal to this so you aren't caught unawares.

6. When was the last time you visited the properties? I know you said you feel intimidated by meeting your tenants but you have a right to check on your investments (and should-you need to do it!). Maybe take a trusted handyman around with you, take lots of pictures of everything and get the handyman's opinion of what might need fixing in the future. Now you have a record of what is in each property and when a repair request comes in you are better prepared to know whether its justified or not (plus you can use BP for advice).

7. Part of your fear is lack of knowledge, you will feel way more comfortable with your investments once you know what you are talking about. Take out some books from your local library on real estate investing, read BP posts and generally teach yourself the in's and out's of RE investing. It is never too late to learn, and your confidence will increase.

8. Use the knowledge of BP to your advantage, its a great resource, give numbers so others can help!

Hopefully this can help you. I have been through it just like you and now I am confident of what I am doing because I have full knowledge and control over my property. You need to give yourself peace of mind at the least, try following my steps and hopefully that will make it happen!

Gina

We use Bob's Jobs. They are a little higher in price but the quality of work is excellent. They also are willing to work with you, they signed a contract for the work they have done, and send pictures of the work when completed. This is great for me, since I manage the property in this area out of state!