All Forum Posts by: Mitchell Luban

@Kenneth Hynes I would say 3 or 4. Tenants seem to like the gray tones at least in our market. But I think both of them look clean! 

@Brandon Dominguez I think this comes down to the person. If you live close enough to the rental or have enough free time I usually suggest my clients self manage (or try) for at least a year. It will help them get a feel for what the management company is or IS NOT doing on their behalf. It should also help you get an idea of costs of things. However keep in mind you should expect costs to go up on labor when you turn things over.

But most management companies will also be able to rent your property for more than you will as well. I am both an agent/broker and a PM and for my investors just starting out who live local I encourage them to start out self managing and then come talk to me in a year. 

Clients who are not local is obviously a different story. 

@Account Closed I guess it depends on the agents opinion. I don't mind it. In my market of Grand Rapids most of the "deals" are found off market. When I find an off market deal I bring it to my investor clients and the pay me for it. If I find them a flip it is generally understood that if they resell it I will list it for them on the back end. If we do enough business I will list at a "discount" again I see myself as part of the team. But I would say most of my investors are loyal on listed properties on the MLS.

My goal when I am wearing my agent hat is for my clients to get the best possible deal and achieve their real estate goals. It seems to always work its way out financially. 

I don't know many good agents that will just continuously do things for you if they feel like you're not serious that word gets around cities fast and in hot markets your offers may not be viewed favorably because the good agents talk with each other more often than people think. I do have clients who buy several house a year who I obviously do more things for than a brand new client who's never closed a deal etc... But I think a lot of people look at agents as expendable and they should look at the right agent as part of your team and treat them as such. Now don't get me wrong there certainly are bad agents...I may be a bit biased since I am an agent as well as an investor so take this how you want. Good agents also aren't stupid they realize investors work with multiple agents at times even within the same city. 

Just my two cents!

@Ryan Burke also consider Private money and you can avoid waiting 6 months. In many instances you are paying 1-2 points and 10-12% interest only on the money borrowed(depending on your relationship with the lender). Then when the project is done you can refinance it and pull the cash out and on to the next one. I have done several of these for properties in my portfolio and am in the middle of one right now. 

But I would say the best lenders in town are Finance of America for investors. If you want my contact reach out. He can help with all types of investment properties including facilitating the PM and BRRRR's.

@James Gill Don't be afraid to ask questions but do your research first. If your questions can be answered by a simple google search or by browsing a forum I think you lose credibility! But when I first got started I found people were always willing to help as long as I wasn't wasting their time! There are great podcasts out there. The BP podcast and the RPOA podcast are two of my favorite. Find a local meetup and network with local investors who are doing deals in the markets in which you want to do business. Good luck!

@Jeff Jansen I usually advise my clients to leave a unit empty. It both allows for us to accommodate showings and like mentioned above it allows for owner occupants to make an offer with FHA financing. These buyers are generally willing to pay more than your typical investor. The property has to be in somewhat decent shape in order for it to pass some basic FHA guidelines however.

@Austin Johnson The market will ultimately dictate what makes sense to put in the property in my opinion. We have decided in our properties both single family and multi-family properties we are doing LVP everywhere we get a $2.50-$3.00 sq/ft product and buy in bulk to get our cost down when we can. When I first started out I was buying the cheaper stuff and the locking systems just aren't great. I ended up replacing it. 

We like the LVP throughout the entire place for a number of reasons; Its waterproof, Scratch resistant, longevity, and it is much easier to clean when turning properties. So even if it is a little more expensive to install on the front end we have found it to be well worth it in the long run. But we are in a market that our turnovers sometimes need to happen in 24-48 hours and tenants are paying a premium for a higher end finish. 

So my vote would be LVP but I would consult a local PM or two and see what they are seeing from tenants as well. 

@Adam Knickelbein I am an investor and property manager in a different market but was just surfing bigger pockets. I agree with a lot of what was said above. We find not allowing pets is tough most people have them especially in a larger house like yours. If you ban them up front they will just hide them from you and have them anyways. 

We charge a pet fee and then also charge pet rent. 

But I agree getting professional photos taken goes a long way we can get professional photos done with a floor plan in our market in Michigan for $150 bucks and it saves everyone time and shows your property in the best possible light! 

Finally we find the more sites it is on the better. We tend to have some of our best luck with local neighborhood facebook pages when filling our rentals... Those same pages can also be your worst nightmare if you have bad tenants

Best of luck with your new adventure! 

@Sungu Funhiro I started using Appfolio but I am helping some clients do some management as well as managing my own stuff. It has been good so far.