All Forum Posts by: Morgan Klein

I'm investing primarily in a small town with a severe housing shortage. At any one time there may only be 2-3 rentals on the market, so yes, I think it does have an effect. In a bigger market with more available housing, probably not. But like anything, it's worth what someone is willing to pay.

@Nicholas R Murray I don't really dig that deep, because I know my market pretty well. I can typically guess within $100 either way what a house will rent for. But if I invested in a new area, I'd review several comps and talk to the locals before setting a price. So that's why the local REIA group is a good place to start, lots of people that know rents in the area. I will often list my properties 10% over what I think I can get. Sometimes I'll need to come down, but I'll also get that price sometimes, which can drive up the rents for every property in the area (including all mine).

Nick, in addition to the things you're already doing with Zillow, et al. (which is a good baseline, btw), joining a local real estate group, either in-person or via Facebook, etc. is a good place to get local knowledge of rents. One thing I like to do that I don't see many people talking about, is joining Facebook Buy/Sell/Trade groups in the area you're investing. People will often post places for rent, and the comments are a great place to get information. People will not hesitate to comment on if a place is price too high ("you crazy!"), too low ("that's a STEAL!") or if it's just right (they'll start tagging people they know). 

Put your money into fixing the aesthetic things and staging the house to increase the value. DO NOT fix the appliances, jacuzzi, or anything else mechanical, electrical, plumbing, etc. Let the inspector do their thing and negotiate those repairs later. 

I'll respectfully disagree with those that say you can't start in real estate with $1,500. You can start with $0. You can start with less than $0. What you do need is a JOB (to show income to buy or rent). Here are just a couple examples....You can rent a 3-bedroom property, and sublet the other two rooms to cover your rent (or more). Rent a property and sublet as an AirBnB (with the owner's permission, of course). Better yet, get a loan, find a 3 bedroom home with a detached garage w/ an apartment, and LTR the rooms in the house and Air BnB the apartment (and pay down your mortgage and build equity). A couple years down the road, cash out refi and buy another property. Then do it again, and again, and again. If you wait to save a bunch of money, you're going to be on the sidelines way too long. Time and hustle are your most valuable assets, not money. 

Bottom line, a home inspection is only as valuable as the person conducting the inspection. If you have 10 inspections on a property, you're going to get 10 different reports. I'm astonished at what inspectors miss, and inversely the things they hone in on. What was once a field full of ex-contractors, builders, architects, etc., has been flooded with high schools dropouts with ZERO construction background that passed a 4-week course, and everything in-between. 

Make sure you properly vet your home inspector. Ask about their background. Don't trust that your Realtor is going to use a qualified one, often they'll get whatever's available within the DD window, and it can cost you $1,000's in the long run.

@Daniel Umstead It's just a basic stipulation that says, I'm paraphrasing, "security deposit may be used to collect delinquent rent." I also just used it on an eviction in early March where the tenants didn't pay January or February rent, so I was only out 1 month rent instead of two. 

You need to get the advice of an attorney, no if, ands, or buts....

I have 3 SFRs and 2 duplexes. Only one of the SFRs said they can't make rent, but their lease is up June 1 (they didn't want to renew, so saw it coming). I suggested they pay half rent for April and half rent for May, and I'll keep their security deposit when they move out. I have in the rental agreements that security deposit can be used to pay back rent. Taking a little bit of a gamble that the property won't have any major damage, but they've been good tenants so I don't expect that to be the case. 

Sounds like you're holding all the cards if her lease is up...