All Forum Posts by: John Wright

Hey Adam check out Soli Cayatano's Instagram. She is in Cali but has rentals here in Cincy. She is at @lattesandleases. 

Hey Adrienne,

 Almost every brokerage has new agents looking for extra income in RE. I would have loved to do something like this when I was just getting started. I would call a couple brokers and ask if they have agents they could recommend for the job. 

Cheers!   

Hey if anyone is still looking for an investor friendly property manager in Cincy let me know and I can send you my list. 

@Kim H. I usually require security deposit immediately and the first months rent before the move-in date. I think the lease should itemize the security deposit AND have a separate section on how the deposit will be held, handled, and returned. Every state has specific deposit rules that you need to be familiar with so check your local ordinances. I think the most important thing to do is to actually go over the entire lease with the tenant before moving in.

@Kim H. Hi Kim I have used the state specific leases included with a premium membership (if that is what you are referring to). No lease can cover every possible tenant/landlord scenario but I think it’s important to have the most common scenarios in the lease so that tenants know your experienced, professional, and that you will treat your rental like a business. With that said the only thing that I added to the lease was a specific termination fee if a tenant wants to end the lease earlier than the expiration date. You could also write up a “house rules” document separate from the lease in order to cover property specific items such as common areas, disputes with neighbors, quiet hours , etc.

@Michael Rutkowski

I agree 1000 percent. The market dynamics are being felt through the experience of obtaining an agent. Better to use BP and find investor groups to learn from through your first property. There are not many “investor friendly” agents and the good ones have plenty of business with big investors. Another option would be to find an agent who is an investor themself and partner with them on deals. Unfortunately new buyers need the most help right now but they are the lowest paying probability for agents.

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Columbus.

Purchase price: $190,000
Cash invested: $30,000

Househacked this duplex with a VA loan then refinanced and pulled out all of my money in the property. Both sides currently rented at $1200.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

One side of the duplex was vacant and the other had a long term tenant renting for $800/mo.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Found this on deal on Zillow. It was a FSBO and the seller had updated one side.

How did you finance this deal?

VA Loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

By renovating the other side we were able to get both sides rented with good tenants.

What was the outcome?

I was able to take the profits and use them to acquire another unit.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I learned that VA Loans are not really designed for older properties.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I used Brent Zuch at Gold Financial for the financing. Tammy Gordon at Century 21 kept it all together. They are both Vets and I couldn't have done it without them.

@Jonah T. In Ohio you have to send them an itemized list of all of the deductions within 30 days off them leaving. If it is more than their security deposit I send them a bill. If they don’t pay it I take them to court.

@John Ringgold The most valuable thing we added to our lease recently was to specify a $2000 early termination fee for those tenants who try to terminate the lease early without cause. This $2000 fee completely changes the conversation and negotiations start from a completely different place. For those tenants who still need to end the lease early we allow them the option to still receive there security deposit if the unit is returned clean without damage but there deposit is deducted from the termination fee.

@Greg Soon a cleaner way to do it would be to increase the rent amount by the internet cost and specify that that the internet is included with the rent costs.