All Forum Posts by: Nathan A.

Some questions: Do you currently self-manage and the question is whether to form a formal company for it? How many rentals do you have, because you would likely need a good number to reach the scale where it would make sense to hire an employee. Do you have interest in being a property manager for others too?

Some areas have limits on how much property taxes can increase per year.

Here's some guides to analyzing entire markets, neighborhoods and individual properties. This episode of the BiggerPockets Podcast might also be of interest. And here's an interview guide for property managers.

"The Book on Managing Rental Properties" by Heather and Brandon Turner suggests some ways to market units:
* Yard signs
* Flyers
* Craigslist
* The local newspaper
* Zillow
* Referrals

What are your goals are for the next few years and how do the two plans fit into them? If you're at all interested in scaling your portfolio further, having the additional cash on hand would be invaluable.

You should check out Dave Meyer's blog posts "Top 10 Real Estate Markets for Cash Flow in 2022" and "The 1% Rule Is Dead."

@Shane Rockteacher assuming you're looking for some recommended options of how to learn, I would first start listening to the Real Estate Rookie Podcast and also this episode of the On the Market podcast, which is focused on short-term rentals specifically. You could also attend a webinar with David Greene or check out some of the books for beginners. 

First of all, congrats on closing your first deal! That's worth celebrating. I hope that someday you will have completely forgotten this junk removal problem (or are able to laugh about it).

The seller definitely should have had the items removed, but you may be in a tough spot given that everything has already closed. As for what you can do to avoid this in the future, maybe consider a final walk-through before closing if you didn't do one this time?

My parents had a positive experience with 1-800-GOT-JUNK when they last moved.

Some people in your situation might try to put down as little as possible (e.g. FHA) on the $220K purchase, then use credit cards or a personal loan to bridge the gap between what's left of the $50K of cash you have and the $60K to $80K you need to renovate. Another wild option is to borrow from a 401(k). You could pay everything off a few months later if you refinance when the work is done. I don't necessarily endorse those options, I'm just throwing them out there so you can be aware of them.

One thing I'd watch for is that your purchase price of $220K plus the $80K high end of your renovation budget adds up to $300K, which is exactly 80% of your low end comps at $375K. Assuming you're trying to refinance into a conventional loan once the work is complete, doing your best to stay on the low side of the renovation budget will help you in case an appraisal comes in on the low side when everything is done.