All Forum Posts by: Nathan Fridley

@Bonnie Rhodes Thanks for the reply. I’m buying in Fayetteville, AR, and the property is about 1-2 miles from the University of Arkansas campus. Based on what I understand (from a couple students and an athletic coach), the vast majority of classes have transitioned to online for at least the fall semester. Based on a basic Zillow search, there appears to be a surplus of rental options at the moment but I honestly don’t know if they’re discounted.

@Jessica Hawkins Sorry I missed your message from a couple months ago. I bought my first rental in March, literally right when COVID hit and prices were still reasonable in the area as interest rates hadn’t ranked yet. I took several months before I could find another but we finally found another property in Fayetteville. There are some deals to be had down there, but you have to be prepared to have it unoccupied possibly until next summer.

Hello friends, have a rental listing strategy question for you all. I’m currently under contract to purchase my second rental in a major university college town that has basically gone completely virtual for fall semester. This will be my first unit that will likely rent to college kids. Knowing the rental market is likely soft until at earliest spring semester but most likely next summer, what should be my listing strategy when I hopefully close in mid-Oct? Should I list at full price based on provided rent roll at standard 12-month term ask or should I try to get really aggressive out of the gate to get someone in for 6-8 months at say a 25% discount of normal rent just to generate some income until summer when things hopefully get back to normal? Even at discounted rent, I would still have positive cash flow. Any and all advice would be appreciated.

Hey Christian,

You beat me to the game by a couple months, my wife and I just closed on our first rental property in Bentonville and the whole experience was quite frankly exhilarating! I’ve always had a passion for personal finance, but this is our first real risk (we’re very fiscally conservative) and I think we’re addicted. We’re self-managing so the couple weeks between closing and finding our first tenant was an emotional rollercoaster. It literally took less than 3 weeks to find someone, but it felt like 6 months. The day we finalized the lease, I told my wife that I was mentally drained...then the next day, I told her I missed the thrill already!! We have a similar plan to buy approximately 6-8 properties over the next 5 or so years and use the passive income to bridge the gap to early retirement. Thanks for sharing your story and I hope to be able to connect more with all of the other local investors that replied to your post as well.

Thanks,

Nathan Fridley

@Michael Grant

Two words: house hack! Buy a duplex, live in one side and rent out the other. After you get some homeowner and landlord experience under your belt, sky is the limit! Good luck!

I’ve been using the software for a couple months now with my first rental and it’s seems to be great for my basic needs.

The overwhelming negative feedback that I’ve seen is regarding their customer support and how they previously used an online ticketing system that often took too long, but they now have a phone number for more immediate responses. I just recently discovered all of their how-to videos on YouTube, a whole comprehensive series of videos from the tenant, landlord and owner points of views...they are great!