All Forum Posts by: Ned J.

What you are really saying is that before your hire someone they should have experience in their field....well duh.....

Got an agent that rents but has sold 1000 homes vs an agent that owns their own home and has sold 3.... which one are you picking to work with?

So buying and owning one home all of a sudden makes you good at being a real estate agent? Makes you know all the pitfalls to avoid and tricks to make things go smoothly? Good luck with that......experience of doing the job does that

Do I think it probably helps to have purchased and maintained your owner home? Sure.... do I think its a deal breaker to be a good real estate agent... hell no...

Do I think the bar for getting a license to sell people the most expensive purchase they will ever likely make is too low ? Hell yes.....

Market rent is set by the comparable units in the area. If none of them have pool/gym but everything else is very comparable, then you may be able to squeeze a bit more out above market but not much. Depending on the demographic for the area, some people may be interested in the pool, but most are not going to pay much more vs not having one to access. 

So basically it may make your unit more appealing... but wont raise the rent much if at all. 

Yeah..ok...

And all teachers should have kids first...

All doctors should have lots of medical issues before they can practice....

All dentists should have lot of dental issues before they can practice...

Every waiter should owner a restaurant before they can wait tables....

Every car salesman should have bought multiple new cars before selling any....

I get your point..... it would be great if every realtor had to have real life home ownership under their belt, so they have that BTDT experience..... but not gonna happen

Big assumption..... all PM's and contractors are honest, trustworthy, do good work and are reliable and efficient. Thats a HUGE assumption.... there are plenty great ones out there but this forum is filled with posts about ****** PM's and contractors...... horrible and unsafe work....contractors that rip people off and disappear

If you have a great PM and reliable contractors that do good work, they are worth every penny. 

My units are local.... but I can do a major % of the work myself almost as quick, and just as good if not  better than 75% of the contractors out there at <50% of the cost. If its above my ability, or time frame I will hire out...until then I do my own work,

But flying out of state to do the work? Thats nuts...... I would NEVER do that......

People will break a lease and leave whenever they want to....it may make them hesitate for a bit before they do, it but when people want/need to leave they leave. A long lease may make you feel warm and fuzzy inside, but its not the insurance/stability you think it is. Longer leases favor the tenant WAY more than the LL.

I only do MTM from day one..... I want LONG term tenants and I dont do anything different on rent increases or any other factors that wouldn't be done in a 12 month lease- if they want to leave, be straight up with me..... if you are a PITA, I can easily get rid of you. Thats my opinion....

Financial suicide......

The only people that should try and own and operate D class units are local and VERY experienced in that genre... they know all the eviction attorneys, law enforcement, social services and local "muscle" to handle the class of people and properties you will deal with

New and out of state? Might as well take your $$ and set it on fire in the front yard

Brand of HWH you are using? Home Depot Rheem? .... they are junk IMO. Low quality, cheap mass produced big box units.

If nothing else buy a better brank from a plumbing supply store, nit a big box store

You are starting a new lease with these tenants, so basically you can charge whatever you want, including pet deposits and pet rent (assuming its legal to do that in your state), and increase in rent (again, some states limited how big of a % you can increase it).

Its the balance of increasing it closer to market and protecting yourself for eventual damage by having pets in your units vs inducing a vacancy and starting over.....which can be scary but often its a good thing when you take over someone else's tenants. 

I personally would increase it to within 5-8% of market, collect a pet deposit and forgo the additional pet rent. 

Ive never understood how any LL could do this....its all over SM as a way for people to do a side hustle and make tons of $$. But as a LL I'm basically turning over my property for someone else to run as a hotel. I still hold the majority of the liability and responsibility for the property, but let someone else to make $$ on it just so I dont have to do as much work myself. Forget that.....

I recommend you post up your numbers to help clarify what you are working with