All Forum Posts by: Pamela Gordon

@Joe Hammel yes, my husband just mentioned that competition might be a good thing. 

@Mariel DeVito fortunately mined showed up, but most just aren't qualifying.  After reading the book Managing Rental Properties from Heater & Brandon Turner that you can get here from the bookstore, one of the things mentioned to help with no shows, is to have the person confirm ahead of time and if they don't then let me know by either voicemail, email, text, or whichever way you like that no one will be there to show them the property, because the appointment wasn't confirmed.  I was a little nervous telling a few people that since they didn't confirm, the appointment was cancelled, but then I was so glad I did, because other interested people were able to take the same time frame and/or it allowed me not to stay waiting for someone that wasn't going to show up, which can be very annoying for me because I am about 2 hours away from this particular rental.  I also have family members and a realtor that are closer to help show the property by I want to value their time as well, so it was important for me to confirm ahead of time if the person is still a go for the showing.  Hope that helps.

@Theresa Harris, yeah I did that on Saturday, but it was more like 30 minutes apart, and felt like it was still too much time in between, so maybe now I will try 15 minutes.  Yes, it is empty.

@Joshua Frank  I am also in Charlotte and would love to connect.  Networking is huge is this game, plus it is very refreshing to be surrounding with like minded people.

Just starting showing my rental property about 1.5 weeks ago, by appointment only.  It seems like a nice gesture to have private tours for the potential tenants that show up, but it also takes a lot of time.  So what I did this past Saturday is scheduled a good bit of showings, so that I wouldn't have to keep making trips multiple days, but now I am thinking about scheduling an open house.

What are you experiences with either one?  Pros and or cons?

Thanks in advance,

Pam

Hi @Johnathon Sesi, I would definitely say yes, there are deals on MLS, you just have to constantly look at them. Last year I bought 2 properties off of the MLS, it was like another fulltime job looking and searching, :-), but the deals are there. One of them I did bid over asking price, but it was in a great market, and prior to getting that deal I must of looked at minimum 30+ homes and about 10 rejections from getting outbid, but so be it, move on to the the next one. The one I got in December was a zillow owned home, and it worked out great, no due diligence, bid $25K less zillow paid $9K towards closing and also gave a check at closing made directly out the he HVAC company for $2.5k to repair the A/C, since there were limitations of how much they could give us, which was ok with me, as long as they paid it.

For me since I am just starting out MLS is pretty much my go to, I will usually look at how long it has been on the market, if it is back on the market and the price history and then analyze the numbers to if it makes sense or not, but at least after analyzing I already know what I am willing to offer and how much wiggle room I have and take it from there. Yeah, you might hear a lot of no's along the way, get frustrated but you really only need one yes, to get the deal, plus you just learn so much throughout the entire process, even with all the no's I received so far, the knowledge gained has been priceless.

Hi Everyone:

I am starting out with managing my own property and wanted to get your feedback on who you use for a handyman and Electrician in the Raleigh, NC area?  Even if you are not in that area, what are some of the things you look for when selecting either one?

Thank you ahead of time for any insight that you can provide.

Hi Everyone,

Looking for great people that perform work in the Raleigh, NC area. I live closer to the Charlotte area but want to self manage my property in Raleigh, but in order to do that I need a very reliable and a reasonably priced crew.  Looking for electrician, handyman, painter, flooring and plumber.  Who would you refer?

@Pal Sa, I agree with @John Bartlett, I do not say I am the owner, from the very beginning I say that I am the property manager.  I did a showing yesterday and when I mentioned that I was the property owner the prospect said "oh good, because I do not feel like dealing directly with the owner".  My experience is that when you say you are the Property Manager the potential tenant is a little more honest and will tell you right up front what they liked and what they didn't like and it's great to know what might be a turn off or questionable to tenants, because it might be something you completely overlooked.  There's no reason anyway for them to know who you really are, it helps take the emotions out of it all, and this way you never feel like you are being put on the spot.  It's nice to make them feel like it's not up to you to make the ultimate decision and that there is a standard process you have to follow and that the owner makes the final decision.  This approach really works well for me, plus it helps me not to deviate from my own process.

@Sara Frank that is great. One of the things I love about RE is that it can be so creative and there is always something new to learn. I am familiar with an FHA loan, but wasn't aware of FHA 203K loan. So, glad we have a platform like BP to share our knowledge and bounce ideas off of one another.