All Forum Posts by: Paul Sandhu

@Zane Belden You are sort of in business with me.  We both get money from the same source.  And I don't mind it when the price of gas goes up at the pump.  Actually, I like to see that.

I do furnished rentals for traveling workers at a local refinery.

Welders & pipefitters make good money.  I usually put them up in a nicer house and charge them a good amount.  Their jobs usually last a few weeks to a month.

Insulators and scaffold builders are on the low end of the totem pole when it comes to pay and per diem.  They usually get a house with more wear and tear and extra beds.  I don't charge them very much, but they are usually the first ones at a job/project and the last ones to leave.  They stay the longest.  The longest a scaffold builder stayed with me was 32 weeks.

There were 4 guys that moved into the house initially.  One by one they would leave and another scaffold builder would take their place.  By week #20 none of the guys in there were one of the original 4.

Build the cost of the Roku rental into the price of your property.

Also, for everyone else, mount your HDTV's on a swivel/pivot wall mount (if the tv isn't too big).  It makes the room look better and you don't have to worry about someone knocking the tv over and breaking it.  I get the wall mounts on ebay for about $15-$20.

I don't have vacation rentals, but I have furnished houses for refinery contractors.  

There are 2 cheap motels in my town.  They both charge $350/week for a room with 2 beds and a bathroom.  They have about 120 rooms combined.  They were built before I moved to town, and that was in 1973.  I charge $350/week for a 2 bedroom house.  There is usually a 3rd bed in the living room.  There is cable tv in every room, washer/dryer, wifi, and a full kitchen.  It's a basic place to stay.  These are my hamburger and french fry houses.

There are 2 nice hotels in this town. They both charge around $600/week for a room with 2 beds and a bathroom.  They have exercise rooms, swimming pools, and breakfast daily.  Both were built in the last 10 years.  I have nicer houses where I charge $200/week per bedroom in each house.  These houses will have 2 washers, 2 dryers, 2 fridges, plus entertainment like a streaming Blu Ray player, HDTV, kegorator, fire ring with fire wood outside, ping pong, darts, exercise equipment and free weights, etc.  These are my steak and potato houses.

4 years ago I have one rental.  Now I'm up to 22 with 82 beds.  It takes 4-6 months of rent for a house to pay for itself.  It takes 6-10 months to get 4-6 months of rent.

Today, 18 of my 22 places are rented out.  The longest tenant has been there 22 weeks.  2 others have been there for 18 weeks.  My 3 newest tenants all moved in 3 weeks ago.

In the past 4 years of furnished housing rentals (about 1100 people) I can count with only the thumbs on one hand the number of times I have NOT met them in person, face to face.  That one guy had weird hours, and he would text me on rent day and say the money is in the microwave.

I personally meet them to show them the properties, and each week I go by in person to collect rent.  I can't imagine having someone else do this, because the renters usually have some complex questions and problems that need answering (cashing paychecks, getting a drivers license, FAX service, USPS UPS & FedEx, a good defense attorney, how to get back home without transportation, medical emergencies, vehicle emergencies, etc etc)

There is a Redbox kiosk directly across the street from 9 of my furnished apartments.  I put a streaming Blu-Ray player in every apartment.  That way, they can rent movies from across the street or if they have Netflix, Hulu or Amazon prime they can log into the Blu-Ray under their own account and stream whatever they want.  Each apartment has it's own modem and router, 15 mbps.

2 months ago someone broke into one of our furnished rental houses and was living in there, for 2-3 days judging by the trash in the can. Utilities, and wifi are always on. They were also stealing bicycles and grinding off the serial numbers in the house.

We bought FOUR Arlo home security cameras and set them up in 3 of our unoccupied rental properties. They were $160 total. Long story short, we caught a young lady breaking in to one of our houses and setting up a Wifi repeater station in the house to steal the internet service. She lived a few houses away, or should I say...she was staying with some guy that lived a few houses away. We have the recordings of the police showing up and arresting her. I was outside when they showed up. She's been in jail since October 28th and she goes to court December 8th.

Last week I got a letter from the court asking for a "Victim Impact Statement". It asked about my medical expenses, losses, insurance coverage, and what I thought would be a fair punishment and restitution.

I'd like for her to pay us $160 for all 4 cameras, or at least $40 for the camera that was in the house that caught her. Do you think this is a good idea? Do you think a judge would go along with it? I also think it would get word out in the criminals network not to mess with any of our houses because we have surveillance cameras.

Should I try to get $160 in restitution or just leave things in the hands of the judge, that's my main question.

I don't have a recommendation for a lock, but I really like the Zmodo cameras.  They are motion activated and transmit an alert to your phone.  You'll need an active wifi connection and a 110 volt a.c. power supply.  Last week I caught someone that had broken into a vacant furnished house and they were trying to put in a device to steal the wifi.  The police arrested them. You can also record what the camera sees.  You can also speak on your phone and there is a speaker on the camera.  My wife said "Don't steal that tv.  I can see you.  The police are here".  That burglar got up off the floor and sat on a couch, 2 seconds later the police were shining flashlights inside.

I buy bank repo houses.  The county has a website that lists the appraised value, owner, year built, square feet, number of rooms, number of bathrooms, etc.

The appraised value is a starting point to where I make an offer.  Banks usually take 25% to 33% of the appraised value, and that's what I offer.

There is a refinery in the town I live in.  The towns pop is around 9000.  At any one time there can be 50-150 contractors working short term jobs at the refinery.  By short term, I mean anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months.  I have 22 furnished apartments and houses that I rent to contractors on a weekly basis.  There's a total of 78 beds, and probably around 60 televisions total.  Most guys work 10-12 hour days, so when they get home they just want to eat, shower, and go to bed.  

The houses I buy are bank foreclosures.  They run $6-$8 per square foot.  There is usually another expense involved (roof, plumbing, electric, etc) and that's usually another $1000.

We furnish them for around $1500 to $2000 for a whole 2 or 3 bedroom house.  We buy furniture and appliances from estate sales and auctions.  They are used, but they are functional.  Washer/Dryer usually sells for $75 each.  Fridge, about $150.  Bedroom set, $50-$200.  Old style tv's go for $3-$5, I put one in every bedroom.

The cheapest motel in town is $350/week.  That gets you a shabby room in the ghetto with 2 beds.

I charge $350-$400 a week for a 2 bedroom house in a nice neighbourhood.  There is usually a sofa bed in the living room.  $600 to $800 for a 3 or 4 bedroom house.

Their per diem is usually $75-$100 a day.  But that doesn't mean they are going to spend it all.  With me, they are spending $25-$30 a day to stay. It's less than that when someone sleeps in the living room.  For some people, saving money is a big priority.

They have cable and wifi.  Bigger houses will have 2 washers dryers and fridges. Bigger houses will also have fun amenities like HDTV with a streaming blu-ray player, jacuzzi, kegorator, poker table, darts, and a fire ring with wood in the back yard.

They pay for themself in 6 months or less of being rented.  It may take up to 9-10 months to get 6 months of rent.

Alot of my repeat renters come from the gulf coast.  I'm in Kansas.  We trade shrimp or gator for rent.  They also have a place to harvest venison during the appropriate season with the appropriate equipment and license.  I also keep them out of trouble with the law, or at least warn them of what behaviours not to do.  This is especially true with people from Louisiana.