All Forum Posts by: Patrick K

By the way, we do not ask for a security deposit at all unless it is a long term lease of one month+

I'll walk you through my basic routine.

We have a keypad on the door so I never have to mess with keys or anything, just give them their code which is usually their zip code so they come and go.

I will walk the entire inside and start throwing away anything visible that is out and would need to be, though there usually isnt....checking for any damage along the way and inspect each closet for left items, all drawers in night stands etc.

Next, pull all the sheets/pillow cases off beds even if they dont appear to be slept in and place them all in a laundry basket and inspect/fold all comforters/blankets. I then leave out fresh back up sheets on the bed for the maid service to make the bed as we have doubles for all the beds.

Go to laundry room and throw in a load of towels pulling any out of the bathrooms if left wether appear to have been used or not. We ask that they place all used towels in a laundry basket in the laundry room before departure and 90% do. Run washer.

Clean out fridge/freezer of any items left behind. If its anything unused like beer or water bottles or soda I will leave them for myself or the next tenants, throw away all other used items.

Check the back patio and tidy up if needed.

We leave instructions asking to load and run the dishwasher before departure as well....again 90% or more have done so, and I simply check this and clean anything thats needed, then put away dishes once ready and kind of look around to make sure everything in order.

Leave a check for the maids and run all the bed sheets up to a wash and fold service that has them ready usually in 3 hours.

That is about it in a nutshell....once you get a routine down its pretty automatic and probably spend no more then 30-45 minutes running through the house dealing with things.

We have been very lucky by not having any problem tenants who trash the place or done anything wierd or crazy. Its a brand new house though so I dont know if that influences people to take care of it more or what, but the rent is where I believe most of the clientele is going to be of a "respectful" character I guess you might say.

I dont automate anything and no longer have a personal website for my vacation home. I like to qualify each prospect personally and be upfront about everything. I manage it entirely myself.

Advertise on vrbo and craigslist mainly

There is a pretty good new website called air bnb which is completely free to list your property, however they take a small percentage to handle the transaction.

While I was skeptical at first, It is set up pretty well actually and I have completed several transactions through them. They hold all the money in escrow from a reservation until the client checks in, at which point they clear the funds and deposit in your paypal account.

Sounds like the main problems with property management is the same as the old adage "You get what you pay for"

I dont even understand how you make a substantial income, much less a decent living charging only 8% or even less as you all mentioned??

I guess we need a context to put the business in, but you could be handling over $40,000 ($3,200 a month revenue) a month in rentals and still not make much....let alone have any money to pay for an office, your taxes, any employees, advertising, insurance etc etc.

Seems like a bum gig to me.....

Good info Joel....the fact that only 10 states in the country do not allow rebates leaves a pretty good chance he is in one.

My understanding of the agent/broker relationship is as independent contractors, not employees. Do you see different.

As an independent contractor any agent should have the ability to rebate their client out of their own pocket to reciprocate business. This would be independent of the agent/broker relationship, and simply be an agent/investor relationship and business arrangement.

That is the way I understand it anyways.

Ask for a rebate in commission.....this is perfectly legal and you obviously found the deal yourself, ask her if she will cut you back a point on the deal and you would like to use her.

If you dont want to do that and have a mutual relationship then either dont use her when you find your own deals, or dont complain or feel that you are spoon feeding her money.

It will work both ways in a good relationship in my opinion....she could potentially "spoon feed" another investor a deal that comes across her desk the next time versus offering it to you.

Steve, I have done extensive reading and research on this matter for the past month. I have searched this forums threads, as well as others, and countless Google searches. It is still hard to find concrete information about Tax Deed sales, and any real world repercussions that could result in a sale, or any real world accounts of experiences with tax deed sales. Also been unable to track down a step-by-step approach to doing your homework on a property before moving to the bidding process, though obviously there is a lot of the basic "common sense" advice such as go actually look at a property you are bidding on, and get a good determination of the real value of a property.....duh

I am interested in any tricky back door concerns I should have when considering purchasing anything in a tax deed auction. Can an old spouse come out of nowhere and lay claim to a property? If the guy is in bancruptcy could this mean anything? Is there a possibility to have other liens I do not see or cannot find? Why has the bank not already foreclosed on the property and taken possesion? Why hasnt the bank payed these taxes and taken it off the auction block?.....I could go on.

I'd like to say I appreciate your response, but you are adding absolutely nothing of value in your responses and quite frankly come off as a little rude wasting your time in responding, so why bother.

I understand I might be coming off as an uneducated newb to investing who doesnt know anything, and well, I am.....I also realize I dont have an exact question other then "Are there any certain special circumstances that I should look into before bidding a particular property at a tax deed auction"

P.

Care to elaborate??....specifically to a tax deed auction scenario.

That is what I am needing, HOW can you get screwed in such a setting, so I can cover all of those potential basis.

Not talking about just making a dumb purchase in terms of investment.

Sorry I missed your questions in my quote above.

The state is Texas, which the owner currently resides in with his wife, and seems to be living as far as I can tell from recent web activity I found late in 2010. Sale is next week.

I have an interest in a piece of land that is coming up for auction at tax sale next week, and I am wanting to cover all the bases.

I checked with the city and county departments and it seems there are no restrictions on the property to be able to build what we want, and there are no additional tax liens on the property with the government.

I am trying to contact Title companies, about conducting a Title search to make sure everything seems as it is since I cant make sense of the public records I found myself.

Is there anything else I need to watch out for or pay attention to?

Any possibilities of getting screwed in purchasing a property at an auction sale?

I still cannot understand why someone would have a $100K+ piece of property and allow it to go into tax foreclosure and not just sell it.....seems so fishy

Any help is appreciated-