All Forum Posts by: Paul Haviland

I work with Meicher CPA in Madison, and recently had some fairly complex LLC/Real Estate tax situations. I was very pleased with the detail they went into and the outcome. Let me know if you would like me to connect you with my contact there. Merry Christmas!

Agree with the others. I'd go with direct mail as well. Good luck!

Welcome and good luck. I have friends and family in the dairy farming business. Tough work, and I'm sure if your up to the challenge with the cows, you can make REI work for you too.

I did a lot of research last fall, and settled on Buildium. It was a platform that I felt I could grow with, is dedicated to great customer support, and is continuing to enhance its offering. Like others have eluded to, the trick is to find the system that will offer the right features/robustness needed for your size at the best value. While also planning for your projected growth. For context, when I selected Buildium, I had just under 50 units, and am now around 75.

Welcome! Congratulations on the portfolio. That takes a lot of time and effort to get to that level. Do you self manage?

I like tenants with pets, because it is often hard for them to leave as many landlords have a no pet policy. That being said, I do expect more wear and tear. I like to mitigate that future expense with pet fees as well as try to lock them in for longer term leases (2+ years). I would not rent to 4 dogs for 6 months. On a different note, review what is a standard leasing fee in your area. 2 month's rent seems extremely steep. I would also try to go towards a percentage vs. fixed amount if you are looking at 6 month leases. Best of luck.

Great time to start! I purchased my first property at 22, and with support like you can find here, I'm sure you can be successful. Cheers,

Hi Pauline - do you live in the property? If so, and you have been there for 2+ years you would likely have a homestead exemption and wouldn't need to worry about capital gains. I would agree that selling may be a better option especially if you are open to relocating.

Occasionally, yes. I've found most people who want to rent a room in a shared space are generally respectful and keep to themselves... unless they don't. I've had a few bad experiences, but not often. I've actually had good luck by having one of the tenants who is renewing be in charge of finding the new ones. That way they can find a good fit. I'll normally give them a timeline of a month or so before I step in (they still have to meet my rental criteria).

I have quite a few units that are rented by students. 95+% are rented out per unit. I will however charge a $13-$16/person for water. Thus, if there is double occupancy, the ultimate gross is higher. Also, I have 2 units that I rent out per bedroom (3 & 4 bedrooms/unit). This is quite a bit more intensive when leasing, but I've found that I can squeeze maybe 10% more rent that way. For example, the 3 bedroom is probably worth 1300-1400/month, but I'll rent it for $500/room ($1500). For the individual renters, it is nice because it is much cheaper than any 1 bedroom/efficiency they could rent on their own. Cheers, Paul