All Forum Posts by: Ryan Pyle

It's fairly inexpensive to send a local exterminated over. My guy charges $36 for ants, reaches, rodents or whatever other pests my tenants have attracted. I pay for it. I don't offer it up, so most deal with it themselves. However, there are those tenants who are helpless fools and I look at it as one more opportunity to make them think I walk on water. I kind of think of it as a marketing expense.

I use a local company called Central Security. He charges $450 for a hard wired install plus $250 for a cellular modem that we take out once the property becomes occupied and we use it in the next vacant property.

The monitoring is $15 a month. The tenants pay that if they want it. So far they have all opted to pay the monitoring. They pay it directly to me.

I have over 50 low income units, most are sfr, half are S8. The key is to screen your tenants and then treat them like gold once they are in. I have found that if you treat a good low income tenant well, they will stay for a long time. By treating them well, I mean respond to maintenance calls immediately. I do not mean letting them slide on payments or treat your house poorly. You have to lay down the law and let them know that if they treat you well you will be the best landlord they've ever had. For the most part they are used to slumlords and think that we are all slumlords. If you prove them wrong they will be great tenants.

I have found the toughest part of low income investing is break ins and vandalism during vacancy. Hence my efforts to keep good tenants in place. I have started putting alarms in my sfr's when they go vacant. It's way cheaper then replacing plumbing and fixing all the damage done from the break-in.

I'm into box pressed lately. I really like the Oliva Master Blend Select, CAO Brazilia, and Rocky Patel 10th Anniversary. For non box pressed, I love the Ashton VSG, Don Pepin Garcia JJ, and Rocky Patel Sungrown. I really enjoy smoking with a good craft beer. Hmmm...I think I know what I'm doing tonight!

Historically its been about 1 in 40. Mind you, most can be disqualified over the phone. I'm only showing to buyers that have a good shot at getting a loan.

I should also note that the Rent to Own signs are not the only way I'm marketing. I also have a For Sale sign, flyers and Craigslist, all of which point to my website where I have video tours, photos, etc. The Rent to Own signs are just a tactic in the overall marketing plan that allow me to reach another pool of potential buyers.

He did. The $27k wasn't all his money. That's how much he wants to put down on the house. His credit is now clear and we are waiting for his scores to come up.

Just thought I'd put this out there for those of you having trouble moving houses. This is a tactic that I don't particularly like to use for many reasons, but it works better than any other tactic I've seen for flipping houses. I use this tactic to SELL houses, not rent or rent to own. The goal is to fish for people who for one reason or another can't get off their butts to learn how to buy a house. They are qualified, maybe just not super self-motivated. These buyers will require more hand-holding and more work than traditional MLS buyers, but when things are slow I guess you have to work a little harder, right?
I put a "Rent to Own" sign in the yard. When people call, I say, "I am looking for someone who ultimately wants to own the house. I am going to put you in front of a lender to see when we can get you qualified to buy. Hopefully the answer will be that you can buy right now. If you can't buy right now we will put together a plan revolving around when the loan officer says you should be ready to go. As long as it is within 6 months, we should be able to do something for you." They will then ususally ask what the qualifications are. You'd be surprised how many people think you need 20% down and a 760 score to buy right now. When I tell them 3.5% down and a 600 score, most are pleasantly surprised to find out they are closer than they thought to being able to buy.

This script also weeds out those that are not serious about buying and those who know they won't be able to qualify due to bad credit, bk, foreclosure, etc.

The Rent to Own signs will generate a ton of calls, and you will spend a lot of time weeding through the garbage.

I hope someone finds this useful. Let me know if you have questions.

Oh yeah, I WILL do a Rent to own in some situations, but they are rare. I just did one for a guy who has a 577 score and the only thing holding him back is a $2,000 state tax lien that he is paying off. My lender assured me that once that is cleared up he should be fine. I took a $27,000 option fee on a $90,000 house for a 6 month lease option. The guy really wants the house and I am on him to make sure that he follows through. Just thought I'd throw that in the show that I'm not false advertising.

Robyn Thompson's Retailing for Cash. I have been following it to a tee for years now. Her "Kiss Your Landlord Goodbye" ad is still my #1 pull on craigslist.

I second Bryan's comment above about John T. Reed. I think his material is the best in terms of real-world advice. It's the kind of stuff you'd get if you took a seasoned investor out to lunch.

For commercials deals I've been pursuing three angles. First, I've been netwworking with local commercial brokers. Basically, I call them and tell them what I'm looking for. That puts me on their radar and they send me any listings they get.

Second, I bought the raw property database from out county auditor. I regularly query it looking for.opportunity. For instance I recently sent an "I buy apartments" postcard to everyone who owned an 8 - 30 unit building and was behind on their property taxes. That generated lots of calls qnd has started many discussions.

Lastly has been the good old Mls. I just put a 6 unit under contract for $35k that needs $5k in rehab and generates $2400 per month in rent. It is a fannie reo.

The commercial world is.way more about networking. That's been my biggest finding.

I spend all of my time selling and looking for more deals. I'm also trying to start flipping commercial properties and have been spending most of my time looking at deals in that space. I feel like a noobie all over again!