All Forum Posts by: Joshua Feit

Good morning BP!

I have a question about rental properties and junk mail. One of my rental properties (and perhaps all of them -- ???) receives quite a bit of junk mail addressed to me. I assume I ended up on mail lists because of the public records generated at closing.

Any way to prevent this junk mail from reaching the rental properties I own? How do you deal with this issue?

Thank you for your assistance!

Hi! Josh from Atlanta here -- I'm about to complete my first year of buy/hold investing in May. I have financed a triplex and a single family this year through conventional banks, and if I can help it, I will try my best to NEVER do that again! I am self-employed, and even though I have a sparkly credit rating and plenty of savings to make the cut, meeting the underwriters' requests turned into an extra part-time job for several weeks. Not fun.

(The following is based on education I have received right here on BP, not experience. I am in the process of following my own advice right now...)

Search for 'portfolio lenders' in your local area. These are banks or private lenders that lend their own money instead of writing the loans and selling them off to bigger banks. I am told these in-house lenders will often be able to simply the process, as they only have to satisfy their own requirements, and not the requirements of the bigger banks that may eventually be buying the note.

The issue with finding 'portfolio lenders' is that just because a bank meets the definition, they may not even know the term. That makes it much more difficult to find these institutions. To locate portfolio lenders in my area, I am networking with other RE investors and making a lot of phone calls.

I wish you all the best with your new venture. Cheers!

Hi! Josh from Atlanta here. I'm a newer buy/hold investor, and I have found Rentometer to be a helpful tool in determining rental rates in my market. Like others here, I use several tools to gain an accurate perspective.

A great exercise is to look up the comps on Rentometer, Zillow, and CraigsList, make a list, and then go drive / walk the neighborhood. The combination of online research and the old 'boots on the ground' will do wonders for understanding rent values.

Bring along a few business cards to give to the neighbors you will inevitably meet and a pen to write down the phone numbers from the FSBO signs you will see.

I wish you all the best with your investments. Cheers!

@Joseph S. -- I join the others in thinking that this seller made up a lame excuse. My guess is that the seller wants to close quickly, and he does not want you to tie up the property on a long closing while your bank works through the loan details. If something goes south, the seller has lost all of that time.

Beyond that, underwriters from big banks have been known to throw all kinds of crazy contingencies into the mix, and the seller is probably interested in a simple, quick, and as-is sale.

That's my best guess. I'm rooting for you -- hope you get it (or another one that's even better). Cheers!

@Ronald Burgess -- Welcome to the BiggerPockets community! I am in my first year of investing, with seven doors in the metro Atlanta region.

Though I don't have any specific advice for investing in your market, I can tall you that I have learned more from the BP Podcast than from any other source. You should definitely listen to as many episodes as you can before placing any offers. The interviews are great individually, but the real magic is hearing the repeated concepts and observing the common threads. And hey, it is a free resource that you can listen to while you commute or drive around.

I wish you all the best with your new venture. Cheers!

Well, BP has spoken, and this new investor is listening! Thank you for your insight.

Two follow-up questions:

1) Could I get into legal trouble if I am unwilling to accept an application from this fellow (or from anyone in general)? I don't think he would cause any grief over this, but I am asking for the sake of my education?

2) I have heard a few interviewees on the BP podcast talking about hiring someone in their apartments to become their manager. I know this is a different situation, but there are a lot of similarities. Again, for the sake of learning, can you help me understand the differences between these two situations?

Thanks again!

Hello BP! Josh here, a buy/hold investor from Atlanta.

I have a young contractor who works with me on my properties' repairs and updates. He is reliable and does good work. I have just acquired a single-family home, and I had him tour the house with me to provide a quote on the deferred maintenance and repairs.

The next day (yesterday), he reached out to me to inquire about the rent. When I asked why, he said he was interested in living in the house.

We would not be bartering services. I would pay him market rates for his work (on this property and elsewhere), and he would pay market rent for the property.

Aside from thorough screening (a la the BP Ultimate Guide to Tenant Screening), are there other considerations I need to be aware of?

Thanks for helping me sort this through!

Josh here. I am a newer investor in the Atlanta area, and I my strategy is buying properties as long-term rentals. I don't have a lot of experience, but I can say that my seven units produce a lot more net cash each month than the original poster mentioned in his sample.

I also perceive a tremendous amount of value in tenants' rents paying for mortgages, which essentially builds equity without paying any money. I'm no expert, but steady wealth-building through buy/hold investing is an amazing value-add compared to the flipping business.

Ultimately, I perceive house flipping as an active business, while I understand buy/hold investing to be an investing strategy with the upsides of passive cash and automation.

Choosing a strategy has everything to do with goals, and steps toward the goals have everything to do with analysis.

Wishing everyone in the BP community many happy returns. Cheers!

@Mike Salisbury -- Josh here, a fellow Atlanta buy/hold investor. Newnan is a lovely town -- I have biked through on several occasions.

The simple answer to your question is that Google Voice is definitely available in Atlanta. The phone number on my business card (a 404 number)  is powered by Google Voice and forwards to my cell phone.

I'm sorry I don't have a solution for you, but I wanted to chime in as I am sure the service is available in our area.

I wish you all the best with your ventures. Cheers!

@Al Williamson -- what a great question! I have been considering adding AirBnB rentals to my portfolio. Considering turing some unused backyard space into a guest house. I have no experience with this, but it will be great to learn from those who have forayed into this business. What spaces are you considering renting in this manner?