All Forum Posts by: Robert Beardsley

although alot of Agent will tell you that it is pointless to not use an agent i can tell you from experience that is not true. i save thousands on a deal because of it. you just have to tell the sellers agent you want to put an offer in with out an agent and request that they lower there commission to make your deal more appealing some agent will do this some wont. i normally see it as a win win as the agent can get paid more, the seller can profit more and you can get a better deal all at the same time. the only thing you lose out on his that the seller agent is going to be biased on there clients side but if you are comfortable with negotiation your on your own then its great way to go. 

i would say first step is to look at what you can do to improve cash flow. are rents at market rate? what is your property manager charging you? where the issues you had to fix one time fixes or atleast wont have to do again for a long time? do you pay utilities? if so is there a way you can make the renters take them or lower the cost to your self? insulation, maybe switch out bulbs to energy efficient bulbs, new toilets can cut down on water. do they pay electric but you pay gas? heat pumps might help switch that over to them and extend the life of your furnace.

i would say before selling look at what you can do to improve you number even if it means spending alittle more now for some fixes. if there is nothing you can do then its time to look at selling taking the lose and using this as a learning experience. from what iv seen turnkey properties from website like that never(mostly) do that great

i would say first step is to look at what you can do to improve cash flow. are rents at market rate? what is your property manager charging you? where the issues you had to fix one time fixes or atleast wont have to do again for a long time? do you pay utilities? if so is there a way you can make the renters take them or lower the cost to your self? insulation, maybe switch out bulbs to energy efficient bulbs, new toilets can cut down on water. do they pay electric but you pay gas? heat pumps might help switch that over to them and extend the life of your furnace.

i would say before selling look at what you can do to improve you number even if it means spending alittle more now for some fixes. if there is nothing you can do then its time to look at selling taking the lose and using this as a learning experience. from what iv seen turnkey properties from website like that never(mostly) do that great

with time comes change. you can ether figure out how to profit from this situation or you can fight it and lose. this might take some jobs but will create alot of other jobs. unfortunately thats how life is. people are tired of dealing with Realtors that dont respond or take for ever. Zillow found a problem and are aiming to create a service/Product to fix it. pulling your listing wont do much as there they have enough market share to handle a small pull back. from my understanding the average landlord is not a realtor. people will still want realitors. can you go work for Zillow? can your switch course and go work on maintaining the massive amount of data zillow will need to do to take over? can you create a product to sell to zillow?  this is my 2 cents. 

im going to go against the grain and say instead of of maxing your ira take the tax hit now open up a brokerage account and buy into some funds. this will make your money easily accessible for when you find a deal. i used to put as much as i could in my 401k. now i only do 6% and invest as much as i can in real estate/my own stock pick/funds. i personally dont plan on working until my 60's so rather find use to help me retire as soon as possible.

if you keep it and rent it i would manage it your self. managing a single family is fairly easy. and will save you $160 a month. you can pay a lawyer to make you a lease or get one from bigger pockets. if you worry about evicting some one wait until that time come call a lawyer and pay them to do it. i wouldnt sell unless you have another use for that cash

why dont you cut out the selling agent and just pay a buyer agent. seem like that would be the easiest way around it all with out handicapping your self from more buyers. regardless of what you think, most people dont feel comfortable buying properties with out a buyer agent. if you feel comfortable not using an agent on your side then list it on zillow offer 2-3% to buyer agent and you cut one side out which seems to be your goal.

if possible i would do natural gas its fairly cheap. but please do not put electric base boards. your tenants may want to find out where you live and rob you. i just took the ones i had in a unit out. tenant was on old lease from previous owner. my first bill was 500$. for more information it is a 2 bedroom second floor newer windows and about 950 sq.ft. 

well thats good, for now. im sure it will be sooner then later.

do you know if this affects south portland area also?