All Forum Posts by: Robert Leonard

Erin, I hope our (mine and Darren's) experiences are helpful to you in your decision making process. Real estate, after all, is very local. There's a whole lot of it that's similar or even the same no matter where you are, but attitudes about what people value and what they expect is often tied to local customs and history. I hope you find some of this dialogue helpful to your
situation. Matt's advice about getting the proper permits is the right first step, no matter where you are.

The devil is in the details, but this is not a "too good to be true" deal. You didn't mention who will fund the repairs and/or manage the rehab if you take the partner route? He should ask you to sign a nondisclosure agreement and show you the details that support the numbers so you can do your own analysis. From there, you decide if his numbers are valid and take it or leave it. If the numbers are good, he won't have a problem wholesaling that deal.

The other part of what I wanted to say was you can defeat these scammers by setting up a Google alert for your vacant property addresses. It may get time consuming if you have a whole lot of properties, but this is a task any good assistant can perform. Set up a Google alert for your vacant property addresses and if someone posts an add for your property to try to scam some unsuspecting tenant, you can be alerted about it before people start trying to move-in to your property.

Wow, there aren't enough landlords around here that make people fill out an application. Usually when I tell them I have an application to fill out with a fee, they say "I'll take it home and fill it out and bring it back to you" ... and I never hear from them again! I call that my 5 cent solution for bad tenants! They go and deal with easier targets (who call themselves landlords but don't even have an application) and it costs me 5 cents (the cost of a copy) to get rid of them!

@Darren Sager, point taken. Yours were built as duplexes and there are probably more duplexes in the area that are all inhabited by people looking for similar living conditions. You have a more compatible use with more compatible neighbors. My comments are specific to properties that people try to change to duplexes amongst SFR properties. I meant my point to be the occupants are less compatible, not less desirable.

I tell them I will notify the tenant I select on a certain date. On that day, they can call the line that I use for information and messages and I change my vacancy message to a message that says the property is no longer available and that the tenant selected was notified. "Thank you for your interest in our property. We look forward to the opportunity to help you in the future."

I tell tenants up front. "I rent on a competitive risk basis. I don't rent to the first person that gives me a good application, I rent to the tenant that is the best applicant at the end of my showing period." You are the landlord, it's your decision, based on your criteria. As long as you follow fair housing rules, and don't use race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap in your criteria, it is your decision. A person with an attitude problem is not a protected class.

Hey guys, I'm an investor here in Lafayette. I'm sure it's possible to do wholesales, but I haven't done it yet either. If you can make money flipping houses, which a lot of people do around here, you can make money wholesaling. I think the issue is market saturation. There are so many RE investors that few, if any, investors are getting more properties than they want to flip or buy/hold.

I see people try this all the time who end up making a mistake. Sure, it sounds good to think of getting two tenants in one building for more than you can make off one. BUT, you will have much higher turnover and the expenses that come with that with the duplex as opposed to a SFR home where tenants move in and feel at home for multiple years at a time in their own space. With a duplex you will deal with a much less stable and more transient clientele.

My main concerns are addressed in my application and screening process. I don't worry about inspecting my tenants - many of us have very different opinions of what "clean" is. I do periodic maintenance - like checking/replacing A/C filters, smoke detector batteries and any other routine maintenance. Otherwise, the main thing I inspect is my account to see that the rent was deposited on time!