All Forum Posts by: Robert Leonard

The key questions @Ralph Dicharry are:

1. What flood zone? Flood zone (FZ) = X, I'm interested.  FZ = AE I'm not interested.

2. For those who will buy in AE,

a. Do you have an elevation certificate?

b. What is the lowest floor elevation of the house in relation the the base flood elevation (BFE)?

NOTE: if the lowest floor is below BFE, a determination of substantial damage by FEMA may require elevation! The lowest floor elevation is also used to determine the insurance rates on the property. So this is a critical piece of information for anyone considering buying flood damaged properties.

Any buyer needs to know the FEMA guidelines as well as the local ordinances that may add to FEMA requirements.

Hello and welcome to BP @Erik Zawacki!  Look forward to seeing you around BP and around town.  Keep listening to those podcasts, you can learn a lot from them.  Take note of the book recommendations, that's where I've learned a lot as well, from reading good books.

Hello and welcome to BP @Ramona Lazard!  You should meet @Shayla Fletcher @Sandra K Shirah and @Mark S.    They are a few other investors in your neck of the woods.

Shows up early for everything. Provides computer generated written estimates by email. Finishes ahead of schedule. Calls me before I call him.

Hello and welcome to BP @Tonya Meche!  I second @Bill Leonard (not related ;-) the podcasts are gold.

See you around BP and maybe at the next BP Lake Charles meetup scheduled for next month on the 24th.  You can find the details at meetup.com/bplakecharles !

The PM will need to agree to enforce the terms of your lease in the case that you already have a lease in place.  Some of your concerns sound like things that will be covered in your PM agreement that you have with your PM. Some things like inspections and their frequency may be covered in your lease and you will need to discuss that with your PM so there are clear expectations for each of you.

Welcome to BP @Derek Blough!  Yes, you can learn a lot here.  I highly recommend the podcasts.  Each one is like a short course on a strategy or two that might or might not work for you or in our market.  They keep the podcasts in an educational format by taking time to explain the jargon or real estate terms that come up in the interviews.

To make some local connections, I also recommend The RING/Baton Rouge REIA as a great place to start. Lots of good topics covered and active investors to connect with there.

See you around BP and around town! 

I think it all boils down to how the program is locally administered. You have local administrators who take a tenant or landlord "friendly" approach to inspections. I've considered using it a couple times but always found a "market" tenant at the same rates. The less number of people involved in my operations the better. I like simple.

Welcome to BP @Sean Edwards! If you want to meet other investors in Lafayette and start making some connections. We have a pretty good turn out expected this coming Monday at our local REI meetup found at meetup.com/bpacadiana. Hope to meet you there.

"A-B-C-D" ... are all made up classes as used here and only serve to confuse people trying to learn this business.  It is an oversimplification of what takes time to know about neighborhoods and properties.