All Forum Posts by: Christopher B.

My first house was a full gut. Roof, plumbing, electric, hvac, windows, new floorplan, etc. Everyones personality is different so I don't believe there is a standard type if rehab you should look for. If the numbers make sense go for it. 

The biggest thing I'd look for is area. Make sure you are in an area that can support your rehab. Every new investor I meet, especially wholesalers, are always finding cheap properties on crappy streets and trying to pass them off as deals. 

Jacob has excellent suggestions. 

Yes, find the real players and offer to work for free. Becoming an agent is a good idea IMO and could lead to some extra income, maybe eventually replace your full-time gig while offering my flexibility while in school. I personally worked for a property mgmt company and it was good experience. Use a lot of their same guidelines and processes for my own rentals now. At the end of the day you've got the right idea, take it from the book education and find a way to jump in and get your hands dirty. 

I have some policies with them. While I haven't been able to find anyone that can beat the rates, their customer service is pretty awful. I'm a pretty laid back, easy going southerner but have felt the need to light a fire under them on more than one occassion. I am worried what a claim would be like because of this so have looking for a new insurance company on my to do list. 

It is 4 units and you live in 1, manage it yourself. If you screen properly and set-up proper qualification criteria then stick to it you should find good tenants. Taking 2 months to find tenants is on you. You're too high for your unit or you aren't being proactive enough. My longest vacany in 8yrs is 2 months. It was the dead of winter and I honestly wasn't proactive. I was lazy. Finally I woke-up one day, kicked myself, jumped on it hard and had a tenant in the unit in less than a week. So get after it.

I post my rentals on craigslist, zillow (which posts to a handful of other sites as well), and a couple other places. I get a lot of contacts and weed through them in various ways to find the serious, properly qualified tenants. Craigslist is where most look, at least around here. You should be posting ads on craigslist 1-2x per day until it is rented. Respond to people quickly, have some questions to see if they woulf qualify, when they are moving, they're ok with your guidelines, and how serious they are looking. If everything checks out set-up an appt, I like to schedule open houses and appts back to back. This helps reduce time spent at the property, some people don't show, and etc. 

Since you have gone 2 months with a vacancy I'd move to 3x a days on craigslist; morning, afternoon, and evening until it's filled. Filling units is the most time consuming part of managing a rental. Outside of turnovers I spend 1-2hrs per month on my rentals.

As Mike said, managing yourself in the beginning is also a great way to learn the ropes. If you have no idea how it works then you will be ripe to get taken by a PM company and while I have never personally used on I have heard enough stories on here, from local investors, and even my own tenants to know you must be cautious with a PM company. 

 Haha, it's that easy. 

 Schools have changed A LOT since yours was in school. My GF currently works in a low income school out in the country and previously worked in special ed in an inner city school, as well as an elementary school in a high income area in town in the city. Each school has teachers and counselors trained for special ed and numerous programs to provide support for those that need it. In addition to having her doctorate she has her special ed certification and has worked in these programs herself in various capacities. So the modern school system is better at suppprting those students. I understand what you are saying though because my mother had learning disabilities, she struggled through school and simply was considered "dumb" she says. Things have changed since then though, which is fortunate to the children who need the help. 

I also handle closings myself when possible. I used a flat fee listing service on my last two houses and both buyers agents said they loved it. They felt dealing directly with me was more efficient, they both liked controlling all paperwork and aspects of the deal, and both stated it was one of smoothest deals they had done of late. I was worried agents would frown upon thd flat fee service but so far so good. 

It's not an insult if they don't agree with you... that's their number, you have yours. If you two, or in this case multiple investors, don't agree then you go separate ways and it's no big deal. If they made derogatory comments to you that would be considered an insult to your face. 

I used to live off $12K or less too. I live off abou $30K or less now, so still pretty modest compared to many. If you are young it's good to live within your means but you are only young once. Get out there and enjoy life a bit. You've got the rest of your life to make money so don't hesitate to spend time with friends, go on trips, and enjoy the world.

For your initial question it is surprising but true, too many live week to week. Even when I was "broke" I had access to more than $400 if needed. Quotes like this are why I have always argued that all high schools should have a mandatory financial education class for all students. 

What types of properties are these? Single family, 2-4 units, 5+? If they are 4 units or less you should be able to refi at 75% LTV, 30yr fixed. Some people say they get 80% but I haven't personally found that.