All Forum Posts by: Sarah Ottesen

Wow!  I am excited for you!  Regarding the questions about landlording, I first want to ask you a question, do you want to spend your time collecting rents and managing the property(ies)?  If so, great!  I would suggest, like others, that you become familiar with the landlord/tenant laws.  As a landlord you have to be organized and document, document, document.  You have to have policies in place so that you can show the tenants you are being fair when you refuse someone to rent the place and approve another. I believe Bigger Pockets has some resources on suggested policies. 

The city where we just recently invested (Dubuque, IA) actually has a required class that they make landlords take if they have a rental in the city.  I may be nerdy, but the class was fantastic!  It provided a lot of information about the rules a landlord needs to know to minimize the chance of getting sued by a tenant.  It also provided information regarding the city's expectations of you as a landlord and their expectation of your tenants.  Check with your city to see if they may have similar resources.

In the end, to be honest, we decided to hire a property manager.  I feel really good about our decision.  This gives us time to pursue tasks that we enjoy.  It is not that we are trying to avoid the 2:00am calls from the tenants, it is just that hiring a company that has all of the policies in place is comforting to us!

I am excited for you! 

Hello Austin,

I am a bit new to Bigger Pockets, but have invested in a duplex and a 4-plex.  

For general knowledge, watch Bigger Pockets' youtube channel.  They have, now, over 200 shows!  They provide great information and can really get you inspired to dream and act!

Also, I would recommend reading some real estate books.  There are plenty of great books out there, including some that Bigger Pockets have.  Besides those on Bigger Pockets, The ABCs of Real Estate Investing is a really simple book and has some very practical exercises that you can complete when you are analyzing different properties.  Learning to analyze the properties, will save you a lot of time when you are considering different deals.

Another thing you may want to research is your cities zoning laws.  Then, if you are looking at a particular property, you might be able to flag some items that may produce a problem (for example, some cities' zoning laws require a set number of parking spots...if the property doesn't have it, the new owner may be responsible on getting it taken care of) or you might find something that produces an opportunity (for example, the home is single family, but is in a zone that allows multiple family.  With this, you may be able to make some changes in the future to the property to make it a multi-family and, therefore, increase your rent income or your sale.)

If you can, just start the process!  You will learn a lot just by doing it!