All Forum Posts by: Sarah Buchanan

@Dan H. if you've been visiting Crazy Horse since 1995 you must have seen quite a change since that time!  It is definitely cool to see!

Thank you for the great advice. I will admit I have not yet done the BRRRR strategy but would like to! May I ask, how do you find your properties to BRRR? I have gone to more county foreclosure auctions than I can count, without success (people are way overpaying, IMO) and to date I've only done MLS and it's difficult to find good deals there. I'd love to hear where you find yours!! Thanks again for the tip- great advice!!

@Martin Grizzanti I have, in fact I own a rental in Portland, Oregon that I self manage and am part of a syndication in Florida.  I am not opposed to it but don't have many contacts/connections in other cities (yet)...

I am a new investor, investing PT/evenings (still have my day job) in my second year of buy and hold investing with 2 rental properties so far. I am curious as to what ROI people are expecting and actually seeing right now. I know the podcasts talk about "2% rule", 10% min ROI, cap rate 10, etc. and those numbers sound amazing. I am sure people who are well-connected, seasoned investors investing full-time/with a team are able find those deals, but I have yet to find one in my 2 years of looking (the 2 I've bought are about at the 1% rule / about 8% ROI, cap rate 7ish. My second year in I'm doing fine, cash flowing, but I'm wondering if I should get more selective. I don't want to buy a bad deal, but I also don't want to pass up decent deals waiting forever for the "perfect" one to come along. I believe in order to find the best deals I will have to quit my day job and do a lot more hustling, and I'd like to get a bit more experience under my belt first. My goal is to quit and do more hustling by the end of this year, but in the meantime, what is a REASONABLE ROI? For those of you with more experience, what ROI and cap rates are you seeing now, and did you start with lower rates of return? Newbies like me, what is working for you? Thanks for any help you can offer!

It is free for everyone to attend. :)

To my knowledge, yes.  I wasn't able to make the last one so I don't have info on the next.  I usually receive the email about it just a day or two in advance, but it's generally the 3rd Sat of the month at 9am at the Zeal Center!

Also - South Dakota is a 1 bite state meaning the dog's vicious propensity is established after only 1 attack - but sadly Animal Control here is a joke!!  We reported it right away, took them several hours to come.  They quarantined the dog for 10 days to check for rabies and that was it.  We asked if they would put the dog down or remove it - no.  They said "It depends on the viciousness of the attack"... I'm not sure how multiple bites to the face are not considered vicious so maybe it has to be a fatal attack?  

Haha thank you for the humor, friends!  It has been a stressful few weeks so I appreciate your helpful comments and humor! :)  

The dog is a cane corso.  We allowed it, with the requirement that our tenant carried a specific coverage on her renters insurance for it, because it is not one of the breeds specifically excluded by our insurance (such as pit bull, bull dogs, etc).  In doing further research since the incident however (as a new landlord, in hindsight I realize I should have researched it sooner) we have learned that it's such a rare breed that it's not on most insurance companies radar, but is just as vicious/ferocious with a history of many fatal attacks and should be excluded.  I'll be notifying my insurance company of this, will update my lease to allow me to immediately revoke consent (current lease requires 30 days) and will obviously be much more selective about what pets are allowed in this rental in the future.  In a perfect world I would not allow pets but every single applicant I've had for this property has been a dog owner...

@Richard Sherman Thank you for your reply.  Yes, thankfully she does have renter's insurance which specifically covers the dog.  But I still want the dog out.

Two weeks ago my tenant's dog (listed on her lease) attacked my husband as he dropped by to deliver a Christmas basket (no good deed goes unpunished?).  Jumped up and went for my husband's throat/neck but fortunately my husband was able to duck and instead got bit in the face and mouth (rather than a potentially fatal neck wound).  My husband turned to run and was then bit on the backside twice before tenant could restrain dog.  Authorities were notified and dog was quarantined for 10 days but is now back at the house.  After discussing with our attorney, we decided to withdraw consent for the animal as this places us at risk of liability for potential future attacks, since we know now how vicious the animal can be, even when unprovoked.  Our lease gives us the option to revoke consent for the animal, providing 30 days notice to the tenant.  We have offered her 30 day notice to get rid of him, as well as the option to terminate the lease early without penalty if she doesn't want to get rid of the dog (which we don't have to do, but are doing so out of kindness).   I have emailed, texted, called and sent a certified letter, but still no response from tenant whatsoever.  We are obviously hesitant to go to the house in person out of fear of future attacks but I know hiring an eviction is expensive, and we are not to that stage yet - just want to communicate with her on her plans.  Attorney says we can threaten to sue for injuries from dog if tenant is uncooperative, but we want to avoid that, and an eviction, if at all possible.  Any suggestions?  I am honestly shocked that our tenant is being so avoidant/elusive, with how kind we are being given the circumstance!!  We could certainly go after her just for my husband's medical bills, but instead are being kind and understanding - but getting very frustrated at her lack of reply!

SF REI meet up this Sat, Nov 17th at Zeal Center for Entrepeneurship 2329 N Career Ave in Sioux Falls from 9-11am. Hope to see you there!