All Forum Posts by: Sebby Gabre Madhin

@Brooks Rembert. I think laminate is the OPPOSITE of tenant proofing. Only thing worse is maybe carpet. For tenant proofing the way to go is lvt (vinyl)... for tenant and pet proofing we tend to go with tile.

Start reading all that you can get your hands on, go to the library if you can’t buy books comfortably, start with Rich dad, poor dad. Kiyosaki will tell you that making money isn’t really about starting off with a great job or a lot of money. 

Join local real estate meetups and talk to as many people as possible.  Get on Bigger pockets and get as much out of the free content as possible. 

I can pretty much guarantee you that, as a CNA, not only CAN you use real estate/househacking, then moving on to owning other properties, but you will pretty much HAVE to do something creative to elevate yourself. 

While you are spending the time learning and saving, also clean up your credit. You don't have to have a great score to get a FHA type loan, but good credit is vital going forward for everything that you need to do.

@Manish Verma

Equity title (located in Lakeland but do work all over Florida)—they so a LOT of work with investors, can handle many creative situations.

Another one is PCS title, the owner is Joe Seagle, who is also one of the best real estate lawyers.

@Stan Butler. I love our landlordlocks system, have been using them for almost three years. We also do the deadbolt with the plain knobs. No tenant complaints, no lockouts, 30 seconds to change cores. They are not cheap $35 ish for deadbolt and about $15 for cores but well worth it.

We have been able to flex up as our portfolio has grown, and process has been pain free. Good customer service.

builders risk policies to cover you during the rehab etc period.  My agent offers either 3 or 6 month policy.  In our experience, they tend to be much higher than the routine rental insurance, and are fully earned at the time of starting the policy (in other words, if you buy 6 month policy but finish rehab and sale in 4 months, you do not get a refund).

still worth it, just build it in to expected rehab costs.

We have some tenants who deposit directly into our bank account. This does have some limitations in that cannot stop them from doing partial payments, which could be a problem if they are facing eviction, etc— but if this is an issue then I guess can just return the money to them without jeopardizing your eviction time frame etc, as long as you have clearly said that no partial payments accepted. We just give them our bank acct number and they fill out deposit slip at the closest Bank of America. We have them shot us a text when they make the deposit. As for security of your account number...EVERYBODY that you’ve ever given a check to has the account number.

This is a great benefit. Thanks!

I like many of the suggestions above and agree that it will probably cost around $3000. I very want to emphasize the fact that, as with many tenant related improvements, making something foolproof is sometimes as important as anything else you do. You MUST make it so they are forced to turn on the fan whenever they turn on the light and should actually check during your periodic inspections that they haven’t disconnected the fan motor. Tenants don’t give a crap about keeping your place dry and seem to hate that fan like the plague....

A friend of mine who LOVES to do lease options does this for all her lease option tenants to help build up their credit so that it helps them qualify for a loan when it’s time to exercise their option to buy. She uses erentpayment and they report to all 3 credit bureaus. It costs the tenant $3 per month which they are apparently happy to pay and no hassle at all for her. Even for non lease options I think it would be a nice marketing tool, although we have not yet used it. (Of course erentpayment had that glitch several months back and people lost money but apparently that has been sorted out).

I’m just beginning to explore the concept of notes investing (tired landlord after only 3 years, so doubt I’ll be in that aspect of RE much longer! LOL)—and I really loved your podcast. TONS of great information, but especially loved the idea of notes investing as not only profitable, but also an ethical endeavor—Actually going into it with the goal of keeping people in their homes by dealing with them compassionately rather than going into it with the goal of foreclosing. Just great.