All Forum Posts by: Shannon Smith

Hey Felipe, If you're on Facebook check out Lend a Hand Handyman. He's in the Macon area and I know he's done some work for another investor in the area that I know.

I self-manage ours, but if I ever make the transition to using a PM, I will use Real Property Management (RPM) Vesta. I know the owners and they are good guys who I respect and feel are trustworthy.  

Seasoned & New Investors in Macon!  Please join us for a Wealth Creation Thru Real Estate workshop where we will discuss key strategies and financing tips to help you on your journey of building wealth with Real Estate Investments.  This is a FREE event!

Hey Cody, I lived in Macon for 15 years… we have since moved our primary residence to Forsyth for the Monroe Co schools. Are your children elementary age? If so and your plan is to be in Macon, I’d strongly consider selling the land and using your profits to buy a townhouse on a street like Braxton Dr bc that is zoned Springdale which is the best elementary school in Macon. There are other cute little streets with 2 bedroom townhouses such as Wesleyan Way etc that, if I’m not mistaken, are also zoned for Springdale. Your kids would have to share a room, but if you have 2 and they’re still relatively young that is doable.  My advice if you’re planning to stay in Macon would be to apply for Ace’s lottery every year. If just one of your kids gets in then the sibling automatically does, too.  Great charter school and you wouldn’t have to worry about Macon’s middle/High schools. You could take advantage of being a first time buyer and not have to put 20% down, and then when you move on you could hold the townhouse as an investment.  As I was reading your situation, I tried to think what I would do if I were in your shoes. Hope my ideas help you.

@Zachary Ware, the only other one I have personally used is called Appfolio.  I used it briefly while being an interim Property Manager for a 60-unit apartment complex. That was serveral years ago, but I remember really liking it. I could text tenants through the program if they had not paid rent yet, or if there was an announcement that needed to go out to all the residents (such as a the laundry room receiving repairs or anything pertaining to common areas) and, overall, I just remember it being really user friendly.  It worked well for the Property Management company I was helping out at the time, but they have hundreds of units. When I looked into, it was just more expensive than what I needed for the small handful of properties I had at the time.  I mentioned the other day the little bit of time between payments being made and the deposit actually hitting my account with RentRedi-- I have received all payments in my account as of today (the 10th).  BiggerPockets usually has a promocode available for you try RentRedi for your first month for super cheap ($1 I think it usually is) so if you decide to give it a try, definitely see if there's a promo code you can take advantage of. 

I started using RentRedi last year. The main reason I started using it was for rent collection. What's great about it is your tenants can pay on the platform and they can set up automatic payments. They can even, if need be, pay you rent with a credit card. There is a box you can check to have automatic email reminders sent to your tenants reminding them that they're rent is due beginning on the first and for each day after that they still haven't paid. The only downside is that there is a little delay from when rent is paid until RentRedi initiates the funds be deposited into your account. My tenants are good about paying on or before the 5th, today is the 8th and although the transfer has been intiated, I am still waiting on some of my rent payments to reach my account. Not a big deal, really, unless you get into a situation where your account is running a little lean. The feature I like the most about RentRedi is the accounting piece. You can sign up for REI Hub which is the name of the accounting feature through your RentRedi account. There is a small monthly fee to utilize this feature, but I found it makes my life easier when it comes time for taxes because you link your business credit card or checking account to it so keeping up with expenses (write offs) is much easier.

Hey @Avrom W. Smith, I see you're interested in Macon. I've got a few properties there if you'd like to connect.  

Hey @Priscilla Z.!  For me, initially it was that I wanted to be my own boss. After years of getting my Bachelor's in order to "get a good job," it turned out that I didn't really like working for other people. LOL details.  2 of the 3 companies that I worked for went through buy outs while I was employed by them and the stress of job security drove me crazy. Now that my husband and I have 3 girls, I am like you in that the time and money freedom allow me to be a really present mom. I'm considering homeschooling my girls next year and I feel fortunate to have the ability to even have that option.  Like you, I have also been able to provide my parents with a home-- My personal house has a full live in basement with full kitchen, dining room, living room, master/master bath and half bathroom with a separate entrance.  My intent for purchasing it was to eliminate their mortgage/bills so that my dad could retire. We purchased this home Aug 2020 and by Aug 2023, my Dad will turn 65 and he'll be able to retire.

Hi Angela, welcome to Bigger Pockets! If I were in your shoes wanting to get started, I would pursue house hacking. You can either buy a single family home and rent out the rooms or you can buy up to 4 units (either duplex, triplex, or quad) and live in one unit while renting out the others. I've always read that first time home buyers can purchase up to 4 units using an FHA loan with as little as 3.5% for your down payment.

You mentioned interest in STR-- you could get one unit set up as STR and then based on how it performs decided whether STR is the best strategy for the other units.

Here is a link regarding house hacking for you: 

House Hacking: What Is It, How to Start, and Strategies for Success (biggerpockets.com)

Good Luck!

@Felipe Rivera You're welcome!  Best of luck to you as you narrow down your search. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.