All Forum Posts by: Shelley F.

I would ask a few different contractors and walk around with them as they look at your place...and listen to their comments. Compare the quotes and what they include. After you do this for a while you will be able to walk into a new property and think to yourself what it might cost...and be fairly close.

A few of my deals were found with real estate agents...and now one actively looks for stuff he knows might fit my criteria. My best deals were found while literally 'walking the dog' and I put these together with just myself and a title company. Recently one of my mentors had a place that he knew I would like, and he also knew I could close the deal. There was a realtor in the middle though. We both decided that we would go ahead and work with the realtor...and I have to say Im so glad I did! My properties arent local to me, but in small towns a realtor is a great resource ...handymen, plumbers, etc. I think this deal went as smooth as it did because the realtor did a great job.

And now...I have one more realtor looking out for me  ;)

I should add that my places are all in small towns...and even if I had a property manager the word would get out that I owned the place...

If I were in a bigger city it might be different

All of my tenants know that I am the owner. I have worked hard to be seen as 'fair and firm'...but that didnt come easy. Its known that my places are nice and clean and safe, that I will respond promptly if there is a maintenance need, and that I will enforce my lease.

It wasnt always this way. I learned a lot through the school of hard knocks, but with good local boots on the ground its working well.

All I can add to this thread is a similar experience I recently had. I purchased a house that had a tenant in place. Most of my houses are 'distressed' in some fashion and this one was no exception. Owner lived on other coast (I am in California) and had a sister in law 'managing' the place for him. It was in really really sad shape and had been through a succession of tenants abusing it. The owner was sick and tired of worrying about it and was tired of being a landlord. Since it was just a block from a few of my other places I took it on with seller financing on generous terms.

 Thats when I met the sister in law...and the fun started. I had specified house to be vacant on close of escrow. Tenant refused to get out...and I was told that he was moving to Oregon at some point. I tried to negotiate a new rental agreement for a short period but the sister in law(manager) wouldnt give me the tenants name or his contact info.

 I drove up there(its about 3 hours) and delivered the information personally. Written. Tenant agreed to a short term rental agreement, and we closed escrow.

 Thats when I learned that he was a paranoid schitzophrenic...and the 'manager' considered him a dear friend and me very evil for wanting the place empty. I ended up with a 'cash for keys' and on the last day they were to move tenant phoned me and said he had no money for gas! I sent a friend over and he reported back that they had the trucks all packed and just didnt have gas money, so he gave them a hundred bucks and they gave him the keys and were on their way.

Lucky for me the manager had been renting the place at about a third of market value, so even with my hundred bucks for gas it wasnt too big of a hit. 

Then the fun began with the trash out! Although I had specified all trash gone and broom swept that didnt happen. I was just glad to have them gone.

A year later its one of my best rentals...its clean and cute and I have great tenants in it that love the place and care for it as if its their own. 

Just keep on keepin' on...this too shall pass.

(and as a side note...from that I learned that 'vacant at close of escrow....means just that)

My properties are also in California...but far far removed from the Santa Barbara area and expense. I have found that by scouring Craigslist I have been able to make my homes look far better than the competition, for a similar price. Look at inventive ways to make you home look better , and as others have said, aim for the higher market price.

Im in for it too! 

I invest primarily in that area as well. Look into Quincy, nice college. 

We went through exactly this on our personal residence. This is in a semi rural area .The driveway was shared with our place and the next door house....and both had been owned by the seller of ours For many many years. The seller moved from our house to the one next door. One day I noticed workers in the drive and asked them 'whats up?' They told me they were there to close the driveway. After conversing with the sellers (now next door neighbors) it was determined that they had decided that they were just 'lending' us the drive. To enclose the drive would have meant that we had no access. We consulted an attorney, and at his suggestion researched the chain of title way back to empty farmland. Turns out our deed, which had half of the drive, was recorded first and therefore had priority. We then hired a surveyor but since the road had been widened many times they were unable to find the original markers.After a lot of time and expense it was determined that the property deeds overlapped. They eventually agreed and signed over a quitclaim for the overlap, thus clearing up both of our deeds.

I should mention at this time I was very happy to have title insurance! This whole process cost over 20k (this was the early 90's) and the title insurance paid that...and it was promptly paid out in attorney fees.

I just found this post. I was  looking at my portfolio and realized that my best performing rentals are all mobile /manufactured homes sitting on their own lot. The best is in a small town on a lot in a neighborhood where several of my other rentals are. I am in the process (goes to escrow today) of purchasing another, a doublewide on its own acre lot in another small town. And yet another is in the works. I also had an older singlewide in a park that was NOT a success story, but not the mobiles fault, mine. If I see one in my area now I am actively interested.