All Forum Posts by: Steven McLarty

There are no guarantees with tenants.  I try and get a look inside their vehicles during the interview.  It the inside is a mess and full of old McDonald sacks then chances are they will care for the house in the same manner. 

Have them looked at.  Prioritize the damage by property and make the business decision based on your situation.  I don't know what your policy allows.  I have three properties in the Tulsa area so hail storms are not rare as they are not in Texas.  Our policy rolls all these properties into one event if the same event damaged all the properties, ie. one deductible.  If this happens to us, God forbid, and all properties were damaged, I would replace each properties roof if necessary.    

Good luck.

The numbers are not attractive to me.  How large is the house and how many bedrooms.  For a $210K home that rents for $1,500, I would look elsewhere or raise the rent. 

We have two rental homes. One paid off but needs some TLC. We just purchased another using cash so we could activate another paid off property that will generate over $1300 in straight cash. The property we just purchased using cash will generate about $1K. The reason we did this was to start the ball rolling on our strategy. Once we complete the rehab we will take an equity loan so we can buy more properties. If successful, we will never use our own money again and grow our rental portfolio. Our investments were primarily in the stock market. We did not lose money pulling from our accounts to buy the 3rd. That money was only moved into RE. So we didn't lose that money. We relocated in into an investment that will push a 10% COC return if the numbers pan out. While doing that, we are leveraging our paid off property and the equity into more properties.

My point is that it depends on the strategy.  We do not regret using cash.  We are using it offensively. 

I add an additional $250 for the deposit and add an extra $25 per pet per month.  Some homes, I do not allow pets at all - homes that I have recently upgraded carpet, flooring, etc.

We are in Broken Arrow.  Welcome, you are in the right place from what I can tell. New as well and completely acronym ignorant.  All the advice provided above by @William Keasling and @Bradley Gray is right on the mark.  Ask questions, participate, learn from webinars.  That is what I am trying to do and felt like I was asking dumb questions only to get real and excellent advice.  By the way, I am still lost but having a ball!

@Mark Millich

First, thank you for your service. Second, you are already WAY ahead taking the steps you are at your age. You are in the right place at BP. I concur with @ Joe Chirdon - Avoid over paying! Find good deals and be patient in doing so. While I do not know your market, we are also new to the REI world but I am 53. It is very frustrating because the best deals go very fast. We have three properties generating solid cash flow but not where we want to be in the end. Our goal is to completely replace our income. I highly suggest participating in the webinars and using the calculators on every deal. It will give you a piece of mind at the very least but it is incredibly important to know your numbers! Never proceed on a deal without knowing your numbers. Congratulations. You will do great I have no doubt.

Best of luck!

Thank you everyone!  Your input is very appreciated.  The risk of not having the insurance isn't worth it so we will buy! 

We are closing on our 3rd property on the 23rd.  We have not purchased a new property in a 10 years or more so please forgive my ignorance.  One of the items we are being asked about is title insurance.  What are your thoughts?  Good investment or not?  Truly appreciate your input.

Congratulations!  We are kind of in the same boat.  Always looking for good deals and that is difficult.  I am curious about the W-2 and 1099 statement.  Can you elaborate?