All Forum Posts by: Curtis Mears

@Alec DeAngelo

Why would you pay $10k when all the info you need is available for free. It is on this site, YouTube, books, and other areas. Save your money and spend time researching str (unless you make so much money on your day to day job and have literally zero down time.)

@Pepper Bradford

Not sure why you would need a corp, bur I am not attorney. An LLC is used to shield your personal assets. I u as e an LLC to separate personal, but not necessary. If you are going to use LLC, should create before buying property so the title and everything is in LLC name.

@Matt Sora

Not sure the the answer as the question is all over the place. But, you do not need to form an LLC to own rentals. The LLC provides a measure of protection against lawsuits. But it also means having more bank accts and paying some fees to govt. What you really need to ask is, do I need to protect my personal assets from my business? If you have limited personal assets, may but need LLC. As for the questions of trusts, not sure why you would need this. You may want to talk to a professional to protect yourself.

@Matt VanGorder

I prefer cash flow. If you run the numbers correctly and it does cash flow, this is money in the bank. Appreciation is a hope in the future. What is going to happen in 3, 5, 10 years? Hell if I know, but if I cash flow that entire time and get some appreciation, I'll take that over losing money over the same time frame, then hope I make it up in the end when I sell.

@Jewel B.

I went through the same thought process many years ago. I decided to volunteer with habitat for humanity. I have been doing it now for 6 years and have gained valuable experience. You probably will not get HVAC, electric or plumbing experience, but probably roofing, siding, windows, cabinets, flooring, wall builds and painting (some of it depends on your local habitat as some work will be contracted out). Just the general understanding of how a house is built from slab to final paint is great. Having said this, I still use contractors at times.

@Evan Alexakos

Not books, but volunteering at habitat really helped me understand how houses are built. It is definitely made me more confident in doing minor repairs.

First question, how does going from 900 to 1900 not an issue for anyone? That being said, you need to raise the rents to market. I would not take small steps as even raising 500 per month will probably not work, so do it and get it over with. I would not explain to the tenants, I would send my usual renewal with rent increase email. If the tenants get upset, then I would explain how they have been getting a huge discount for how many years. It will be interesting how they take it, because my guess is they will not find any rents close to where they are now. So expect them to be difficult as they will be in a bad situation.

I raise rents every year, but generally only by 25 to 50 per month. The exception is this last year as rents skyrocketed so I am raising them by 100.

@David Lund

It depends on the adversity, but for tenant issues, have policies in place and follow through the process. For other issues, take time to get to the root of the issue, then deal with it.

@Kaira Resch

What does the lease say about this. I include in my lease a statement that in this case, they are not responsible for rent, but I am not responsible for their accomodations.

@Steve Tse

Are the requests justified? If the issues they brought up were actually issues, then they are justified to ask for repairs. If the issues are so minor that they should do them, the ntou may need to educate about what is your responsibility vs what is theirs.