All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Let me preface this by saying my ultimate goal is asset protection- that is my #1 priority. Now, moving forward I have an umbrella insurance policy, and will be opening an LLC for my current rental property. At the moment I have 1 (gotta start somewhere) but as more come along each will go in their own separate LLC. On top of this, each property LLC will be owned by an overall parent holding LLC.

I'm also aware property records are publicly searchable (if you know where to search, that is). I want to protect my privacy as much as possible also. So while LLC members are posted online, if I am my own "registered agent" that info will be posted online as well. Is it worth paying someone yearly to act as my registered agent? I'm leaning towards yes, as then the only info available online about me would be that I own the LLC and my mailing address (PO box).

But I've looked at other people's records who I know have lots of properties (one guy has 11 under his personal name) and that just astounds me. Even with a good umbrella policy, how is that good enough protection? Anyway, so I feel like compared to other people I may be too paranoid but then again you can never be too careful! Obviously I'm going to run this business ethically and will not be doing anything illegal but I don't want to leave any loopholes for anyone (attorney or otherwise) to take advantage of.

So what do you do? Am I being too paranoid?

Aha! I see the missing piece. We are not trying to get commission on the property, nor did we on the last. I guess I need to spell that out more clearly! It makes sense that the listing agent would not want to receive half a commission for doing "double" the work.

Hey all,

I know this is a very well-covered topic but most of what I can find is theoretical. Yesterday I e-mailed some listing companies about homes I saw on Craigslist, asking to see them, and letting them know I would be working with an agent (both my mom & I have our licenses). I haven't signed onto a firm yet but she has done it independently on a part-time basis for a number of years.

I got some backlash from the company, asking if I'd signed a buyer agreement and that I needed my agent to contact them. In this case, are they just trying make sure they completely cover their butt or did I do something wrong? My last deal I looked at (that I ended up purchasing), I did the same thing... e-mailed the listing agent and asked to see the property, telling him that I was already working with a buyer's agent. We made an appointment, he showed me the house (with my mom there), I liked it enough to go back a second time and then put it under contract. Seemed seamless to me.

So I guess I am just having trouble sifting through the gray area between. Any input would be appreciated!

Seems like many of you here advocate presenting yourself as the "property manager" rather than the "owner" of properties that you self manage. I'd like to begin doing that... for those who do so, what is your primary manner of contact with your tenants? E-mail, phone? If you use e-mail, do you use your personal e-mail account?

In general, I think phone is easier and more effective. But, I also like e-mail because you have a paper trail in case you need to refer back to it.

@Ben Hughes - That would be the property management company.

Thank you @Buddy LaRue !

Wow! Thanks so much everyone for your responses.

It's definitely good to hear that there are some superstars out there that are making it work :). I often get told I try to do too much (like that time I signed up to take 3 different foreign languages as a freshman in college and was told I was crazy), so sometimes I lose sight of what is "normal," if that exists. (Btw, I ended up going through with it junior year, and it was probably one of my happiest semesters!)

I am in school full-time right now, but once I graduate in May I will be working full-time, so that won't really overlap and cause issues. It is true that day-to-day management is really straightforward, the only 'stressful' times are turning the property over for new tenants etc. I think my next challenge is to get more systems in place so that turn-over process is as least stressful/time-consuming as possible.

Hey BP community, got something on my mind. When I first got my property, I decided to let it be managed by the on-site PM company (who is also the HOA, is that common?) Anyway, I had a horrible experience - horrible tenants who completely trashed the place in a year (so badly that I had to put new carpets in AGAIN, after they had been put in the year before) and didn't even have security deposits so the money they owed in back rent and on all the damage they caused.. is still owed to me today. After that, I decided to manage the property myself and it's gone pretty well. However, next year (I'm in school) I hope to find a full-time job, and I don't know if I'll have time to manage it myself - I will if things go well, but honestly I think I'd just rather not have the headache. But I'm sure as heck not going back to that PM company that I used previously. I'm just wondering how many of you are out there, that work full-time (40+ hours a week) and still manage your own units. I only own one right now, but I'm definitely looking to acquire more as the opportunities come along.

Thanks!

Saw a property that caught my eye, but it's spent a lot of time on and off the market. As in, 8 months out of this year and 4 of the previous year on the market. It was taken off once, and put back on with a very slight price decrease, but obviously that didn't seem to make a difference.

Without having seen the house... what do you do? Weed it out immediately? Providing that it meets all your other criteria of course... nice location, property seems to be in decent shape (if a little on the older side), etc.

Any opinions appreciated!

Don't know about your individual situation, but I am about to be in the same situation - want to buy another place, but won't qualify for another mortgage. So my plan is to borrow money from my mom - a "family mortgage". Of course there are a lot of things to think about when doing this but it is an option.