All Forum Posts by: Anthony Wick

@Amanda Chandler. Congratulations! You've clearly done your homework. I'll say, you do not need a Property Manager. Hell, if you lived near me, I'd hire you to manage my properties! Lol. Seriously, good job. 

The only thing I am doing differently is really putting an emphasis on hearing from their current landlord. While they may show that they have no evictions or court filings, that could also be because of the moratorium on such proceedings these last six months. Otherwise, same criteria and background checks for all. 

Update as of Sept 1: I never received issue 1. I might have ordered a little late for that one. I did receive Issue 2 (I'm in that one, so I kind of really wanted to get it. Lol). And I did get issue 3 (August/September), probably 2 weeks ago. 

Same same. You need to evict.  

I still want to know how a $500 water bill every two months went to $1,500. Were they doing the laundry 24/7 for the entire senior living facility they work at? 

@Roy Gottesdiener. Look for a local bank. I just did a cash out refinance on two duplexes this summer. LLC. 3 partners. One we have owned about 18 months, and one I owned about 7 months. Now, the bank I worked with already held both mortgages, which is why it's great to establish that relationship. Cashed out 76% of LTV on a new appraisal. The three partners did sign personal guarantees as well, which helped. 25 year amort, 3.6% interest, 7 year balloons. Total cost: $1,800 for both mortgages, including two appraisals. No escrow of property taxes or insurance.

@Matt Stefanski. Who is writing up the Purchase Agreement? I'm hoping a real estate agent is representing you on your first purchase. Ask for any and all appliances/fixtures, offer contingent upon an inspection, copy of rental certificates if required by your city, don't forget if any pet rent/deposits, no new leases to be executed (you don't want that MTM to suddenly become a 3 year lease), prorated rents to be paid to buyer (even if tenant has not paid that months rent), upper/AirBnB unit to be delivered empty and broom clean at close, any upgrades you want the seller to perform. And, I always ask for a 12 month home owners warranty to be purchased by seller. This gives you a year to discover what deferred maintenance needs to be done, without the worry of a high cost capex type repair coming out of your budget right away. If the seller will not purchase, I would purchase one, for just the first 12 months. And don't forget to do a walk through right before close to make sure everything that was agreed to has been done. 

@Todd Atkinson. Well, I've never bought a property with tenants that have been in there for 10 years. But yes, I absolutely raise rents to market value. For example, my last duplex I bought I required the seller to get rid of a tenant before close, and required no new lease on the other side. Both tenants left before close, and I took over an empty building. After some modest upgrades, I raised rents from the $1,100 the seller was getting to $1,430. 

Here's the thing.....the tenants were getting below market rents for ages. You're a real estate investor. That investment means, rents go up. No, not always. I just renewed a lease for the same rate. I didn't feel the market would bear an increase. Some might say I probably was receiving over market rate the past year. If you cannot afford to raise rents for fear of a vacancy, you might want to rethink if this is the right time for you to buy. 

@Greg Clark. You're going to spend $6k to get $200-250 a month more in rent? Since you're buying and house hacking, it sounds like you're going to own this a while. It'll be worth it. But, you could always try and just raise the rent a couple hundy on the current tenants and see if they bite. 

Shouldn't most of things cost like 10 bucks in Alabama? Crazy price estimates.