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All Forum Posts by: Vanessa Vandervalk

Vanessa Vandervalk has started 3 posts and replied 43 times.

Post: Experience with USREEB?

Vanessa VandervalkPosted
  • Investor
  • Madison, WI
  • Posts 44
  • Votes 31

@Bo Kim I have 3 properties with USREEB. I have not yet officially decided to move to another PM, but I am considering it. Regarding your three points, I think those are great criteria to have. As of today, I have sent them maybe 3-4 emails last week that they haven't responded to yet. 

Post: Experience with USREEB?

Vanessa VandervalkPosted
  • Investor
  • Madison, WI
  • Posts 44
  • Votes 31

@Eugene Lee I can't say how much I agree with your comment. USREEB property accounting and correspondence with me has been unacceptable for about 6 months now. I have spent hours reconciling the expenses they told me in emails with my owner statements and finding discrepancies. Numerous expenses are charged to my account more than once--that is the most typical problem. I also have missing rent from May of this year that has yet to be figured out by them. 

I email them the details and they often don't respond. I would say about 10-15 of my emails have simply been ignored and I have to follow up on each issue about 3 times or more before I get any action taken. Sometimes they ask to talk on the phone, and I do, and then maybe 1 out of 3 things we discuss gets addressed. 

I wish I had known all this was going to happen before writing a testimonial for them. Regretfully, I did, and they now have it featured prominently on their testimonials page. I have asked them numerous times to remove it, but they have not. When I first met them I even brought everyone in their office a Starbucks gift card...

At the time of this post, I have 3 outstanding issues with them that have yet to be addressed. I personally think they have invested more into expanding their sales and opening operations in KC and Dayton and aren't very concerned about investing in property management for their customers that they have already sold properties to.

Bottom line is you will have an ok experience in the buying process and your properties may cash flow, but they are not capable of properly managing accounts. If you like their properties, consider buying one and finding different property management that can properly track income and expenses.

Post: House Hacking in California

Vanessa VandervalkPosted
  • Investor
  • Madison, WI
  • Posts 44
  • Votes 31

Hi Matthew, welcome to Bigger Pockets! I am not far from you, in Newhall. I invest out of state. @Logan Allec has househacked locally. It is definitely tough to do in the L.A. area! Are you able to cash flow on the 3+3?

Vanessa

Law enforcement. This happened to me in my condo complex in Santa Clarita, CA. The thieves broke into the mailboxes from the back where the postal carrier accesses the boxes, not the front locks. This might also be the case for your tenants depending on how the mailbox is set up. You can purchase a new lock from USPS or Home Depot if the lock is the issue. In my case, the thieves were active in my neighborhood for several months. I requested Informed Delivery from USPS, a daily email that shows images of my mail that is supposed to arrive. Advise tenant not to leave mail overnight in the box (incoming or outgoing). 

Thank you for sharing! This is only the beginning! You should be very proud of your accomplishments thus far. I was inspired by Rich Dad, Poor Dad as well. A friend of mine gave me the book in 2007. Sadly, I didn't read it until 2015. What a missed opportunity! But that is the past, and I am on my way to closing on 4 units in my first year of investing (counting my primary, which I plan to later convert to a rental). My 2017 goal is to acquire 4 more units.

Post: How do the numbers look?

Vanessa VandervalkPosted
  • Investor
  • Madison, WI
  • Posts 44
  • Votes 31

Hi there, where are your renovation costs? Are these the expense and income numbers they gave you or the numbers you've come up with based on verification? As for the asking price, you have to come up with your own offer based on the numbers. Item 12 at 50.77 seems low. 

Post: CapEx killing cash flow analysis

Vanessa VandervalkPosted
  • Investor
  • Madison, WI
  • Posts 44
  • Votes 31

@Ali Boone may very well be right about Buffalo. For anyone interested in the capex question in general: I guess there are actually two questions: "Should I consider it?" and "Should I buy it?" which could very well use different levels of analysis. In other words, maybe find an approximate capex % to use for your area and the age of the property, just to throw into the BP analyzer tool and see if it's worth considering. Then, find out the details of what expenditures you will have over your holding period and use the spreadsheet method for your due diligence before buying.

Post: CapEx killing cash flow analysis

Vanessa VandervalkPosted
  • Investor
  • Madison, WI
  • Posts 44
  • Votes 31

@Edward B., I found the CapEx sheet and it's just what I need right now! Thank you so much! Anyone who uses this sheet will be able to get a more realistic picture of their actual capex costs over the long haul.

Post: CapEx killing cash flow analysis

Vanessa VandervalkPosted
  • Investor
  • Madison, WI
  • Posts 44
  • Votes 31

I've always thought that CapEx as a percent seems off. Doesn't it depend a lot on what the rent is? A 1500 sq ft house that rents for $800 vs a 1500 sq ft house that rents for $3000 could have about the same CapEx in real amounts. It seems more prudent (and time consuming) to estimate actual costs based on the ages and condition of everything. Does anyone do this, maybe with a spreadsheet set up for this purpose?

Post: New Member from North Hollywood, CA needs advice

Vanessa VandervalkPosted
  • Investor
  • Madison, WI
  • Posts 44
  • Votes 31

Jonathan, I agree with what others have said about choosing what's important to you. I chose to buy a condo in Santa Clarita, not only for the price, but because I like living there a lot more (I used to live in Valley Village near North Hollywood; my significant other lives there and he hates the congestion). I chose a condo that would work well as a rental as far as the numbers go, so when I move out someday, I can have a small cash flow. My commute is about 40 minutes and it works for me. Since I chose to buy well below my means, I have cash left over and am investing out of state. 

This is just me--you have to decide what's important to you.