All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I own a few in Detroit Metro and Detroit Proper. Anything inside Detroit Proper is a risk with perhaps the exception of downtown and midtown. Vandals, thieves, etc. will rob you blind if you don't have good property management and/or security protocols set in place. Otherwise, you'll be replacing furnaces & ACs every vacancy and cops can't/won't do much about it. 

@Perry Sigmon

Can I take these online? If so, where would you recommend? I'm looking for something basic with studyguides and lectures vs. the Kaplan-like lectures.  

Hello all, 

I'd like to know what license or licenses it takes to become a property manager in Virginia and Tennessee. The markets I would like to work would be the Tri-Cities area of Virginia and Tennessee (Bristol, Kingsport, Johnson City, also including Abingdon VA).

Due to the commercial nature of Google search results, I've read conflicting info from "exam prep" companies offering to do X, Y & Z while being rather opaque with what classes need to be taken, exams passed, etc. 

So if someone can clearly state: 

1) what classes am I required to take? 

2) where I can take those classes (preferably online)? 

3) what exams I need to pass? 

Thanks in advance, 

Matt  

Private emails via colleague requests are also acceptable. 

It's hit or miss for me... esp in Detroit market. 

Some tenants will jump at it, but it's usually the tenants my PMs have a good rapport with. The others know, or can ask people who know, how to work the system and will attempt to drag out the process as long as possible. 

We try to understand the good tenant's situation and say something like "the owner will give you $250 for a moving truck or a storage unit, but only if you have everything moved out by XYZ date, the house is clean/undamaged and we process your checkout forms w/out any problems." 

If they verbally agree, we have them sign a cash4keys document. On agreed upon move out date, the PM inspects the home for damages. If anything is damaged or unclean, we have their signature on a document saying they agreed otherwise, so we ask them to remedy it immediately or pay the difference on the spot, at a later date or we take them to court later on.  

Only after they've handed over the keys and signed the document do we give them a $250 check, which they have to endorse and cash, so we get double the documentation of a move out related payment.... so if they somehow "work their way back into the property" after we've changed the locks, we have 2 signatures proving they were paid to vacate the property. 

Full disclosure: this has worked twice for me, but it did not proceed along the time scale we wanted. Tenants would say "oh sure, we'll leave by XYZ date" and they didn't do it. We tried to get them out in 30 days, but it took more like 60. 

Only when we proceeded with eviction and tenants received judgment/eviction notices did they get the message. So my advice, start the eviction process, so they know you're offering both the carrot and the stick, but give them the cash4keys option as a lesser of 2 evils.  

Anything that hurts cash flow is almost always a negative in my opinion, but my general rule of thumb about the taxes argument is this: if you live in a high taxes area, and thus accustomed to high-ish taxes, you're acclimated to that type of environment and another tax hike may not scare you off. 

Ex) if you live in SanFran or NYC, you're accustomed to higher taxes. However, if you live in Atlanta, the idea of paying SanFran or NYC-ish taxes, it scares the bejesus out of you.

Obviously not an ironclad rule, but if you live in Chicago and own a dozen properties, are you really going to dump your entire portfolio and buy property in a lower property tax city/state? Maybe, but probably not. 

I'm considering jumping into my first 4+ unit commercial deal. Being that I've only done residential (4 units or less) properties, I'm a little wary of the process b/c I'm a new to the game and I'm looking for basic step-by-step process of what I should expect and what I'll need to get the ball rolling.

I did a forum search and found a few dozen posts, of which I read most, but curious if a few of the experts can distill this wisdom down a few key bullet points. 

Such as... 

1. Setup LLC
2. Contact commercial lender
3. Assemble numbers and documents
4. etc., etc., etc. 

Thanks in advance. 

On clickbait page 1 under photo see "Provided by Zillow" home of the infamous "zestimate"... should tell us what we need to know. 

I like using their site and I'm on it regularly, but their data analysis is questionable at best. 

Get the judgment on anyone who signed the lease. This way, it's on their credit report and they'll be red flagged immediately so future landlords will know what's up.

[Soapbox moment: I wish all landlords were required to do this so the bad apples don't poison the well.]

In my pre-qualification questions, I ask if they've ever been evicted and/or have a financial judgment from a prior landlord so I don't waste time on them. If it's an old E or J, I'll let them explain but this usually saves me from even taking the application. 

@Janann Chan Neither are very appealing from mere location. If I had to choose, Greenlawn is a bit better. Being a duplex, it has some anti-theft merits as well b/c vandals are often reluctant to break in if the home is occupied. 

Just make sure you're paying a low price. Don't let an unscrupulous person convince you to overpay for these properties. If they're gutted or vandalized, it will cost more to rehab the homes than they're likely worth as is. 

I'm an OOS investor as well. Old Redford isn't a bad area, but it's not exactly great either, so doubtful it's worth putting a ton of money into it. 

I use property managers for this kinda stuff, so if it were mine, I'd have a PM check it out and bring a contractor or two for work estimates. 

Detroit has it's share of break ins and folks helping themselves to whatever they can sell, so might want to move quick on this. Otherwise, you'll be paying for a new furnace, new copper, etc. 

I can private message you a property manager if you like.