All Forum Posts by: Wade Wisner

I would agree with most of the comments and personally would not drywall over plaster unless that is a major reason to do so, like it is in risk of falling or failure.  I just finished a 100-year-old grande damn and went through many bags of Durbond 90. It works well for repairs.

One tip though is use only flat paint on the ceiling and walls as flat finishes do not show imperfections like glossier finishes.  I hate to go into a 100-year-old house and see every imperfection glaring out due to gloss paint.  Good luck

Thanks.  Not a boxing aficionado.  Thanks

Hey Max,

Are you looking to be a passive investor or active? If passive to what degree? They are both very different. The most passive investments would probably be REIT investment, but the returns are only moderate and you are trusting the management. Commercial real estate ownership with property management in place, or a management partner, is also a good place to be with the right area and property (type). Depending on the market self-storage, medical office or other commercial types might work for you. I would stay away from retail and general office as online purchasing (Amazon) has devastated retail property investments and Covid work from home has hit office properties hard as well. Combine that with rising mortgage interest rates and these properties seem to be currently in freefall.

The upside of these trends is that there will most likely be some bargain properties out there in the near future.  Just some ideas.  Wade

The difficulty is in finding the "quality" property manager - the one who represent you the owner not the tenants. Are these SF rentals in Phoenix? Some other possibilities to a property manager could be a money partner of say a realtor, or other who are in the area and could manage the properties for you both. I have this situation with a small commercial property in northern CA and my realtor partner manages it for us. Of course, we have a NNN lease that places most of the repair/maintenance responsibilities on the tenant. You can do this with residential tenants as well with a lease clause that has them responsible for these same items up to a limit of $150 - $300 per item. At least then they don't drive you crazy with nonsense issues, probably of their making. If you have a good plumber, electrician and appliance guy in the area you can handle most reparirs through them.

If you must hire a property manager, I would get lots of referrals and check them out very thoroughly.   Just some ideas. 

Hey Steve,

Not to sound too dated, but what do you mean tapped out?  Thanks for the response.

Wade

I would like to know that as well, as the few property management companies that I have used have not been at all satisfactory.  The have tended to over-represent the tenant's problems over me the property owner who pays the bills.  Communication has always been the sticking point for me as I am not quick to trust my investment to someone with no skin in the game and who hasnt' gotten my ok on spending my money.

In my mind it might be better to find a realtor or other money partner in long distance properties and pay them a management fee for that service.  Find someone who is also an investor.  Most property management issues, once the tenant is in place, other than collections, are problems or repairs in the property.  If you have a few good subcontractors - electrician, plumber, appliance guy you can handle most of it.  Also have a lease agreement that makes the tenant responsible for any repairs up to say $150 - $300 per item.  This will keep them from driving you crazy with nonsense items that so often come up or things that they have created anyway. 

 I have this relationship in a CA commercial property, and it seems to work pretty well.  I sleep much better when I know what is going on with my real estate investments.

If you need to hire a property manager, my suggestion is gets lots of references and talk to those references prior to signing.  I hope this helps you.

Hey Jay,

Great to hear from you and such coincidences.  I worked with a guy in Trinity County and am one of his investors for pot farm loans.  They have been great and too bad the market has changed so.  But we all know what the one constant is and that is CHANGE.  

It is reassuring to hear from someone who also experience and survived the Great Recession.  Wow!  What a time, but the one thing that I know is that persistence pays.  We don't have to be the smartest, or luckiest or wealthiest, but staying in the game is the key to long term success.  

I, like you, have really grown to love cash and what it can do.  The idea of even a little bit of debt makes my skin crawl and want to run for cover.  It does limit how quickly I can do deals, but that is probably the very best thing from the standpoint of risk management.

Thanks for ready my post.

Any suggestion on topics (of course real estate investing!)

Hey Dave,

I did my 1031's with a firm out of St. Augustine/Jax.  I think that they may now be out of business and I know that John King the attorney is no longer with them.  He is awesome.

I do like commercial real estate and the restaurant in CA is great, but I have a realtor partner who lives there and takes care of anything needed.  I am pretty debt shy after my experience with the TN lender, but I am also wiser about how to prepare myself for most events.  I do not think that I could have avoided the impacts of the great recession.

I have never heard of DTS's and will Google to see what they are.  Is this a pretty common strategy, or some obscure approach?  

I really appreciate your taking time to read my post and your comments.  Keep sailing (I have a grandson in St. Aug.that is a 13-year-old competitive sailor) and I used to keep a Hunter 31 on the Chesapeake Bay near B-more.  Wade