All Forum Posts by: Wayne Bodley

@Luke Miller Contact either city hall or county offices. Be careful, my city requires that you don't sell or lease for one year a house on which you pull your own permits. I know crazy but just check your jurisdiction to be sure.

My path has been to buy a primary, live in it for a few years then rent it out. That's worked well over the last 10 years now I have 4 rentals like that and a couple more straight investments that I bought with equity in those houses or savings. One of the houses was like a duplex so that accelerated growth. Those can be a real cash cow when you move out of your unit. Slow and steady wins the race for me, ymmv.

I just redid the floor in a rental with Allure luxury vinyl plank from Home Depot. Great stuff and super easy to install.

I tried that with a 4/2 I had a couple years ago. It was extremely challenging because there were 4 strangers that needed to get along. It ended up being like Survivor with people dropping out one by one. I self managed, it may be better with a separate manager. My experience only lasted a few months then I rented the house to a family.

I think it can be meaningful inasmuch as you have an impact on people's lives. You are calling the shots so you can be as compassionate as you want. On the other hand some landlords get off on the ego trip of it and lord it over their tenants. (No pun intended) I've been doing it for ten years and have seen the good and bad but I feel like my tenants think I'm fair and that's all I strive for. Of course it works both ways and I hold my tenants to a high level of responsibility and I think that's good for everyone. I explain to them that we are essentially partners in a business and if we both hold up our end of the deal we'll both be successful. So I think landlording can have some meaningful qualities to it but mostly it's just managing money and people. Some people are good at it and like it, some not so much. Good luck in whatever you choose to do.

I recently bought a $60 ozonator from Amazon that worked pretty well removing odors from a unit.

No way, for every reason stated above Plus roasting coffee makes a very bitter acrid smell that will disturb your other tenant. Thomas S. has it right, this guy will probably do it anyway so be very firm and maybe get him to initial the portion of your lease that states no commercial activity (I hope it's in there)

I just rented to an American woman and her Mexican (daca) boyfriend. I was a little leery at first and I couldn't run much background on him but I did my due diligence by meeting him with his employer who couldn't say enough good about him so I gave them a shot. They were very appreciative and I think that makes a good tenant right there.So far so good. Sometimes you just have to take a chance on people based on little more than gut feeling.

I guess I would ask why you feel pulled in these other directions even though you have a full time job. I have a similar bio, been a landlord 10 years with 4 sfh's. For me buy and hold has been a slow and steady process. Maybe it's time for you to concentrate on your job and put your efforts into making and saving money, waiting for that next opportunity. Best of luck from a guy in the same boat.

It depends, I'm under contract for a house in Florida where the old lady who lived there worked for fema and travelled most of the year so she put bars on the windows for her peace of mind, definitely not a crime ridden neighborhood. btw I'm going with fha loan so the underwriters demanded their removal.