All Forum Posts by: Sandy Uhlmann

I am a buy and hold investor who purchased and rehabbed a house that I paid cash for and am currently renting out. I have 2 questions: I recently formed an LLC. Should I put that property into my newly formed LLC? My main hesitation is that If I decide to cash out re-fi in order to have cash to purchase another property I will not be able to close/refinance under the residential side of my local lender and will have to close under the commercial side of things if I want to keep it under the LLC. I do have an umbrella policy too so I don't know how important it is to place it in my LLC. The alternative is to look for private lenders to refinance the house. I haven't explored this route yet and I am not sure to how to go about it. Any advice would be appreciated.

I was wondering if there is a market for properties that require EXTENSIVE work but could be purchased for under 10K. I am primarily an investor that rehabs properties to buy and hold, but I recently found a property that could be purchased for under 10K that would need extensive rehab (including a new roof). The area is not an area that I personally would be interested. The ARV for the area is probably 40's-60's max. I believe it is zoned R2. I believe that I could probably get it for around $5,000. I am thinking that it might be an opportunity for me to try my hand at wholesaling. I really don't care if I make much from the deal at all, I just want to learn the process. Do the numbers still apply for properties under $10K? Or would some investors be interested in obtaining a property for under 10K just for the lot with the appropriate utilities running to it? It would be a great way to generate a buyers list and ease into the wholesaling arena but I am just unsure if there are investors out there interested in houses that are in need of this much rehab.

I am wholesale curious and recently came across a deal that is a SFH made into a triplex that looked like an excellent deal on paper. I was wondering if it is an advantage or a disadvantage to have renters already in place? Does it make it harder to wholesale these properties with or without the renters in place or does it just depend on the needs/desires of the end buyer?

I like:

Epic Real Estate Investing

Real Estate Flip Tips

REIClub.com

Learn eal Estate Investing/Lifestyles Unlimited

Real Life Real Estate Investing

Real Estate Investing Mastery

No Limits Real Estate Investing Podcast

REIology Real Estate Investing Simplified

Some of the above don't have weekly podcasts but the older ones are all excellent. Most of the above have to do with either wholesaling, rehab and flipping or buy and hold investing.

I am using a pretty standard rental application form (Nolo) which asks for SSN. I was wondering if I should still have prospective tenants fill this out if I plan to use tenant initiated screening services such as SmartMove?

I am new to the property management scene and I was planning on using SmartMove to screen my tenants but I am a little frustrated that they have not responded to my questions via email. This makes me question their customer service. I just read the above post by Josh and will try to phone them but as of now, I am less than impressed about their customer service.

We have that wondeful, concise (ha ha!) article letting Realtors know how investors think and what they want/need from Real Estate Agents, I was wondering if there was a similar article that I could give to my contractor or any potential contractor that explains what things are important when working with investors? It would be great to have contractors see things through the eyes of an investor. Of course, I could sit down and have a long discussion with my contractor about these items but to have an article in hand makes things seem so much more legitimate. These investor friendly individuals would be great candidates for the "Angie's List" or "Better Business Bureau" part of BiggerPockets if this every becomes a reality.

I am new to being a property manager also but I am going to try to schedule one (maybe two) open houses. I have listed the house on Craigslist and Postlets (which posts it on numerous sites at once-including Zillow and Trulia) I have gotten probably over 20 calls in about 2 days. I have told everyone the open house time (10-11am Saturday) and so far, very few people have asked for other viewing times. Hopefully, this will make it much easier for me and create a rental frenzy if I have a number of truely interested applicants. Mike Butler in Landlording on Autopilot has a great chapter on accepting applications. He suggests encouraging applicants to put a Deposit to Hold on the unit that is close to or exceeding the amount of a normal deposit. They actually fill out a form for this stating that they are putting up X dollars to hold the property pending the approval of the application, If approved, the $ goes towards the funds needed to start their tenancy, if not approved, the funds are returned to them within 30 days. If they want the funds sooner, he charges an $85 processing fee. (not sure what I think of that) If they are approved and then refuse to rent the dwelling, the deposit if forfeited. According to Butler, the goal here is to prevent the more qualified applicants from continuing to search for rental units. I will let you know how it goes Saturday:)

I have a 1920's home that is nearing completion but some of the floor heating registers/floor plates are missing. The sizes are wierd and I can't seem to find floor vents at the big box stores. I located some on ebay but they are VERY PRICY. Does anyone know where I could purchase some at a reasonable price?

Everyone,

Thanks for all the input. I am awaiting a third bid now. I think I will take all of your advice and keep looking for a contractor that is more reasonable as well as contacting subs myself. As for the rental value, with the house essentially looking new, I am reasonably sure that I can get $700+ for rent. Thanks again for the support:)