All Forum Posts by: Robert Steele

Maybe. But my 40 year old property has cast iron sewer pipes that have all rusted out and I now I have to spend $3K to replace them. My 4 year old property has PVC piping which will last a lifetime.

Maybe now but I don't think that wasn't always the case. I have gone to make ready a few of my SFH and found an extra dish on the roof.

The last time a tenant asked I said no. You have fiber optic cable for TV - use that. I now stipulate in the lease - no damn dishes. They put holes in the roof and the installers just run the cable anywhere and through anything.

I cut my teeth on Carlton Sheets. My girlfriend bought his VCR tape course and it got me interested in REI. I didn't use any of his material though. A lot of his techniques didn't seem to work well in the easy credit environment at the time. Perhaps it worked well in the 80's.

Try $8,000 in repairs. Now that is trashed! :))

Fortunately I threatened the tenants mother who co-signed with legal action and got all that money back.

p.s. Tenant's are not your friends. Treat them firmly, fairly and with respect. That's all.

I completely agree with everything you said.

Personally I won't go near a 401K or an IRA with a 10 foot pole. One reason is the fact that I don't trust my government. I wouldn't be surprised to see that when the sovereign debt crisis comes to these shores the government suddenly changes the rules and forces you to have at least 75% of your portfolio in government debt.

They will say it is the patriotic thing to do! Oh and if you don't like it - too bad. Because they will also prevent you from taking your money out of their system. Muhahahah!

Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it.

- Publilius Syrus (~100 BC)

I use http://www.achdirect.com/ and direct debit it straight out of my tenants checking accounts. This is better than the approach of letting tenants deposit money into your account because this way you don't have to worry about them forgetting.

Another alternative that I have heard of for the crowd that likes tenants depositing straight into their accounts is from Chase. They can supply you with X different "deposit-only debit cards" linked to your account. This way you know what payment came from who and they can pay the rent at an ATM after hours.

For my tenants that are not comfortable with direct debit I simply mail an invoice with a self-addressed envelope 1 week before the due date.

When I first started out landlording I used to just rely on my tenants remembering to mail the rent. Sending invoices seems to work much better.

No way. Watching that show would keep me up at night with nightmares! ;)

Or the seller for that matter.

Yes. Don't let the buyer get a whiff that you are doing a 1031 or they will take every opportunity to screw you over that barrel.