Another Course?
I'm a 20 year landlord of a 4 unit residential.
Gone through most all problems with a four unit.
Graduated 'school of hard knocks.' Now paid off.
Inheriting 2 more units from Mother.
It's either I get out the business or learn more
and do it right.
Received another 'how to' course through email.
On the surface, it looks good. $97 for a bunch
of good info including buy/sell. Found this site
when I put in the book title in search engine.
Can you give me recommendations?
Thanks.
Fortunately, you ended up at a site what will probably turn out to be your best friend. This site is jam packed with tons of useful information from some of the most experienced and successful investors in the country. Just browse through the forums to find any answers to questions you may have. If you can't find them, post a topic in the appropriate forum and you will get your answer shortly. Next, go to the products and services tab and buy a course from one of the guru's on the topic you're interested in. These people here are fantastic! I'm on the computer all day and I always have this site up and ready to go. It's a pot of gold for investing. Good Luck!
if you look back to all of the advantages (taxes, appreciation, cashflow) of your one 4-unit complex, would it have been a good idea to have 4 more, 8 more, 16 more, etc? If this rental prop has been good to you, imagine how good it would be to have a few more by the time you are ready to retire.
You may also think about refinancing properties that are paid off to get into other properties to increase your leverage and cashflow and overall benefits.
Good luck
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I'm certainly no expert but I see you've gotten no replies.
I've got one really nice property 'downtown' and that is a drawback although it's only 2 blocks from our new court house and on the main street of the city. Tons and tons of lookers/applicants. I ran the credit for the applicants who could actually come up with the $25 (fully refundable if denied) application deposit. Each and every one of them had bad to terrible credit. After rejecting the first handful due to their credit I decided I needed more input before rejecting them. My initial thought was to run the credit and then proceed to step 2 of verifying employment, prior residences, etc. I started calling the previous landlords. They were amazingly helpful. Some told me horror stories and some said they were sorry their tenant was leaving. One even said good luck because the tenant is ALWAYS looking and they receive several calls a month from prospective landlords but the tenant never leaves. I tried calling their employers (although MANY of them don't have verifiable jobs). Many of them are 'staying' with someone. I just don't understand so many job hoppers, in between, hand out receiving people. Anyway, I made up a little check list giving weight to different factors - credit score, job longevity (same field, not necessarily same employer and always employed, even if job hopping) evictions, landlord feedback, etc. I then started to score the people.
One thing I did find when running the credit. They ALL have unpaid old cell phone bills. They ALL have unpaid medical bills. So, in the grand scheme of life, I don't think those kinds of outstanding bills are the same as rent and utilities.
One guy I just rented to has a 'garage'. He doesn't do state inspections but his lot is full and I've never seen so much activity. Tow trucks coming and going. The 2 bays are filled every time I pass (and that's quite often because it's down the block from my one other place). He works 7 days a week. The wife is the 'secretary'. They had verifiable income of $300 before taxes per week. But, they have a family, and I have no question in my mind that he makes sufficient income to pay the bills. Just probably not paying U. Sam. So, in my short time, I learned that all is not as it seems and in lower class, inner city neighborhoods they seldom have any long term residences, jobs, etc. The big picture is what's necessary.
How my new tenants will work out I've got no idea but I learned very quickly I cannot find tenants the same way apartment complexes do.
I use a fax tenant screening company. You can get as much information as you need in the same day. I think it cost less than $20. Credit check is what I focus on.
If you'd like some information about them you can PM me.
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Thanks SavvyYoungster,
Can you e-mail me that fax tenant screening company info at **Please See My Profile** thanks
Quote:
On 2004-11-01 10:19, SavvyYoungster wrote:
I use a fax tenant screening company. You can get as much information as you need in the same day. I think it cost less than $20. Credit check is what I focus on.
If you'd like some information about them you can PM me.
I use Tenant Check. They are in Florida but they've advertised that they can run a check in any state. Their # is 727-938-5532.
I don't make the application fee refundable if they are DENIED. I apply it to the first month rent if they are accepted.
I also ignore credit problems like phones, medical bills, etc. I focus on job longevity and criminal history. If a tenant has any child support enforcement issues on their credit- they are rejected. I don't trust someone with my property if they don't care enough to see that their own children are cared for. You should try to speak to the previous TWO landlords and be sure it is really the landlord you are speaking with. I had a guy have his friend pretend to be his landlord. I knew who the landlord should really be because I looked up the address of the tenants current listed address to see who the owner of record was and when the owner bought the house. I caught the "landlord" in several lies during my conversation so I knew it wasn't the real landlord. I also VERIFY employment and ask their boss what kind of worker the tenant is. If there's hesitation in the answer.....
And don't be fooled by the type of job someone has. I rented a place to a Coast Guard guy thinking he would be honorable, right? Wrong. He ditched his lease for no reason and without notice and told me where to go when I told him he owed for the rest of his lease- even after his commanding officer told him he better pay me!!
Screening tenants can get expensive and time consuming. I have a SFR in a low income part of town and interviewed 11 possible tenants, some married, some single, some "other".
I ran credit on a few that I liked and make calls on a few others but, in the end I made my decision based on other things. I had to. If I relied solely on credit and employement I may never have gotten a signed lease.
In low income areas, I've found it a waste of time and money to run credit checks as these people sometimes don't even have bank accounts.
Sexual predator check, wanted persons check, small claims (eviction) check are the ones I run for low income areas.
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