Tami, why did you take this property if it was such a hassle? Do the numbers add up in the end?
Did you finally have someone from the area become a property manager? I thought they could eventually get someone in the property that is reasonable to own, lease or rent.
What happened to the 2nd dog (the alive one)?
How many properties have you owned?
John
NJ
Hi John,
I’m my own property manager, and I would never have picked up the house it if wasn’t worth my while 
I do this as my living now, I used to be a program manager for AOL who laid my entire department off earlier this year. I decided to make my full-time business what I’d been doing on the side for 20 years. I don’t mind the hassle of the house, I’m just sharing my experiences.
I have qualified tenants already lined up – just waiting now for the sheriff to supervise the garbage haul off. All ducks are lined up. Carpet goes in the day after the garbage haul off. I’m down to an interior punch list. It will have been renovated, rented (with a positive cash flow), refinanced (with cash out) in less than eight weeks and over 20% of the profit sitting in equity. Not too bad of a deal for me.
The live dog was removed by animal control. They had to post the kennel he was left in with a 24 hour notice as an abandoned animal. Then they came to remove him 48 hours later. I have no idea what happened to him, but he was sweet enough that I hope he was adopted.
As far as how many houses do I have, I have enough to keep me very busy, but not enough to have my husband retire to do this with me (our goal). I’ll keep plugging away with my system of houses with a hassle – they have the best pay off where I invest.
Take care.
Tami,
I hope it works out for you with that property. Where do you plan on buying and selling homes in (market)?
Would you consider buying a property from a market that you have not seen or take the word of a ‘home expert’?
I just do not want to become the property manager. I have a full time job so, I do not want a 2nd. Eventually, the purpose of this is that the homes will have a ‘life of their own’.
From seasoned investors, they all say the same thing ‘If that property does not make you money in the 1st year then get rid of it. Don’t fall in love with the home but, fall in love with the numbers.’ Makes sense?
What kind of deals should someone pay to a property manager? Secondly, what should be the minimal responsibilities of a good property manager?
Lastly, should all properties have a property manager? (i.e. What is the minimal yearly maintenance expenses one should expect? i.e. clean furnance, spring cleaning of rugs, etc.)
In my initial deals, I do not want to outlay any out of pocket money unless it is minimal closing costs. If I am rehabing the property, I want to take money out of closing to expense those items. It makes no sense to ‘bleed’ yourself dry because you want to make a deal.
Keep us informed about this property. How did you get a ‘database’ of name as renters or prospective buyers? What seemed to be the best marketing tool? General adds? Home Improvement ads? Radio ads? Internet? How is your screening process? Are you allowed to pull ‘credit’ from these people with no legal implications?
Question for you and the board - (IN COLORADO and most states), If a current seller has a lease with a renter can the new owner tear up the lease or do they have to abide by it? Reason, I am in the process of bidding on a home in Colorado Springs, CO. The home is rented till July 2007 with a lease in place. The people who rent are professionals. I DO NOT WANT to change the lease or kick them out. I want to keep them in and possibly keep them as renters or give them a lease option to purchase.
I figured that the current owner can not kick them out. This will hinder their sale since the only people who can buy this are investors. If so, a prospective buyer, who wants to occupy the property, would either have to buy out the lease or make some sort of concessions. IF the renters do not care about money, they may find a legal struggle in court over this. Most home buyers will not waste their time on this situation. This gives me a bargaining point on this home.
Your thoughts?
JOHN
Continued success!!
Hi everyone! (Long and I’ll apologize in advance)
I want to thank those of you who have dropped me separate e-mails of encouragement. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated them – encouragement from my fellow investors means more to me than anything. We all are in the same boat. So a massive thank you!
To wrap this one up – six weeks and I’m going to write my closing post to this thread. We’re finishing a minor punch list, I have the legal right now to remove the trash (Thursday, yay) and the carpet goes in on Thursday as well – that finishes the job with the exception of me hand scrubbing the tile floors and toilets once again LOL. Plus it’s rented already with zero advertising costs. They move in on November 1.
I picked this property up on September 6, a courthouse sale. I had no clue how many bedrooms or bathrooms the house had, nor the layout – I did know the square footage and when they permitted major improvements. I did my due diligence and knew it was a good deal as long as the front wasn’t a fake facade – I based my highest bid on only numbers, using the worst-case scenario. Scary! I do not recommend this for a new investor. I’ve been doing this for a while and this was my first basically blind bid.
Yes, we did have some issues: the pets (alive and dead) left behind, the amazing amount of garbage and contractor issues. Those were all overcome by following the law and dealing honestly with those working for us and the contracts we had in hand prior to work starting. All worked out. Keith does say, and this is so true: That which does not kill you will make you stronger. Thanks Keith for those great words.
There were the amazing positives to this particular investment which I did not anticipate. All did work out with the contractor and the garbage. I met some of the most amazing people – including my new tenants. Since I work in my houses, I get to “sell” them as far as renting them to anyone who shows up to see it. This gives me one-on-one time with all those who come by to visit because there is a “For Rent” sign in front along with lots of trucks and cars letting prospective tenants know, someone is there. I usually pound my company sign into the lawn right after work is seriously underway – people do not have a lot of vision, but if it’s torn to shreds they know something good is happening. A lot of folks do come knocking and I’m always ready to show them my house, no matter what stage of repair it’s in. I always have a finish date for them along with samples of carpet and paint for their viewing. Of course, they never know it’s mine – I’m just the “Property Manager.” This serves me well.
My tenant is a Katrina victim relocating to the Atlanta area. They lost everything! To the point of me assisting them via my contractors for anything they may want to donate to this family. My rent is going to be paid by the government for 18 months (can’t got wrong there).
They will be moving into a home I would live in as soon as the carpet goes in – a new refrigerator has been donated and I’m working on a new living room set for them as well.
Turns out this mess I purchased was a four/two split living plan being renovated by the current owner before his divorce (if you believe a person who leaves a dead dog in a garbage can). There were custom (designed) tile floors in the entry, kitchen, dining and baths. And there was the new kitchen counters on decent cabinets and the beautiful wet bar off the full stone wall fireplace. Bathrooms needed total renovation minus one floor I could keep. All the rest was what I like to call cake work: minor exterior dry rot (then full paint), wall and door damage, full interior repaint including ceilings, minor roof repair, some screened porch repair, all new lighting and faucets, etc. I discovered this after scraping off the filth. An unanticipated expense for me was the trash issue: court costs, and the expense of getting it out of there between a crew, the costs of dumpsters and trash companies, and then how to dispose of things like tires and old appliances – that added up to over $1,500 due to the toxic nature of some of what was left behind.
This is hard work – anyone who says investors don’t earn their money – don’t invest in real estate.
Take care all and thank you again for reading this rehab story. We can call this one done.
I wish you all the best of investing.
Congrats Tami…another one “in the books”!
We finished the work on one last week, too (the whole thing a cake walk compared to yours!)…mostly painting and cleaning up. It had vinyl siding and responded to a good power washing. We put the “for Rent” sign out Friday and the calls started immediately (literally! The first call came in less than 5 minutes after the sign went up!)…it hasn’t stopped ringng since (it’s Sunday morning in the ‘Bible Belt’ so it’s a little quieter now!)…probabaly 40+ calls since noon on Friday. No ad in the paper, just a lawn sign.
Great job…go get the next one!
Keith
Hey,
Way to go, Tammy. Congratulations. Your posts are good experience for all of us if not an experience for you. Thanks for sharing.
Peace,
Richard
keith, i had the same thing happen with my first rental experience. I put the for rent sign in the window, and i left. I got 4 blocks down the street and i had a call on it. I think it was the neighbors just trying to see how much i wanted as they sat out on their porch and watched me do the rehab, but i had about a dozen calls and had my deposit within 5 days of putting the sign up and the first months rent 2 days before they got completely moved in. Theyve been decent tennants so far with the exception of being 4 or5 days late on occasion. Now i have my second rehabb done and on the market to be sold…to much profit in this one to just rent out. Going tonight to look at my 3rd house to rehab, and this one I will probably keep and use as my second rental. They are asking 32,500 for it, and i plan on getting it for $25k. Put $7,000 into it and rent it out for $550 per month. But we’ll have to see here. the $7k is just a guestimate by looking at the outside. Should be interesting, i’ll let you guys know.
Congrats Tami, on your latest and greatest!!
We’ve gotten another 25-30 calls since I posted. It’ll rent today if the credit and background checks come back good on the Air Force folks that want to rent it. We love the military market!
Keith
Congratulations Keith! Don’t you love it went the tenants are knocking on your door?!
Take care all.