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Old 09-07-2014, 09:28 AM
 
28,115 posts, read 63,704,357 times
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There are people that are naturals for every job and others that are quick learners...

I made a huge mistake when starting out... had my little home for rent and a family new to the area wanted to rent it... they still had everything in a Uhaul truck...

Being somewhat Naive, I rented to them on a Friday night and accepted a Cashier's Check...

Next Tuesday the bank called and said the Check is bogus...

I never got a single penny from them, spent the equivalent of a month's rent on legal fees, lost 3 months rent and they took my new stove!

Talk about a fast learning curve and learning from the school of hard knocks...

Never thought this nice family would lie right to my face... later found out I was not the first victim of their scam.

I'd say it takes about 5 years in the business to become seasoned...

Here's the title of a book I've recommended to others starting out and one that helped me a lot...

Landlording by Leigh Robinson

http://www.landlording.com/landlording_006.htm

I also recommend joining your local apartment association if for nothing else other than to make contacts...
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Old 09-07-2014, 02:22 PM
 
603 posts, read 847,217 times
Reputation: 121
I take a class to get my property management certification at the end of the month.
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Old 09-09-2014, 02:13 AM
 
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
10,355 posts, read 8,581,497 times
Reputation: 16698
So how does this certificate help you when I truly believe your numbers are way off?
Simply hiring a property manager out of state? That is probably the hardest thing to do and control. It's easier finding and buying the property. Too many people think hiring a property manager is all it takes and a ton of those people have lost a lot of money. You might be confusing out of state property managers with those that care as much as you do and will look after it like you would. That is pretty rare. I know of several investors who have property in Atlanta but don't live there. Among all of them none can seem to find a property manager they are happy with and many have been shared and tried.

I even had someone who has owned rentals in Atlanta and lives there ask me for a property manager recommendation because they are not happy with the managers there. I live in California, but I network with a lot of other investors and she hoped I knew of someone.

Do yourself a favor and find a good manager before you even buy a property. Even then a lot of them sound good until you are actually doing it and things start to go wrong. Then many managers will put you on the back burner and you will lose money.
I've dealt with a lot of out of state property managers. Trust me it's hard to find one that does a really good job.
I know of one guy who had the same ideas as you except he had money. He bought 3 out of state rentals and was relying on a property manager. He thought it was all automatic and simple. Within 6 months all 3 went vacant with back rents due. Guess the property manager didn't do a good job for him. He lost money and continues to lose about $3500 a month until he can get good tenants in. Guess what-he can't find a new property manager he trusts to take over and is stuck.

Honestly I am somewhat experienced in real estate investing but had a hard time still with out of state property. Based on what you've posted it sounds like you are pretty naive and have stars in your eyes about this. Be really careful. The fact that your estimates are off and other things you've said tell me that right now you really don't know what's going on. You said you are thinking of getting an SBA loan for your down payment? Huh????? That's not going to fly.
More than likely getting a mortgage will be hard to. Rental property is much different than buying owner occupied. Hopefully you have a decent income because lenders don't count all of the rents plus sometimes ask how much experience you've had as a landlord. They like to see a few years, not just a few months.

Good luck, but be careful.
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Old 09-10-2014, 05:05 AM
 
11 posts, read 36,333 times
Reputation: 11
Default Take a class or just get an advisor when investing?

Well, if you are interested in real estate estate investment or want to know more about real estate marketing or strategies then i prefer you that consult with an advisor who will help you for all without any fret. He will explain you each and every steps towards real estate investment.
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Old 09-10-2014, 01:35 PM
 
603 posts, read 847,217 times
Reputation: 121
Quote:
Originally Posted by aslowdodge View Post
So how does this certificate help you when I truly believe your numbers are way off?

Honestly I am somewhat experienced in real estate investing but had a hard time still with out of state property. Based on what you've posted it sounds like you are pretty naive and have stars in your eyes about this. Be really careful. The fact that your estimates are off and other things you've said tell me that right now you really don't know what's going on. You said you are thinking of getting an SBA loan for your down payment? Huh????? That's not going to fly.

Good luck, but be careful.
I'm not naive and do not have stars in my eyes. Like I said in previous posts, I'm not interested in real estate with the dream of becoming a millionaire. I would enjoy doing it for a little extra income.

My numbers being off has nothing to with the certification I'm going after. That certification is first off, a requirement for the job I already have, and second off, another way to learn more. It has nothing to do with investing, it's more of a way to learn more about property management.
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Old 09-10-2014, 10:24 PM
 
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
10,355 posts, read 8,581,497 times
Reputation: 16698
Quote:
Originally Posted by strikefirefall View Post
I'm not naive and do not have stars in my eyes. Like I said in previous posts, I'm not interested in real estate with the dream of becoming a millionaire. I would enjoy doing it for a little extra income.

My numbers being off has nothing to with the certification I'm going after. That certification is first off, a requirement for the job I already have, and second off, another way to learn more. It has nothing to do with investing, it's more of a way to learn more about property management.

You keep jumping around. First you post
"I'm really interested in real estate investment. I would love to do it full time but just had a question about getting started."

then you say "I know. I'm currently a resident manager." and talk about the certification you're going after. Okay if it has nothing to do with investing why bring it up?

You also say
"I'm sorry but I forgot to mention that I want to initially invest in multi-family properties. I currently manage an apartment building, so I wouldn't need to hire a property management company off the bat. I would only do so once the workload became too much."

also you say
"There are some cheap properties in certain states. I was also considering going for a small business loan."
and
"I've seen a couple of small properties that with a down payment of $30k to $40k, with a full occupancy rate, you would be able to bring in around $14,000/year after the mortgage is paid every month. Set aside a couple thousand a year for insurance, maintenance, and taxes, and you could bring in maybe $8k to $10k a year, which doesn't seem bad."

Okay this doesn't make sense. You say you manage a building so you wouldn't need to hire a manger, so how do you manage those other cheap properties in other states?

While your numbers being off have nothing to do with your certification directly, they have everything do do with your success. You seemed to indicate you could make money with those numbers which were very incomplete and inaccurate. All of these things go hand in hand and you saying your certification has nothing to do with investing and only a way to learn about property management is being pretty naive again.
Guess what? Property management has everything to do with investing in real estate. I know people doing very well that have no certification in Property management but make money in real estate. I've seen property managers that have certifications but still manage to do a poor job.
That's why a lot of people fail, they don't realize it's a full package and you must be proficient in all aspects to do well and keep from getting burned. Sorry but so many statements you made seem to contradict each other.
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Old 09-11-2014, 04:50 PM
 
603 posts, read 847,217 times
Reputation: 121
Quote:
Originally Posted by aslowdodge View Post
You keep jumping around. First you post
"I'm really interested in real estate investment. I would love to do it full time but just had a question about getting started."

then you say "I know. I'm currently a resident manager." and talk about the certification you're going after. Okay if it has nothing to do with investing why bring it up?

You also say
"I'm sorry but I forgot to mention that I want to initially invest in multi-family properties. I currently manage an apartment building, so I wouldn't need to hire a property management company off the bat. I would only do so once the workload became too much."

also you say
"There are some cheap properties in certain states. I was also considering going for a small business loan."
and
"I've seen a couple of small properties that with a down payment of $30k to $40k, with a full occupancy rate, you would be able to bring in around $14,000/year after the mortgage is paid every month. Set aside a couple thousand a year for insurance, maintenance, and taxes, and you could bring in maybe $8k to $10k a year, which doesn't seem bad."

Okay this doesn't make sense. You say you manage a building so you wouldn't need to hire a manger, so how do you manage those other cheap properties in other states?

While your numbers being off have nothing to do with your certification directly, they have everything do do with your success. You seemed to indicate you could make money with those numbers which were very incomplete and inaccurate. All of these things go hand in hand and you saying your certification has nothing to do with investing and only a way to learn about property management is being pretty naive again.
Guess what? Property management has everything to do with investing in real estate. I know people doing very well that have no certification in Property management but make money in real estate. I've seen property managers that have certifications but still manage to do a poor job.
That's why a lot of people fail, they don't realize it's a full package and you must be proficient in all aspects to do well and keep from getting burned. Sorry but so many statements you made seem to contradict each other.
I mentioned being a resident manager because the poster brought up knowing how to manage a property. So I told that I currently do that and am learning more as I go along.

So my calculations were wrong. Ok. I get it. You seem to want to just attack for no reason, so I won't even bother to respond to your comments any longer.
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Old 09-16-2014, 06:54 AM
 
Location: All Over
4,003 posts, read 6,105,294 times
Reputation: 3163
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrRational View Post
First lesson: Don't confuse RE investing with landlording.
Landlording is a JOB that requires a willingness to work.
Few people with good jobs can justify the time even if they have the skills.
Plenty of part time landlords easily managing 2-3 properties. Yeah it can be work but you can also go months or years without ever getting a single call or having to make a repair so people shouldn't be scared off.
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Old 09-16-2014, 06:57 AM
 
Location: All Over
4,003 posts, read 6,105,294 times
Reputation: 3163
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrRational View Post
How many hundreds of thousands of actual cash do you have to work with?
In some markets you could pick up several multi family properties for under 20k. Not all houses are 100K. In an area I'm investigating now in Ohio, wont share city there's properties for 15k to 25k not great but not ghetto, area rents are $700 to $800 pretty good ratio of rent to price of house could have paid off in 2-3 years. In detroit you can pick up multifamily properties for hundreds of dollars even.Not advising people to invest there but you don't need hundreds of thousands liquid cash to be a landlord.
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Old 09-16-2014, 06:58 AM
 
Location: All Over
4,003 posts, read 6,105,294 times
Reputation: 3163
Quote:
Originally Posted by strikefirefall View Post
There are some cheap properties in certain states. I was also considering going for a small business loan.
Not gonna happen. You'll need min 10% down more likely 20% and conventional financing no FHA.
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