SMARTERLANDLORDING

ADVICE FROM EXPERIENCE

Kevin

The Importance of Networking

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Smarter Landlords always take the opportunity to network.

Networking is simply meeting and greeting different people, telling them what you do, exchanging business cards perhaps and basically establishing a professional relationship.

You might think that networking is not very important for the buy and hold type investor.  But it is.  Because you never know where a deal might be or when it may pop up.

Here is an example.

Someone you briefly met last year and exchanged business cards with has just inherited a house he does not want.  He remembers you buy real estate, finds your card and gives you a call.

You may have just gotten a great deal on a rental property.   But what if it is not in an area you want to invest in?

Well, because you have been going to your local REIA meetings, you know folks who do invest in that area.  You make a few phones calls.

Another investor says he will purchase the property.  You put the two together.  He buys it, fixes it up a little and flips it to another buy and hold investor.

You get paid a finders fee.  Your fellow investor makes money from a flip.  Another investor has a cashflowing asset and the original property owner is glad to be rid of something he saw as a problem.  Everyone is happy and a little bit better off due to a little bit of past networking.

Networking works!

Your networking goal is to let as many people as possible know you are in the real estate buying business.  It does not matter if they are in real estate or not.  Let them know what you do and how to contact you.  Your networking strategy should involve many approaches.

Always carry business cards and hand them to everyone you meet.

Attend local REIA and other professional group meetings.  Our local REIA has a time and place specifically set aside for networking.

To the new guy, networking is not always the easiest thing to do.  You have to force yourself to get off the wall and get out there and talk to people.  I had to learn this myself and I am still learning it today.

Smarter Landlords remember that real estate is really a people business, and the more people you meet, the more they can help you.  This is the power of networking, you helping others and others helping you.

Finding the Financing

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Exclusive for Smarter Landlording

Finding the Financing

By: Jimmy Moncrief

Since I know Smarter Landlording readers are focused on working “smarter, not harder” I wanted to write about a smarter way to get financing.

When acquiring a property the vast majority of real estate investors spend 99.9% of their time looking property.  They make a ton of offers, finally get a property under contract, then frantically scramble for financing.

Does that seem smart to you?

Of-course not.

Here is the smart way to pursue “smart financing”

Have a goal this week of making contact with at least 1 lending institution a day.

Here’s the schedule:

Monday: 2 credit unions

Tuesday: 2 small community banks

Wednesday: 2 regional banks

Thursday: 2 national banks

Friday: 2 hard money lenders

When you call ask for the person that makes commercial loans.  Commercial lenders are less restricted by consumer regulations.  They will be significantly more flexible. Before you start telling them about yourself. Simply ask them what kind of loans they are looking for.

At the end of the week, you should have a list of contacts for your next deal.

If you want to take it a step forward, go ahead and send them the information they request for a new loan so you are already pre-approved and you know what kind of loan you are qualified for.

Jimmy Moncrief is a bank underwriter and real estate investor.  He writes at: http://realestatefinancehq.com/

He has provided an exclusive report for Smarter Landlording readers: Top 6 Things You can do to Negotiate better terms from Banks: http://realestatefinancehq.com/smarterlandlording

Teach Your Tenants to Help You

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I wrote previously about tenants being the eyes and ears of your properties.  Tenants can really save you some serious time and money if you listen closely to what they are saying.

In this post I want to talk about another way your tenants can help you save time and money.  All it takes is a little bit of teaching and training on the front end at  move in.

The key here is to understand that tenants are not homeowners.  They likely have never owned and therefore never learned about a house and its systems.  They do not know how the electrical and plumbing systems function.  They also don’t know how appliances work except that you push the “on” button to make it go.

Your job as a smarter landlord is to teach them about some of the basics of these systems.  Once you do that they will be able to help you solve minor problems which will in turn save you time money and even aggravation

So here are some of the basics we go over with new tenants to help them help us.

  1. The Breaker Box – Do not assume that your tenants know how to work breakers or even what a breaker is.  We show our tenants the electrical breaker box and how breakers work.   We explain what a tripped breaker is and tell them what it causes.  We then show them how reset it the breaker.
  2. Gas Cut Off Valves – We show our tenants how to shut off the gas.  We explain what gas smells like and instruct them if they notice a faint smell of gas to shut off the gas and call us right away.
  3. Water Cut Off Valves – We like to show our tenants where the various water cut off valves are located and how they work.  Surging water can cause major damage really fast.
  4. Appliances – We explain how to run the washer and dryer.  Many just do not know that you cannot wash all of your rugs at once.  They also do not know that a clogged lint trap or vent pipe will prevent the dryer from heating properly
  5. HVAC System – Believe it or not, we once got a call that a tenant’s heat was out.  After going over there, the only problem was that she had hot turned the thermostat to the heat setting.  Now, we show them how to the thermostat works.   Plus we explain the importance of changing filters and also leave a few filters near the HVAC unit.
  6. The Toilet – I once got a call late one night from a tenant telling me the toilet had broken completely and was unusable.  When I got there the pull chain from the flush handle had come off.  The toilet was certainly still usable.  So now in addition to the cut off valve, we also explain the inner workings of the toilet tank.

By showing tenants these few items you can really save yourself some time, money and aggravation.  Your tenants will now be able to flip that tripped breaker, turn off the water until you get over there tomorrow to check it out and not ruin your washing machine by washing every towel at once.  It does make things a little bit easier.  Helping them learn helps you.

What’s The Rent?

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Smarterlandlords want to maximize their investments by maximizing rental income.  That means they need to be charging top dollar for their rental properties.  Problem is, how do they know what to charge?  Here are some tips and tools to help.

 

 

 

  1. Talk to other landlords.  Most have no problems telling you what they get in rents because they want to verify what they are doing as well.  Where do you find other landlords?  You can find then at your local REIA.
  2. Scan Craig’s List.  Most landlords will put “for rent” ads up on this site.  You can refine your search in a variety of ways and target your market.
  3. There are several other tools available online.  Use them to establish a base.  But be careful.  Some of the data on these sites can be a bit misleading.  So know your market. Here are a few of the most popular.
    • Hotpads.com – The place to find your place.  Do a search here like you would for Craig’s List.
    • Rentmetrics.com  – Claims to be real time rent comparable data for real estate professionals.  I took a look around for my area and was impressed.
    • Renometer.com  – Paying too much or charging too little?  Cool site but it gave me quite a range for my area.
    • Zillow.com – Search the for rent section to see what you can find.  This site is nice, but it also gives me quite a range.

Remember however that these websites only show what rent was being asked for.  They do not really show you what the landlord actually got in rent.  So again, use these sites as a starting point.

  1. Finally, depending on your market, you may have to drive around and look for “for rent” signs and give them a call.  Some markets are just not going to be as accessible on the internet.

Once you have done your research, try putting your property on the rental market for as high as you think it can go.  If it does not rent in a week or so, you are likely asking too much, drop the price until you find a renter.  Only then will you truly know how much the rent is.

Herding Cats

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Previously, I wrote about having your offer accepted.  In that article, I touched on some of the major items that you will need to keep up with, such as inspections and appraisals.  There are however a whole host of other things that you need to keep up with as well.  In fact getting to the closing table can sometimes be like trying to herd cats.

Real estate transactions involve several players.   Each player has their own role to play in you having a successful closing.  There is your attorney, the seller’s attorney, each attorney’s assistant, the lender, the lender’s assistant, the appraiser, the title searcher, the insurance agent, the bank inspector, the termite inspector, etc., etc.

Keeping up with all of this can be a challenge.  But, if you want to close on your deal by the date defined in your contract, it is in your best interest to make sure all of these players work together.  In other words, get used to herding cats.

Many of these players are swamped with other projects and real estate deals.  Yours can easily get lost in the shuffle.  I have not seen a real estate attorney’s office yet that was not stacked floor to ceiling with files.  So you have to protect your interest in getting the deal done.  No one else will care like you will.

What you as the smarter investor need to do is start a simple file as soon as you offer is accepted.  Yes, get an old fashioned legal sized file folder, write the address of the property on the tab, and put a copy of your signed contract in the file.  Then attach this Closing Information Sheet on the front cover.

This Closing Information Sheet is the one we use to keep up with our closings.  It lists all the players, gives dates when things like appraisals are due and provides a checklist to make sure we do not miss anything.  Feel free to download a copy of it here.  You will be thankful you did.  Because when herding cats, you need all the help you can get.

Announcing Our Newest Blogger!

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I am proud to announce that Jenna Stonecipher will be joining SmarterLandlording as a blogger.

Jenna is what some of us more experienced folks would call a “newbie” who has just purchased her first investment property.  She took the leap and bought a vacant tri-plex in need of rehab.

Jenna will be writing about her experiences as a new real estate investor and sharing her thoughts on learning about real estate investing, searching for properties and getting the money to buy them.  Plus it should be fun and interesting to watch as she goes through the rehab process, finds tenants and then searches for her next deal.  All with a little help from yours truly thrown in every once in a while as well.

So welcome aboard Jenna, we look forward to your posts!

 

My Offer Was Accepted, Now What?

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You have gotten to know your market.  You have a pretty good idea of what a good buy and hold deal is. You just negotiated an offer.   It got accepted.  It is your first deal!  Now what?

That depends on what is in your purchase contract and how you are planning to purchase the property.  No two contracts are the same but most have several standard parts.  These can include:

  1. Buying the property “as is.”
  2. A property inspection period.
  3. A review of leases and financials.
  4. The need for some type of financing to close the deal, likely from a bank.
  5. A way out or escape clause.

So let’s go through each one.

  1. Many investors buy investment properties as is.  Buying a property “as is” means exactly that.  You are buying the property as it is where it is and the seller will not make any repairs.  It is incumbent upon you to know what you are getting into and what, if any, repairs and upgrades are needed and what they will cost.  To find all this out you need an inspection period.
  2. Just because you are buying a property “as is” does not mean you should not inspect it.  In fact you should!  During initial negotiations you may only have seen portions of the property.  Now is the time to see it all.  Your inspection should include all rental units, attics, basements, crawl spaces, roofs, etc.  Anyplace you can get into.  If you are new to this, you may want to hire a property inspector or at least take a trusted contractor with you.  During this inspection period you should be doing two things, making a list of repairs needed and looking for major damage and/or problems you were not aware of.  If you find major damage or problems, it may be time to go back to the negotiating table.  If the seller will not renegotiate, use your escape clause and back away from the deal.
  3. Get copies of all leases and at least two years of past income and expense reports.  Read these over carefully.  You will be inheriting the tenants and they come with certain rights.  You can’t just kick them out because you are the new owner, you will have to live with them for a while.  Be sure you are aware of what you are getting into.  Make sure utility payments jive with what you were told for example.  Do the tenants really pay them, or are they listed as expenses on the expense report?  Depending on what you find, you may need to renegotiate.  Again, if the seller is unwilling to do so, you may need to back away from the deal.
  4. Finally, if you are getting bank financing, there will be an appraisal.  Always, always, always go to the appraisal and meet the appraiser.  This person can make or break your deal depending on how they value the property.  Be helpful to the appraiser.  Take them some comps if you can.  Hold their measuring tape for them.  Explain to them, or better yet provide a list of the repairs and upgrades you plan to make.  Do all you can to ensure the appraisal goes well.
  5. This is pretty self explanatory.  If something goes wrong, such as unexpected and costly repairs, you need a way out as we see in 2 and 3 above.  But only use it if you absolutely have to.  If you make an offer, you should have every intention to close.

Assuming all is in order and has gone well, your next job is to secure insurance for the property.  Find a good insurance agent who understands your market and understands investment property.  Trust me, not all of them do.  You can often find one at your local REIA.

Finally, develop a checklist to make sure all of these various pieces get placed in their proper slots.  Do not just assume that the appraiser has the proper address to send the appraisal.  Do not just assume that your insurance agent has sent the proper forms to the right places.

It is your job to follow up with all of these people and make sure that everything gets to the right place in time to close.  E-mail the bank to make sure they have the appraisal scheduled and that they receive the appraisal when completed for example.  Nobody else cares about this deal as much as you do and often times you need to expend some energy to get all the pieces together.

Only then, once it all has been fitted together, then maybe, you will close on your first deal.  Congratulations!  Now the real fun begins.

Tax Appeal Deadline July 31

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The deadline to file an appeal with the Shelby County, TN Board of Equalization  is rapidly approaching.  If you want to challenge your recent property appraisal by the Shelby County Assessor’s Office, you have until July 31st to file.  I will be filing appeals for several properties.

You can download the forms you need and file online here.

A word of caution though, if you file online you will not get a receipt.  There will be no record that you have filed.  I would recommend printing out your forms from the link above and actually taking them in person to the office to get a receipt.  You do not want to “get lost in the mail” so to speak.

Tenants Are Your Eyes and Ears

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You can’t be at your properties 24/7, but things can certainly go wrong 24/7.  Your tenants are your first set of eyes and ears that can alert you to something gone wrong.  Your job as landlord is to determine when something requires your immediate attention.

A smarter landlord listens closely to what their tenants are saying.  Tenants are not property experts.  Something that seems like a huge problem to the tenant may not be a huge problem.  But, something that seems small to the tenant may in fact be a huge problem.  Here is what I am getting at.

The other night a tenant called after business hours.  We ask tenants not to call after hours unless it is a true emergency, but the definition of true emergency can get muddled.  Anyway, the tenant says that half of the building’s power is out.  Some things are on, others are not.  And, it is not just in his unit, everyone is reporting the same issue.

The thing here is that his report was odd.  If all power is out, it is likely a utility problem.  If only some power in one unit is out, it is likely that a breaker is tripped.  But here not all power is out in all units.  This is odd and odd things should get your attention.  So I went over.  Turns out a tree branch had broken a power line and knocked out one phase of the power.  This explains why some power was on and some was out.  However when I was there I could hear the AC condensers trying to kick on, but not having enough power to do so they were burning themselves up.  If I had let this go overnight, they would have burned up and cost me thousands in repairs.

Another time a tenant complained about lights flickering.  No big deal I thought.  But she also mentioned her phone charger plug had melted in the outlet.  That is odd.  Something is wrong.  Power is surging somewhere.  Long story short, when I got there the meter was literally smoking hot.  I was minutes away from a major fire.  That tenant saved the building and who knows, maybe a life.

Another time a tenant called and complained of a musty smell.  Now you might not think a musty smell is such a bad thing but what causes a musty smell?  The answer is water.  Water is collecting somewhere, likely somewhere hidden.  It could be between walls or under the house because of a broken pipe.  It is something you need to check out before the walls, floors and everything else becomes mildew infested and rot.

So learn to use your tenant’s eyes and ears.  You don’t have to respond to every request right away.  But you must learn when you should.  If they are telling you about something out of the ordinary, you might want to check it out.

What to Watch to Know Your Market

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Last time I wrote about the importance of knowing your market.  You never want to go out and just buy an investment property for the sake of buying a property.  Rather, you want to make a calculated investment decision.  And in order to do that, you need to know your market. 

But what exactly does that mean “know your market?”  What should you be watching?

Here are four items that I watch almost every day.

  1. What is the Rent? – What are properties in your market renting for?  You simply have to know what type of income you can expect before you can make any purchase decision.  How do you watch them?  You scan Craig’s List, read the classified ads, call for rent signs pretending to be a potential tenant and talk to other landlords at your local REIA club.
  2. Where is the Rent Going? – Are rents in your market steady, going up or going down?  This factor obviously can drive many an investment decision.  If you see rents going up, perhaps it is time to ratchet up your buying, if they are going down, perhaps you should consider another market.
  3. What are Properties Selling For? – As buy and hold investors, we are generally concerned with one thing, positive cash flow, hence our focus on numbers one and two above.  Price is also a very important factor in that cash flow calculation.  You need to be keenly aware of property values and prices in your market, because when a deal comes on the market you have to spot it and act quickly sometimes to beat others to it.  You can’t do that unless you know your market.  My Sunday paper prints listings of sales every week.  Working with a realtor from your local REIA group can also be very handy here.
  4. Know Who is Buying In Your Market – No I do not mean by name, but what the buyers’ goals are.  Are they owner occupants or are they investors or both.  Knowing this information may help you determine your next move.  If there are many owner occupants they may be driving prices too high for a reasonable cash flow return and it may be time to find a new market.  If there are a lot of investor types, you may have found a good rental market, but the competition may be stiff to get properties.  I like to watch the daily property transfers here.  Your location may have a similar publication or website.

If you watch this information continuously, you will soon develop a very good feel for your market.   You will become a much smarter real estate investor.