Real Estate Investor's Team Part 4

Here it is... the last role we will include in the real estate investors team is a reliable contractor. If you do a search for contractors in your area you will probably come up with dozens to choose from. However, just as with your real estate agent you will want to do a bit of homework to be sure you choose a professional who is experienced, reliable, and does quality work.

A few things to consider. Does the contractor have a license and what is the class of the license (A,B,C)? How long has he/she been in business? Are they able to provide you with any references? Are there any reviews online about this business? Seek out state run websites like this one to review license info and any complaints on file. It's also never a bad idea to look them up on the better business bureau site as well.

We have worked with contractors who walked out on jobs, finished months past deadlines, and did poor quality work....but we have also worked with a contractor who did great work, finished in the time we agreed upon, and was very professional throughout the process. One key point to remember is not to simply look for cheap labor. BELIEVE ME....in most if not all cases you get what you pay for.

Real Estate Investors Team Part 3

So let's keep it going with the real estate series. We have already explored why having a good attorney and realtor is crucially important and those are two fairly obvious relationships to build. The next role that is important for most investors is knowledgeable mortgage broker.

                                                                                                               Mortgage Broker

                                 

It seems to me that the lending business is an ever evolving facet of the real estate industry, especially in more recent years. You will need a mortgage broker or loan officer who is familiar with the loan options and regulations that might apply to your specific situation. This is unless of course you are able to completley fund a deal on your own. Perhaps you find a property that is exceptionally cheap or maybe you are the kind of person that just has a couple hundred grand lying around, I don't know, but if either is the case you may not need a lender at all.

Understanding your loan is key..what is your interest rate...is this an ARM (adjustable rate mortgage)? If so how far up or down can it adjust? When can it adjust? Is this an interest only loan? How many years is the loan for..15..30? Are there pre-payment penalties? Is the loan assumable? Can the loan be sold to another lender? These are all things to know/understand and good loan officer or mortgage broker can help you with this.

So there you have it, the third role is a mortgage broker.

DIY:Secretary Desk Re-do Coming Soon!

One womans's trash truly is another woman's treasure and craigs list is a great way to find these treasures! Andrew and I recently picked up this great piece, an old secretary desk and I am siked to give it a new life! Be on the look out for this beauty in the next week or so.

 

Real Estate Investor's Team Part 2

A few days ago I wrote a post HERE about the team of professionals that I suggested you surround yourself with before you get started investing in real estate. The first role was that of a real estate attorney, the second role I will discuss today, which is a GOOD

                                                                                            REAL ESTATE AGENT

                                    

The scary thing about this role is that it's fairly easy to become a real estate agent and it's not always as easy to tell the difference between awesome agents that take their job seriously and people who just wanted to make their own hours. Andrew and I have worked with SEVERAL (seven to be exact) real estate agents and only ended up maintaining a relationship with one.

Why is this role so critically important? Investors truly need experienced, serious agents. This is the individual who will be marketing your property for sale, negotiating with buyers on your behalf, advising you on pricing in your area and handling your potential offers. You need this person to be professional, responsive, and ideally experienced in working with investors (since it is very different than working with first time home buyers for example). You should consider interviewing several agents before choosing the person that will work best for your needs. Don't just call the agent who listed the house your interested in or the guy who happens to have the biggest ad in the real estate book.

We have had many encounters with agents over the past several years that I hope you never have to experience such as...

*Agent burped and smoked cigarettes while he showed us potential properties...I don't even know  what to say about that.

* Agent showed up to show me a property with wet hair and wearing sweat pants. This is a red flag. First this shows me that you don't take me seriously as a buyer. Second, if we rehab a house and use this agent again to sell, how will she present herself to other potential buyers?

 * Agent stopped responding to phone calls after we put an offer on a house and had a closing date. Just because the deal is locked in does not mean the agents job is done...

 * Agent showed up late to meetings with Andrew, the contractor and I. Punctuality is always appreciated, especially when there are multiple parties involved.

 * Agent was supposed to show us a property, sent someone else instead without notice and always called and emailed through his assistant. This is where a good and experienced agent may turn out to bite you in the behind. I swear I had one phone conversation with this guy to set up a showing and he was "too busy" to speak with us directly ever again. Although his assistant was very nice.

There has to be a balance.These incidents did not all involve the same agent or company...This is why I suggest shopping around before choosing an agent. On the flip side of these scenarios are agents who are fantastic. Professional, responsive, knowledgeable and experienced. That's what you need.

Realtors, feel free to leave a comment or link to your website.

Work From Home: United Health Group

Just a quick post on a few work from home jobs I found recently. United Health Group seems to have quite a few telecommuting postitions open. As of today they have a number of ads on career builder. If you have experience in any of the fields they are hiring for you may be in luck! A few that I have seen posted are Intake Manager, Field RN Case Manager, Business Analyst, Clinical Quality Analyst, and Claims Business Process Consultant. There are several more so you may want to hop over to career builder and check em' out!

Real Estate Investor's Team: Part 1

So here we go, kicking it off with a couple suggestions for you in the real estate series. First off, here is my little disclaimer. I speak from personal experience. As I mentioned in my first post in this series my husband and I are real estate investors and landlords, however I am not an agent, broker, lender, contractor, attorney or anything of the sort so again, I speak from personal opinion and experience. Now with that said, let's get down to business.

If you are considering seriously investing in real estate and potentially managing your own rentals you are probably pretty anxious to jump out there and find some deals. My suggestion to you however would be to take step back, breath, and  first put together your "team". Yea, your team...there are a few different professionals that you should seek out BEFORE you ever move forward on a deal or even start looking at properties. I will discuss the first role in this post and the others over the next few days so keep checking back!

                                                                                                                 REAL ESTATE ATTORNEY

The first relationship you should establish is with a good real estate attorney. It's so easy these days to take a much easier and less expensive route to self property management. Just google a little info on landlord vs. tenant laws for your state, download a lease agreement online and boom your in business....risky business.
This may seem like a good way to get started but it may be a decision you live to regret. There are 4 million scenarios that can go down when you are investing in a new property or managing a rental that you already own and it is much easier to handle if you have a pre-established relationship with a good legal professional. I have called our attorney for advice and documents dozens of times this year alone and had I not had his legal advice in these situations we would be out of pocket thousands of dollars...literally. I'll quickly outline for you a few of the situations that we have come across where having an attorney came in handy.

1. Tenant pays rent late, only pays a portion of the rent, or stops paying all together. In these situations there are very specific processes that a landlord must follow in order to receive judgement for the amount they are owed (at least there are in Virginia). This may sound simple but believe me it can get very complex. Protect yourself. The other bonus here is that in many cases if you end up having to go to court the attorney may go on your behalf which makes life much simpler and more convenient for you!

2. Creating a lease agreement. As I mentioned before, you can easily find lease agreements online and even at some office supply stores, however if you find yourself in some sort of legal bind with a tenant you may end up wishing that you didn't have some generic 19.99 lease you found online. Having your own custom lease drawn up allows you to have a more comprehensive document with information that is specific to the property you are renting and in accordance with the state laws where you live.

3. Contractor walks off the job. This scenario applies most often to rehabs as opposed to rentals. If you have a contractor working on a big job for you, let's say 30,000 worth of work and for whatever reason the relationship goes south, you will never be more thankful to have good legal advice a phone call away. This is why I suggest having a relationship with an attorney before problems arise so you are not shopping around for legal advice in a moment of crisis.

4. Closing on new property. This is not a necessity but when you are closing on a new property it is nice to have the peace of mind that your own attorney's office handled the deal. Not to mention he or she may give you a little better price on closing if you already have a relationship with them and bring them business often.

5. Lease purchase agreements: If you are going to allow someone to lease purchase your home you will need someone to draw up the agreement and eventually handle the closing. This is also a situation where you could potentially expose yourself to unnecessary vulnerability if you are not careful, having an attorney in your corner is a must.

So there you have it... first step...get an attorney!

Painting a Ceramic Tub

When you own a home and decide to rent it out, it's always a toss up as to whether you will get it back in decent condition. Unfortunatley in some cases tenants leave homes in much worse shape then the way they found them. Andrew and I just happened to be in that sitation exactly with one of our rental properties recently...

The tenants had lived in the house for about three years and left it pretty beat up. One of the areas of the house that was in need of serious help was the upstairs bathroom tub which looked like this...

 After much scrubbing with every cleaner known to man, the tub still looked the same. It was literally stained that way. Ideally in a situation like this you would buy a bath fitter or some sort of insert to cover to whole tub/shower and give it a more updated look all around. However, we needed a "budget friendly" solution for this and a bath fitter wasn't going to cut it. So we used ceramic tub and tile paint.

The paint worked like a charm and the bath tub literally looks brand new. My only complaint about this product is the fumes are extremely overwhelming. Even with all the upstairs windows open while wearing a mask it was still VERY strong.  Anyhow in the end the tub looked like this.