Is a master lease a good strategy? The very first rental property Ashley and I ever managed was a little three-bedroom, two-bath house on Kids Drive up in Dalton. At the time, we lived in Villanow, and Dalton was a place we frequented. It was also a place that we did a lot of door knocking trying to find deals, which is how we found the house on Kids…
Why rentals are better than assignment fees I read a great social media post this morning. It was from an investor who was writing to explain why long-term rentals are something wholesalers need to consider when they get houses under contract. And to support his position, he went through the numbers on a recent deal. (Now, I went back to try find you the post so that I…
Time is money more than money When I was first exposed to real estate investing, I was working for an investor down in Atlanta on his rehab crew. The guy’s name was Andy, and he had two of my friends and me doing everything on his rehabs that didn’t require a license, along with some stuff that probably should have. It was great for me. I was getting to…
Don’t get emotional when making an offer If you read the title of this column, you probably already gathered that you shouldn’t get emotional when making an offer. And that’s true — when you get emotional, you tend to make a bad deal. I’ve seen this concept play out in many ways. A newer investor will overbid on property. And since they’re excited about doing their first…
How we handled our rent increase Last week, I talked to you about the increased property maintenance costs landlords are facing on their rental properties. We showed how some repairs are now costing 50% more than they did just a year ago. And we also talked about how price increases are prevalent on both property taxes and insurances. I concluded by showing you how landlords have no other option…
Why rents must go up Price increases are staggering right now. I know everyone is feeling it at the gas pumps and at the grocery stores. But what about us landlords? I can say from personal experience that we are feeling it in lots of places. Let me explain. This last week I was on a call with Matt from Simple CFO. Simple CFO is a company that offers…
This does concern you This week, I met with a seller who had a beautiful, brick ranch in a very desirable subdivision in Calhoun. The house was in very good shape. It needed some updating since it still had original fixtures throughout the house as well as wallpaper from its construction era. The kitchen needed some love too, but it had nice hardwood floors, a great living space and…
Paying on-time is not a favor We experienced an anomaly this month. We had three different tenants who experienced difficulties paying on time, and they all had different circumstances. The first tenant actually did get his payment in on time. Truthfully, he was early. But the difficulty stemmed from the fact that his personal bank account had been closed down due to fraudulent activity, and the rent…
Is now the time to buy? We did something very interesting the other day. We bought a bus. Now, it’s not a school bus. It’s a public, transit-type bus. The reason we were looking for one was because we plan to travel a lot more around the U.S. making the most out of the 18 summers we have left with our kids. As I have told you before, we…
Real estate investing is a team sport I will never forget the last week of December in 2021. That week was a massive departure from the norm for me. It started on Sabbath morning when I awoke to back pain. You see, I hurt my back in the gym the week before Thanksgiving. I was doing an exercise called pendulum squats when I felt something move in my back….