BOOK REVIEW: Fix Em Up Rent Em Out by Terry Spouse
I found this book to be loaded with sound advice. I was able to gleam much information based on the authors actual experience in the rental property business. Not only was his experience appreciated but I also appreciated the fact that he was able to start this venture while still keeping his current job.
In chapter two, Terry covered some of the reasons our family has gotten started into the buying and fixing up of rental properties. Retirement and concerns with the current state of the economy ranked high for us. As we approached the age of 40 we were looking for a better way to secure our future retirement years. Since my husbands work field is in home building & remodeling it seemed foolish not to use our knowledge and skills to work for us. This book helps us learn the areas of the rental business we are not so familiar with.
I think anyone reading this book would feel confident to try the rental property business. In Terry's book he covers the best way to learn, by watching and than doing it yourself. He also supplies plenty of tips about what to watch for when considering a property you want to purchase. Not all properties will work in our favor. Terry makes several points as to some of the things you need to watch out for. All very good and needed advice for anyone starting out.
Let's face it we all wish we had a bag of extra money lying around so we can buy our first property. We didn't! This is a big challenge for many people who wish to get started. Terry discusses different types of financing so you can consider what would work best in your situation. Terry also suggests his favorite method of starting out which allows you to take advantage of the
1997 Taxpayer Relief Act. This is valuable information.
My favorite chapters included Terry's wise advice on how to keep track of items for tax purposes and how to handle problems with tenants. With 6 children, I especially appreciated his understanding on how to involve children in the process. I have read several real estate books and none have ever touched on this topic.
I highly recommend this book to anyone curious about the rental property business. Not only is it easy to read and understand but it is also ideal for anyone wanting to start out fixing up homes or for anyone already involved in the rental property business. We all have so much to share about our experiences and Terry does just that, he shares his experience with a great outlook to the future that others can follow so that they to can succeed.
This is a book I know I will want to reread and share with others.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Is it November Already?
My how time has quickly past!
The end of the year will soon be upon us just as Election Day is.
Our rentals are going well. We should hear something about our rent to own situation after the first of the year. At that time we hope to complete the sale and move on. However, there are two hurdles that will need to be jumped. One is the contract price on the home. Since we all signed the contract the home prices in this area have dropped enough to make this an issue. We wonder if the house will appraise for the contract price. The second hurdle is that the buyers have to qualify for the house. Two biggies. If neither is accomplished than we will keep this home as a rental and move on to the next.
Mr Incredible has had plenty of work this winter so collecting rent and not having another immediate project has been ok.
So it may be while before I post anything again. Or maybe something will come up and I will be back sooner than I thought. You just never know!
The end of the year will soon be upon us just as Election Day is.
Our rentals are going well. We should hear something about our rent to own situation after the first of the year. At that time we hope to complete the sale and move on. However, there are two hurdles that will need to be jumped. One is the contract price on the home. Since we all signed the contract the home prices in this area have dropped enough to make this an issue. We wonder if the house will appraise for the contract price. The second hurdle is that the buyers have to qualify for the house. Two biggies. If neither is accomplished than we will keep this home as a rental and move on to the next.
Mr Incredible has had plenty of work this winter so collecting rent and not having another immediate project has been ok.
So it may be while before I post anything again. Or maybe something will come up and I will be back sooner than I thought. You just never know!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Too much to report
Plenty is going on but just to much to take the time to write about. I'll highlight a few items.
Firstly, our rent to own situation is not going smoothly. The tenants have now paid two months rent but have not moved in. The electric is not on. Not a good sign. Rent is being paid. We will accept that for now. When doing rent to owns you will most likely get someone with not so perfect credit. It has been an interesting situation. Enough on that.
The rentals we manage have had several changes and updates. All good! All the hold over tenants are now gone and we have great renters. Oh happy days!!
Our Section 8 tenant lost some of her benefits and we thought we'd have to look for a new tenant and remodel. But thankfully she is now paying a portion of her rent along with her assistance. This saved us a bunch of time and money!
Before we proceed with our next move we want to discuss our current situation with a tax adviser who is also a real estate investor. In comes Craiglist. We are meeting tomorrow night. I am anxious to hear what she has to say.
We have been looking for another potential property but haven't found anything since we missed the boat. We continue the search. We were hoping to buy another house to fix up this year but we are being patient in our search. We're learning to be patient!
Firstly, our rent to own situation is not going smoothly. The tenants have now paid two months rent but have not moved in. The electric is not on. Not a good sign. Rent is being paid. We will accept that for now. When doing rent to owns you will most likely get someone with not so perfect credit. It has been an interesting situation. Enough on that.
The rentals we manage have had several changes and updates. All good! All the hold over tenants are now gone and we have great renters. Oh happy days!!
Our Section 8 tenant lost some of her benefits and we thought we'd have to look for a new tenant and remodel. But thankfully she is now paying a portion of her rent along with her assistance. This saved us a bunch of time and money!
Before we proceed with our next move we want to discuss our current situation with a tax adviser who is also a real estate investor. In comes Craiglist. We are meeting tomorrow night. I am anxious to hear what she has to say.
We have been looking for another potential property but haven't found anything since we missed the boat. We continue the search. We were hoping to buy another house to fix up this year but we are being patient in our search. We're learning to be patient!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
I HATE missing the boat!
We just went to see this property. It has GREAT potential.
It needs a bit of work. The price is right. Asking $57,900. The area is better than great - it is perfect. It's about 4 miles from our home in a growing town with lots of development and people moving into the area.
Care free stone siding. New metal roof. It's 2 bedroom 1 bath on .5 acres with a large two car detached garage with the potential for a future changeover to a one bedroom house. SWEET!
The only problem is the agent already got a contract. YESTERDAY!
BUMMER!
Talk about missing the boat!!!! I e-mailed her to let her know that if the contract falls through we are interested in knowing about it. One can only try and hope!
Well at least we are back on the saddle, so to speak. HOUSE 2 is on a rent town lease agreement and hopefully theses renters will be ready to qualify in 6 - 12 months. They are excited about the house but probably not as excited as we will be when we cash out and do a 1031 exchange on it.
Life is good!
Tenant Prospect Card
I have been using this on Craiglist when placing an ad for a rental.
It has been a great resource to help us screen potential tenants.
Name:
Phone:
# of People
Reason for Moving:
Pets:
Smoking:
Are you currently employed?
Do you have a landlord reference?
I got the idea for this from http://www.thelpa.com (The Landlord Protection Agency)
In addition to the rental property information and the questions above we also add that we will be doing a background and credit check. This has helped us ward off some that may not have been such great tenants.
It has been a great resource to help us screen potential tenants.
Name:
Phone:
# of People
Reason for Moving:
Pets:
Smoking:
Are you currently employed?
Do you have a landlord reference?
I got the idea for this from http://www.thelpa.com (The Landlord Protection Agency)
In addition to the rental property information and the questions above we also add that we will be doing a background and credit check. This has helped us ward off some that may not have been such great tenants.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The House Sale
Only 5 days left on our contract. We are considering a lease purchase. If that does not work out we will be renting out the house. We should know more in the next couple of days.
UPDATE: LEASE PURCHASE IN PROGRESS
We are waiting to discuss the final details :
*How long the lease is for. We are shooting for a short term "3" - 6 month lease option.
*Monthly rent amount. Figure already presented.
*Nonrefundable Deposit to be held in Escrow need to be discussed.
*Finally an accepted offer on the house.
Mr Incredible is telling me not to get too excited. He's right. There is still plenty to negotiate and we don't have a sale until the closing which would be 3 - 6 months away.
However, we would have a legal contract and a nice monthly rent payment and that is a whole lot better than what we've had so far - which is nothing at all.
UPDATE: LEASE PURCHASE IN PROGRESS
We are waiting to discuss the final details :
*How long the lease is for. We are shooting for a short term "3" - 6 month lease option.
*Monthly rent amount. Figure already presented.
*Nonrefundable Deposit to be held in Escrow need to be discussed.
*Finally an accepted offer on the house.
Mr Incredible is telling me not to get too excited. He's right. There is still plenty to negotiate and we don't have a sale until the closing which would be 3 - 6 months away.
However, we would have a legal contract and a nice monthly rent payment and that is a whole lot better than what we've had so far - which is nothing at all.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
The Brew - Part 2
By day 4 we'd had enough. No rent check. The property owner exclaimed to her husband "Who's calling the shots here??" She called the tenants and left a message instructing them to leave a payment the next day as their mortgage was now late. I went to the apartment on June 5th and no payment was left. I had already gotten my PAY OR QUIT notice typed and ready just in case. So I taped that to the door and left.
I received a call around 4 from an attorney representing the tenants. It seems the tenants had hired her to send a letter that stated that a portion of their rent would be held in escrow and they were going to pay rent based on the balance to assure that they got their security deposit back. Is that not unethical? But since the tenants had now received their pay or quit notice they decided they were going to pay up. So rent was collected and at the end of the month after the apartment was left clean as instructed a full return of their deposit was given. All is well. No hard feelings. And they actually said we did them a favor. They are living with friends and looking to buy a house. The End.
I received a call around 4 from an attorney representing the tenants. It seems the tenants had hired her to send a letter that stated that a portion of their rent would be held in escrow and they were going to pay rent based on the balance to assure that they got their security deposit back. Is that not unethical? But since the tenants had now received their pay or quit notice they decided they were going to pay up. So rent was collected and at the end of the month after the apartment was left clean as instructed a full return of their deposit was given. All is well. No hard feelings. And they actually said we did them a favor. They are living with friends and looking to buy a house. The End.
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