IF you have a home warranty program that allows you your own techs, you have regular a/c maintenance (we do quarterly and log them), then you are definitely going to stand a good chance of the claim being accepted. We have had 3 clients save over $4k a piece. I word it like this – if you have a unit that is over 10 years old, you will be looking…[Read more]

Jay it is fantastic – I echo Jeremy’s sentiments. I made a big decision that I will always focus on working with an individual versus selling properties…. I love the level of involvement that I can keep with each client and each of the properties – I am a thrill of the hunt and the rehab person…. finding the gem is the goal – plus my partner…[Read more]

Yes – if your question is that you need someone who can integrate your US tax return into your Australian tax return, Rose is wonderful and understands all the nuances. By that very nature she strongly recommends you use a US expert and US based CPA who is up to date with everything in the US to file there and then bring to her as she is the…[Read more]

But for the fact that you can’t do it without tit sounding like a sales pitch I want to do the anti seminar… How not to get ripped off in the US… Except that EVERYONE says that just to do precisely the reverse,….

Buy my uber expensive system on how not to get ripped off?? read these posts for free and don’t get ripped off. Period/Full Stop.…[Read more]

Jay that is literally hysterical… He had gall… He went on to outline how great his renos were ….And quoted me work that could not have been over 8k as being 20k….I asked him for an itemized listing… It was fun baiting for a while and I do love the game of it but a some point it is just so wrong and dangerous.

Alex, you mentioned about…[Read more]

$ per sq ft…. Be a bit careful… I know what you mean but as I said to someone in Vegas once…I can show you $19 a sq foot .. Doesn’t mean you should buy.. It may never rent and should be bulldozed!

Clarification on Property management… I did mean INTERVIEW them…maybe a bit exuberant… I am merely saying that you will probably start with someone wanting to milk you and charge exorbitant fees and it isn’t that hard to get something better. Mind you I have had assumptions that people would do far more due diligence so will stand…[Read more]

Ambien and vodka…. normally soothing not incensing?

Posted my reply to Demetrius on the other but here it is again.

QUOTE
Demetrius

Fantastic – thanks for the below..

Okay. I am about to send this verbatim out to my email list. I just want to make sure I get this absolutely accurate:

A house that was bought at auction for 24k on July 5, c…[Read more]

To clarify the supply question. I don't buy bulk -…I find great available properties that meet a persons needs and I therefore don't have to worry so much about a market "drying" up. The foreclosure market will dry up, the investments will not – as Jay, SC and the rest of us who have been here more years than we could count know… Best…[Read more]

A guy called Demetrius Mathis actually …. if you think Atlanta is drying up… dear heavens…there are 10 times the properties here than there ever were in Vegas…..Vegas is gone…in fact, Vegas was never like Atlanta – it has been “tight” since the day I walked into it by comparison to here…… there are still the rare ones pop up that I…[Read more]

I love Portland … I worked with the gods of urban planning from there… George Crandall and Don Arambula of Crandall Arambula. What a great city…

…don’t ever pay anyone an upfront fee!

No one can stop the unscrupulous but we can by give freedom of information and hoping they read it! The very nature of the "buy this property look how awesome it is" model is it rotates on SALES not back end. It just isnt, no matter what you think, the buy… Flicked roughly the pages and someone said they have a broker, have a team, cut out…[Read more]

Can’t open link but YAY with a snoopy leap if this will help my dude. Ha we are down on that one to lovely deeds… Just so so so unfair and tens of thousands of dollars down the drain!

What I don’t get is why people need a front man… Skip it and either go to the people who ARE wholesalers or buy from the open market…why would you use a…[Read more]

Lol, my brother definitely has strong opinions.. But he cares deeply on them!

Thanks for compliment.

Hey, I am in Atlanta today and windchill factor brings me almost to your level. I SWORE I wouldnt ever be anywhere cold again… In Alaska I would go 3 weeks where the temperature didn’t rise above -40… And I lived there 10 years… I have done…[Read more]

http://www.8newsnow.com/story/16902408/businesses-hopeful-for-profitable-2012

Yep, noticed…lol

Hotels can slash yield but over 85% occupancy year round? Who are my tenants? Takes the same number of staff whether you are getting $100 a night for a room or $18 a night – those staff are my tenants. If they can pass the background checks of a…[Read more]

PS if you are scared of repair costs being too much… Try buying a house that doesn’t need any repairs! In Vegas there were only 110 SFR houses on the open market 3 weeks ago that met my main criteria…Namely younger than 1980 and 3br/2 BA minimum under 80k Back in October of 2011 there were 546. Those 110 will need work… Think 5k on average…[Read more]

SCHOOLS… I sent this out and thought it might helP

From urban planning the first thing I learnt was to state the obvious….People want to live close to schools, shops and transport – ideally walking distance within 1/2 mile in urban centres. Blank walls are bad, open spaces are good etc – we know that, but we often don’t put it into words…[Read more]

Section 8 will depend on where you aree investing. I don’t touch Section 8 in Alaska or Georgia because the laws aren’t pro landlord enough. In NV? I can evict a tenant and rerent in Las Vegas 15 days… At a maximum cost of $200 and never even speak to the tenant as the constable will go and deal with it … Any eviction on their record and they…[Read more]

Good point on seer rating. In Vegas you go cheap on faucets ironically to avoid the hard water…plastic lasts longer… Go figure. Metal is just eaten. I avoid humidity like the plague and thus avoid mould issues like the plague… No snow, moisture, damp, termites, gutters, lawns, no bushes, no foliage, no pools…. I am all for risk aversion…[Read more]

Have to step in a bit here….. I completely concur with making sure you know your bottom line costs … but you also have to be VERY wary on where/what you are buying…..and as John says, please adjust for your market ie:

A house under 5 years old in Atlanta is likely to still be under builders warranty for systems, it will be over 2000 sq ft…[Read more]