Category Archives: Property Management Issues

Ep. 125 Gregory Radford – 5 Tips for Earning Hassle-Free Cashflow Out of Your Single Family Rental

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single family rental investingSingle family investors know that keeping up with rental properties and tenants can be a hassle. In addition to dealing with property management, investors must also manage tenants. While a single family rental is a great way for many to earn cashflow, it can be tough to stay organized.

Our guest this week, Gregory Radford knows a thing or two about organization. A decorated military veteran, Greg became a de facto single family rental investor while still serving in the Army. After renting out his home he had purchased using his V.A. loan, he had his Eureka moment. He saw the investment potential of the V.A. loan and leveraged that into becoming a successful single family investor.

Combining the organizational skills and discipline he learned in the Army with his loquacious attitude, Greg created a strategy for earning hassle-free cashflow through single family rental investments. Starting Radford Homes with his wife, Greg is an active single family rental investor in Polk County.

V.A. Loans

  • Federal loan program for military vets to put money down on a home
  • V.A. loans can be reused as many times as the loan limit allows
    • Homes must be inhabited for 12 months
    • Loan limits vary by state/county
    • Polk County: $424k

5 Tips for Hassle-Free Cashflow

  • Niche Marketing
    • Strategic, intentional marketing
  • Custom Rental Applications
    • Send pre-scripted correspondence to potential tenants with explicit application instructions.
    • Tenants who fail to follow instructions are disregarded
  • Tenant Screening
    • Active listening
    • Asking ope-ended questions during tenant interviews
    • Find out about prior residences
    • Check social media
  • Open House for Rentals
    • Controlled open houses
    • Open houses 2x/mo. cuts down on scheduling showings and creates urgency among potential tenants
  • Cash-Free Payments
    • Requiring proof of bank account assures tenant’s financial credibility
    • All payments sent through electronic funds transfer or cashier’s check

Investor Resources

  • Gary Keller – “Hold”
    • single family rental investing
  • Gary Raulston – “Real Estate Principals: A Value Approach”
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics – monthly reports

Contact Greg

  • On social media @Radford Homes
  • By phone: (863)410-0877
  • Greg is currently looking to expand into multifamily investing in Polk County

Ep. 116 Larry Goins: Cashflow without Tenants or Rehabs

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making money in a rising market. earning cashlfow without tenants or rehabsAll investors have heard horror stories from single and multi-family investing: bad tenants, rehabs gone wrong. Often these stories result in investors paying much more in out-of-pocket capital than was accounted for. This remains a major contributing factor preventing would-be investors from making the leap. Though there are successful strategies one can adopt to deal with bad tenants or to facilitate successful rehabs, many investors are still wary of residential asset classes.

However, there are ways to earn cashflow without having traditional tenants or making unneeded rehabs to the property.

Larry Goins is one investor that does not rely on having traditional tenants or doing property rehabs.

Listeners may remember Larry from Episode 106 where he discussed finding creative ways to make money in rising markets. Larry is a 30 year investor and investment mentor. He is an author, speaker and educator sharing his wealth of investment experience with beginner investors. This episode, Larry discusses his strategy of offering lease options instead of traditional tenant leasing.

Earning Cashflow through Lease Options

  • Homeowners in Training
    • Prospective tenants are given lease with option to own
    • Tenants have stated intent to purchase property
    • Tenants put up non-refundable down-payment stating consideration to purcahse
  • Lease Agreements
    • For Dodd-Frank compliance, tenant’s down-payment only goes to closing costs; no rent credits can be given during lease agreement
    • Make sure tenant is responsible for minor repairs and maintenance for “x” amount per occurance
  • Resources

For more information about lease options and earning cashflow without tenants or rehabs, contact Larry directly through his website.

For webinars, trainings, reports and other information, visit www.larrygoins.com

Visit the Invest Florida Show website for even more episodes and to check out our archives!

 

Ep. 114 Kurt Westfield: Apartment Investor Tough Lessons Lead to New Strategy

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multifamily investing and finding a strategy as an apartment investorAs real estate investors, sometimes what we think is a good investment strategy does not turn out quite as expected. While a single family investor may be able to stick to a strategy and adopt minimal changes, this is not usually the case for the apartment investor.

Your investment strategy should suit the deal you are making. It may become necessary to change your strategy in order to make a deal work.

While this may mean an extra headache in the short-term, a change in strategy could mean the difference between a successful investment and a failure.

Just ask Apartment Investor Kurt Westfiled

Kurt Westfield is the founder of WC Companies, an umbrella brand for his multi-service real estate investment firms.Listeners will remember Kurt’s last episode with us when he discussed his transition from single family investor to apartment investor.

This episode, we catch up with Kurt following his transition to apartment investor. He discusses how he found out early on in his career the importance of finding a winning strategy.

Apartment Investor: Finding a New Strategy

The Deal

  • 14 unit apartment building
  • In foreclosure
  • Expedited due diligence (7 days)
  • Intended to be 12 month, light fix-and-flip with capital expenses at $80-100k

The Issues

  • Tenants trashed complex
  • Property had suffered from neglect

Changing Strategy

  • Evicted all current tenants
  • Rehabbed entire property, inside and out
  • Structured leasing as condo-apartment type w/ one model unit completed while construction was ongoing
  • Created brand identity
  • Started community engagement activities

The Results

  • 3 1/2 year project, cap expenses at $400k
  • Property raised market rent 60% in area
  • Identified potential of revitalizing fringe market properties
  • Focused on developing branded communities rather than street addresses

Kurt is still an active apartment investor, looking for multifamily deals in Tampa and Jacksonville up to 50 units. To contact Kurt with a potential deal, email him at kurt@wccompanies.com.

For any other questions or to find out more about services offered by WC Companies, visit their website.

Ep. 112 Courtney Barnard: Legislative Update for Multifamily-Residential Property Owners

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multifamily-residential property legislative updateWe’ve been hearing a lot about Florida’s single family property markets, but what about multifamily-residential property?

Though multifamily-residential may not share the same spotlight that single family is getting, apartment investing makes up a big economic portion of Florida’s real estate market and there are some big legislative changes coming to multifamily residential property that investors need to be aware of.

We are glad to have Courtney Barnard back on the show. Courtney serves as the Government Affairs Director for the Florida Apartment Association (FAA). Courtney appeared previously, in episode 42, where she discussed then-current legislative updates to multifamily-residential property.

This time, she discusses some key changes coming with the 2016 legislative updates. This episode, Courtney also gives us a Florida multifamily market overview in addition to sharing important legislative updates for multifamily-residential property owners.

Florida Multifamily-Residential Property Overview

  • Jacksonville – largest apartment growth (new construction)
  • Sarasota/Bradenton – decline in growth
  • Over 96% occupancy statewide
  • New construction focused on Class A and Class Super A – $145k/unit costs
  • Lack of affordable multifamily developments

Legislative Updates

  • HVAC Maintenance
    • House Bill 535, July 2016
    • Apartment investors with 100 unit or more buildings
    • HVAC repairs can now be made by on-site building maintenance and not HVAC contractor
    • Bill Info
  • Non-Residential Property Tax Exemptions
    • 10% cap on non-residential property tax increases set to expire in 2018
    • No cap could hurt a lot of investors and small-business owners
    • Joint resolution to be put forth to reinstate cap permanently
  • Fire Sprinklers in Building
    • Florida administration code-change from National Fire Protection Standard
    • Takes effect Dec. 31st, 2016
    • High-rises over 75 feet required to have sprinklers in residences and common areas
    • Previously, buildings built before 1994 were exempt
    • Condos + Co-ops can vote to opt out, but apartment investors must comply UNLESS: balconies/secondary entrances are attached to every unit

Florida Apartment Association

The FAA has been in place for 45 years. With 11 regional chapters and over 5,000 apartment communities, the FAA offers members access to great benefits:

To find out more resources offered by the FAA and for other updates from Courtney, visit www.faahq.org.

Ep. 101 Dan Pepper: Increasing the Value of Your Property by Paying Attention to Financial Details

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increase proprty values with financial detailsTime is money. Property managers spend a lot of money on their time and this is true whether they are managing residential, multifamily or commercial properties. Often times, property managers may get caught up in the timing of things, letting their financial records and organization fall by the wayside. Not only does this cause added stress on the property manager, but it can also hurt the value of a property. When it comes time to sell a property or to refinance, proper financial details mean everything in determining how much the property is valued at.

Dan Pepper knows the importance of organizing and recording all the financial details of a property. Through his company, Palm Companies, a combined investment and property management firm, Dan oversees 190 multifamily units with nearly 50 units managed by Palm. With so many factors to keep track of, paying attention to financial details has become imperative in streamlining property management efficiency. This episode, Dan shares what he has learned about managing properties effectively and increasing property value by organizing and tracking financial details.

  • Automated Property Management Systems

    • streamline record keeping, bill pay and rent collection
    • Appfolio – good mid-market, fully-integrated automated system; 80+ units
    • Import photos or scans of bills for services and expenses into an easily accessible database

  • Capitalizing Expenses vs. Annual Expenses

    • Clearly define and categorize expenses that are capital improvements and what are annual expenses
    • Buyers can reconcile their investment concerns with detailed records
    • Lenders can asses precise values on properties
    • If unfamiliar, google search “capitalizing expenses”

Dan and Palm Companies are focused on multifamily properties ranging between 30-150 units in Southwest Florida. They focused primarily on property management ventures currently, but are open to viable multifamily deals. Palm Companies also has an interest in retail investments. Check out their website for more information.

Ep. 100 Gavin Welch: Improve Your Quality of Life by Shortening the Time You Spend on Your Investment Properties

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Full-time real estate investors know more than anyone that there are only so many hours in the day. Finding time to actively land new investments can be hard when its necessary to manage other investment properties. Maximizing time is one of the most valuable tools a real estate investor can have. Shortening the time you spend on your investment properties can greatly improve your quality of life as a real estate investor.

investment propertiesGavin Welch, an entrepreneurial real estate investor, knows just how precious his time is. With seven properties in his portfolio and work commencing on an apartment development, Gavin has a lot on his plate. With a goal in place of acquiring 25 investment properties, Gavin simply cannot afford to spend time on everyday property management concerns for each of his properties. He has implemented a method that allows him to attend to his current investment properties while providing himself enough flexibility to focus on his investment goals.

Limiting Time Spent on Investment Properties

  • Landlording on Auto-Pilot – Mike Butler
  • Google Voice
    • provides automated information for tenants and clients to call in for property info and maintenance requests
  • Limited property showings
    • Schedule property showings and open houses for set days and times cuts down on time spent visiting investment properties
  • Auto pay system for tenants
    • Tenants pay automatically when monthly bill is due. Landlords and property owners don’t need to spend time tracking down payments
  • Passive Marketing
    • Bandit signs circulate property availability
    • Youtube videos provide property details and photos
  • Property Uniformity
    • Using the same materials and paints on all properties greatly reduces time on maintenance and up-keep

Gavin is currently in the market for viable single family investment properties in the Lakeland, FL area. Suitable fix-and-flips or rental property offers may contact Gavin through his website by going to the Contact Us page. Listeners should also check out Gavin’s own podcast, The Real Estate Loop for more investing advice.

Ep. 98 Adrian Smude: Landlord Tales – One Method of Creating Distance between You and Your Tenants

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landlord talesThe sob-stories; the hard-luck-tales; the down-and-out pleas. There are many reasons tenants might ply a landlord for a special leniency or exemption. Whether these are legitimate reasons or or not, landlords and property managers can end up assuming a lot of extra stress on a property by allowing tenants to take advantage of a situation through emotion. Sometimes, the hardest thing for investors who manage their own properties to do is tell their tenant “no”. It is easy to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, but at what point can empathy hurt your investment? Real estate investors need to know how to keep tenant turmoil at arm’s length when it comes to the viability of an investment.

Adrian Smude may know better than any the importance of managing interaction with tenants. As an investor in single family residential properties in and around Plant City, FL, Adrian has experienced the short-comings of allowing tenants unchecked leniency. Adrian’s start in single family residential investing stems from an unpleasant tenant/landlord experience: eviction. After being evicted from a rental house in college, Adrian ended up purchasing his own single family property and converted into a multi-tenant rental. Wary of the poor experience he had as a tenant, Adrian opted towards a more empathetic approach to landlording. Eventually, he found his tenants abusing their privilege. Adrian had to find a way to separate himself from thinking like a tenant and more as a landlord. Adrian adopted a system that put distance between himself and his tenants while avoiding the hard-line approach. Join us for the first episode of “Landlord Tales” as we discuss holding rental properties in a land trust.

  • Land Trust
    • Property placed in name of land trust. Property owners can designate themselves as trustee, separate from beneficiary
    • Managing property and tenants becomes easier by separating function as landlord from property owner
    • Adrian learned this method from veteran local investors Jack Shea, Larry Harbolt and Mike Warda

Adrian is actively in the market for single family residential properties and mobile homes of up to $120k in areas around Hillsborough County and Polk County, including Brandon, Plant City, Lakeland and Winter Haven. If you believe you may have a potential investment opportunity, contact Adrian at (813) 720-7874.

Sandra Adomatis: Energy and Sustainability Initiatives to Increase Your Bottom Line

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sustainabilityCommercial real estate investors and developers know the term: “Green”. In Florida, it seems that “green” is the phantom criteria for real estate: many have heard of it, few have seen it. The term brings to mind vague notions of sustainability and energy efficiency, but what exactly is it? What is the merit in “going green”? As an effort to shift toward sustainability becomes a rising trend in the nation, Florida continues to lag behind as commercial developers and investors grapple with the nebulous nature of sustainability and green construction.

Sandra Adomatis, SRA, and LEED green associate is an appraiser with a focus on green initiatives and sustainability in real estate. Based out of Punta Gorda, Florida, Sandra has over 25 years of experience in real estate appraisal in the state of Florida. Sandra is a green valuation expert for the Appraisal Institute. Through course development, seminars and literature, Sandra has been helping commercial real estate investors integrate sustainability and energy efficiency into their investments.

  • 6 Elements of a True Green Building
    • Site orientation
    • Water efficiency
      • Low-flow plumbing, greywater recycling, rain barrels/cisterns, energy star rated washing appliances
    • Energy efficiency
    • Environmentally-friendly materials
    • Clean air circulation
    • Operations & maintenance
  • Adapting Existing Structures
    • Lighting
    • Heating/cooling
    • Insulation
  • Energy Modeler/building scientist
    • Assess what existing structures can handle for energy and sustainability adaptations
    • Calcs-Plus (Florida)
  • Green building investment appeal
    • Low-interest, flexible financing exclusive to green buildings
    • Cost-saving on appliances and utilities
    • 2-10% sale premiums vs. traditional structures
  • Resources and Info

To find out more about sustainability options or for appraisal services, visit Susan’s website or email her at adomatis@hotmail.com

Ep. 90 Gary Beasley, CEO: Buying Single Family Homes with a Cash Flow Through Roofstock

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Buying Single Family Homes Through RoofstockOne of the downsides for real estate investors buying single family homes has always been the large amount of time and financial investment it takes to certify an asset. Buyers most conduct thorough due diligence to verify a property’s physical condition, legal standing and yield potential. Buying single family homes can be a stable financial option, but it requires a lot of personal commitment that some investors just can’t afford.

Roofstock may provide investors with a solution to this problem. This episode, Roofstock CEO Gary Beasley stops by to talk about the new platform that is changing the way investors are buying single family homes. By removing the stress and mess of the due diligence process, Roofstock can greatly decrease transaction fees and increase market fluidity by providing investors with a certified, reliable and transparent marketplace for buying single family rental homes. They are also proving that buying leased single family homes can be a greater asset than vacant singe family properties.

Roofstock:

  • Launched in FL – Tampa, Orlando, Cape Coral, Jacksonville, Miami
    • Also Atlanta and California
    • Grow to 10+ markets in U.S.
  • Due Diligence
    • 3rd party valuation report, title report, property inspection, rent surveys, financial calculator est. returns based on several rental situations, vets tenants and property managers
  • Hands-off Investing
    • Buyer freed from operational component of investing
    • Buyers able to rely on surety of data
  • Cheaper, More Effective than MLS
    • Roofstock – 2.5% transaction fee from sellers; .5% marketplace fee from buyers : MLS – 6% transaction fee
    • Standardized marketplace of available, leased single family homes
  • Investment fund opportunity
    • Recent launch of 100-property fund
  • 1031 Exchanges
    • Provides readily available market for investors in need of exchange property

To find out more about the great services Roofstock offers investors buying single family homes, check out their website! You can also contact Gary directly at gary@roofstock.com or the senior client adviser, zack@roofstock.com

 

Ep. 74 Jillian Bandes: 6 Hot Topics to Consider About Building Structure When Buying Multifamily

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AAEAAQAAAAAAAATxAAAAJDczYWFhMzZhLWRkOWUtNDAwMi1hNmM2LTYwZmMzNDdkMjk5ZQWhether investing in a multifamily property with value-add intentions or simply as a stable addition to your portfolio, it is important to consider the building structure and the costs associated with structure maintenance.

Jillian Bandes, of Bandes Construction Company knows just what to look for in building structure when valuating a potential multifamily investment. This episode, Jillian shares six hot topics for investors to consider about building structure when buying multifamily properties.

  1. Electric
    1. Costly repair and improvement item
    2. Determine property’s inside and outside amperage
    3. Enlist licensed electrician for any repairs or improvements
  2. Roofing
    1. Unwise to cut costs on roofing materials and construction
      1. Find dependable roofing companies, use quality materials
    2. Roofing Warranties: 1-2 yr Workmanship Warranty; 10-20 yr Manufacturer Warranty
  3. HVAC
    1. Air-conditioning represents a huge aspect to determine in Florida properties
    2. Requires secure maintenance schedule
    3. Replacement costs can be substantial
  4. Doors & Windows
    1. Many things to take into account with doors and windows
    2. Observe building jurisdiction’s code requirements
    3. Buying replacements in bulk may be more cost-effective than as-needed replacements
  5. Interior
    1. Interior trends fluctuate. Stay current with trends that tenants want
    2. Value-add investors may want to put more into interior costs up front for greater tenant appeal and longevity: energy star appliances, natural stone counter-tops, removing partitions, adjusting ceiling heights
  6. Frame vs. Masonry
    1. Wood frame structures usually require much more extensive evaluations than masonry structures: water-proofing report, site level, landscaping, water table, drainage, etc.
    2. Repairs and rehabs can be costly on frame structures
    3. Masonry offers more stability and investment assurance

For more information from Jillian about important items to consider about building structure she can be contacted through Twitter @jillybee or by visiting Bandes Construction Company’s website.