2011 Rental Property Summary

2011 Rental Property Summary
If you’ve been reading the blog for a while you know I like stats.  I thought I would compile some stats for what 2011 looked like as landlords for us. New Purchases 26 new rental properties 22 are single family houses 2 are duplexes 1 two houses on a lot 1 commercial building The...
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My Rental Purchase Criteria

My Rental Purchase Criteria
I have recently been asked to elaborate on my rental property purchase criteria.  You would think I have an elaborate set of guidelines, must haves and must want but it is not that simple. If you have been following this blog for a while you might remember that we started in the...
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The Power of Leverage? Or Not…

The Power of Leverage? Or Not…
Often I visit a great real estate social network called Bigger Pockets.  Recently a new member at the site, Daniel, outlined his investment strategy that was focused on buying properties cash, re-investing all cash and salary and building a portfolio slowly and safely.   See the...
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Zillow Releases a Zestimate for Monthly Rent

Zillow Releases a Zestimate for Monthly Rent
About 10 days ago Zillow released an interesting addition to their software, they now offer a Zestimate on the amount of rents a property will fetch.  For specifics see Zillow’s Official Blog Post about it. If you have been following the blog for a while you may remember a...
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Buy Long-Term: Cash-Flow? Appreciation? Class A, B, or C?

Buy Long-Term: Cash-Flow? Appreciation? Class A, B, or C?
This has always been an interesting question that I have spent a lot of time thinking about.  What class of properties should you buy and focus on?  Is it worth it to spend your time in the war zones chasing huge cash-flow?  Or work on the consistent returns and easy management...
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The Two Latest Rentals

The Two Latest Rentals
Here are two of the rental houses we picked up January. Both of these houses are the same model, built in the 1980′s, 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and should make fine rentals. The one on the  left we rented this weekend to someone who drove past the house and talked to one of our...
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House #73 – Latest Rental House

House #73 – Latest Rental House
We just closed on House #73 about a week ago.  It is a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house where the single car garage is converted into a third bedroom.  The house is just under 1,000 square feet and a pretty solid rental in a good neigbhorhood. The house is actually in pretty good shape...
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How I Determine Market Rent

How I Determine Market Rent
When I first started as a landlord it is pretty hard to determine what to rent properties for, as you have no idea what the market is like. There are some really easy ways to get the job done. Call Local For Rent Signs This method is too easy.  Drive the neighborhood and call 3 or...
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Rental Phone Calls – Toktumi – The Service I picked

Rental Phone Calls – Toktumi – The Service I picked
As we started renting properties I had to search for solutions for phone calls.  I had a two major requirements: I wanted a local number versus a 1-800 number… I am sure a 1-800 number would work, but I think people are less likely to call it. I didn’t want to give out...
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Singe Family Landlord’s Review of Buildium

Singe Family Landlord’s Review of Buildium
If you’re a regular user, you probably know we self manage all of properties.  When getting started I wanted the ability to accept ACH payments so our tenants could pay electronically.  After much research I decided to go with Buildium. First of all the Landlord edition is...
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