Posts Tagged ‘how to turn your home into a rental property’

When to Hire a House Inspector – Radio Interview with Rich Peterson

Wednesday, July 31st, 2013

 

This morning I was interviewed by the masterful interviewer, Rich Peterson (KROC Radio 1340 AM, Rochester, Minnesota), about my book “Turn Your Home Into a Rental House Instead of Selling It!”

I was also on Rich’s show a couple of years ago to promote my earlier magnum opus “Fix em Up Rent em Out.”

Today, Rich asked the question,

“Does the city have to  inspect a house before you can rent it out?”

My answer was,

“No the city doesn’t do inspections unless you have constructed a guest house, or added or room, or make some major modification to the property. You must comply with building codes, but if you don’t make any changes, the city is not involved.”

When to Hire an Inspector

While there is not need for the city to do an inspection, prior to purchasing a new home, it’s critically important to hire your own inspector to make sure that everything is “operational” in the house that you want to purchase.

Usually, the owner has to fill out a “disclosure” form that informs you of any existing problems that the house has, that he or she is aware of . Sometimes, owners will have a report available by an inspector that they hired to inspect the property.

Even in that case, you still need to hire your own inspector. It may sound like a case of “dueling inspectors,” but I like to have a report written by the guy that is representing me, not the guy who is representing the seller.

Hiring a good inspector is especially important when you are purchasing a foreclosed property, where there is usually no owner present. Then, the only thing you have to make your decision about the condition of the house is the inspector’s report.

Tid Bits: NBA Trivia and Unwise Career Moves

1st NBA Basket

Prior to my interview with Rich, I was listening to his radio show and I learned that the first basket scored in the NBA was by Oscar “Ossie” Schectkman, who recently passed away at age 94.

I also learned:

4 Things that People do to Help their Career that Actually Hurts Their Career.

1. Staying too long with the same company. Employers wonder why you haven’t changed.

2. Being too good at something you don’t like doing, because you’ll be hired to do it more and more.

3. Keeping your mouth shut. You should tell supervisors before they make mistakes. You may get fired, but improves your status under point #1.

4. Putting in a recommendation for a friend. If the friend is a failure, it reflects badly on you.

As Rich Peterson says, “We’ll’ see you down by the riverside.”

 

Upcoming “Turn Your Home Into a Rental House ” Radio Interviews (most shows can be heard  on the internet)

Tuesday, August 6th, at 8:10 am (central time), I’ll be on Bob Schmidt’s show, WLFN 1490 AM, Onalaska, WI.

Tuesday, August 6th, at 9:40 am (eastern), Greg O’Conner will interview me, WKHM 970 AM, Jackson, MI.

Wednesday, August 14th, at 9:15 am (eastern), I’ll be on Dave Kelber’s show, WRNJ Radio, Hackettstown, NJ.

Watch this space for information on additional interviews.

Related Articles

Remove that Garbarge Disposal Now!

6 Steps to Roof Maintenance (for the Home that will Turn Into a Rental House)

How I Evicted A Problem Tenant in 4 Steps

When to Hire a House Inspector – Radio Interview with Rich Peterson

Getting Rid of Bad Tenants

“Turn your home into a rental” on Mark Wayne Show

7 Reasons to Live in a Fixer-Upper House While You Repair It

6 Steps to Roof Maintenance (for the Home that will Turn Into a Rental House)

Our First Rental House Plunge

10 Most Frequent Problems Found by House Inspectors

5 Steps to Get Your House Ready to Rent by Terry Sprouse

5 Steps to take if your house is flooded

Some perfectly legal ways to maximize your rental profits

Add “Start a Rental House Business” to Your Bucket List

The 5 Rules on How to Lose Money and Get Your Rental Property Trashed by Tenants

Window Repair with #2 Son

Required Roof Maintenance for Fixer Upper Houses

Learn to Repair Your Fixer Upper Houses

How I Got Started In Fixer-Upper Houses

How to learn to operate a fixer upper house business

The Peaceful Warrior and Fixer-Upper Houses

Will Rogers’ Secret of Seizing Opportunities

Wednesday, July 17th, 2013

“It was not so much that Will sought the new opening as that he never failed to seize it when it came his way.” — Betty Rogers 

It’s nice to think that we are captain’s of our own ship and masters of our own destiny. Who doesn’t want to like Captain James T. Kirk or Bill Gates?

In my own case, I know that the reason I became the person I am today is by, not so much bending life to my will, but more by taking what life handed me, and by being keenly alert when a new opportunity presented itself.

That’s the way Will Rogers found success.

As his wife Betty said in her biography of Will:

His whole career was the development and unfolding of a personality through the various vehicles that seemed to be constantly and almost miraculously presenting themselves. His comment on stage on the stage during his roping act was incidental at first, if not accidental. (Will never spoke during his Vaudeville rope trip act, except when he once made a mistake and the audience laughed at his funny excuse. From then on, he incorporated that comment, and gradually others, into his act.)

His writing came the same way. (Will wrote a regular Sunday feature for the New York Times that was syndicated throughout the U.S.) His entrance into the movies, too, was not of his own seeking  (he starred in 69 movies). But once started in these new fields, he made the most of each, giving to them the same enthusiasm and energy he had given to the rope (tricks) in the early days.

I added the comments in parentheses to the text.

Meander in the Direction that You Want to Go

I know I’ve probably said this before, at least in Fix em Up Rent em Out, but a good way to get started in real estate, particularly if your circumstances are such that it is impossible for you to start investing in real estate right away, is to just start by meandering in that direction, like a slow, gurgling stream.

You can program your mind to pay attention to anything related to real estate. Cut articles out of the newspaper, buy books at book sales, tale to friends and co-workers about it, watch for seminars and classes about real estate investing. Sometimes desire and knowledge can be acquired simply by observing someone else operating a successful business.

And, when the opportunity does present itself to get started, like Will Rogers, seize it!

 

Upcoming “Turn Your Home Into a Rental House ” Radio Interviews (most shows can be heard  on the internet)

Friday, July 19th, at 7:45 am (eastern time), I will be interviewed by Gary Sutton and Chris Tyler, at WSBA 910 AM  in York, PA.

Friday, July 19th, at 8:10 am, I’ll be on Dan Ramey’s show on WBEX 1490 AM, in Chillicothe, Ohio.

On Thursday, July 25th, at 7:10 a.m. (central time) I’ll be on Jeff Anderson’s show, KSDR 1480 AM, Watertown, South Dakota.

On Friday, July 26th, at 7:30 am (mountain time) I have an interview with David Gillian, KRSN 1490 AM, Los Alamos, NM.

Tuesday, August 6th, at 8:10 am (central time), I’ll be on Bob Schmidt’s show, WLFN 1490 AM, Onalaska, WI.

Watch this space for information on additional interviews.

Related Articles:

Volunteering at Pascua Yaqui Youth Career Academy Job Fair

“Turn your home into a rental” on Mark Wayne Show

Saturday, July 13th, 2013

The Morning Blend interview

Yesterday I was interviewed by the legendary radio host, Mark Wayne, of WICH in Norwich, Connecticut about my new book “Turn Your Home Into a Rental House Instead of Selling It!”.

Check the Roof

Mark commented that the first two things he would check when buying a house would be

1.)  the roof, and;

2.) the foundation.

He doesn’t want to be stuck with these potentially big ticket expenses.

I said that those types of dangers to a real estate investor underscore the importance of having a thorough inspection of the house done prior to purchasing.

Have a Professional Inspection

Not only does a complete inspection by a professional inspector

1.)  protect you from surprise expenses, but

2.) the inspector’s written report is a good tool to help negotiation a lower price with the seller, if the inspector identifies other issues the house may have (for example, A/C, plumbing, wiring, etc.)

Television Interview Update

The Morning Blend is a nice, friendly show, with genial hosts Amanda Guralski (who is also an author) and Sally Shamrell.

I was interviewed last year on the Morning Blend show to promote my book “Carve Out Your Niche,” so I wasn’t too nervous about  Wednesday’s appearance to promote “Turn Your Home Into a Rental House.”

Where’s Angy?

Before we started filming, they asked why Angy wasn’t with me, since she co-authored the book.

I had to tell them the truth.

I said, “I tried to get her to come, but ultimately she couldn’t be on the show because of her back. It has a big yellow stripe right down the middle.”

Strangely, Angywas never nervous when  she and I have taught fixer-upper house seminars together, but she was a little anxious about appearing on television.

Like Riding a Horse

I told Angy it’s like learning to ride a horse. Isaid, “Sure, you may get bucked off a few times and maybe just break an arm or a leg, but before long, you’ll be riding that horse like the Lone Ranger!”

Maybe that wasn’t such a good analogy.

I thought the interview went okay, except that I caught myself mumbling a few times.

Blog Review of “Turn Your Home Into a Rental House.”

Thanks to Sharon at Louisville Gals Real Estate Blog  for her review of my new book.

Upcoming “Turn Your Home Into a Rental House ” Radio Interviews

Friday, July 19th, at 7:45 am (eastern time), I will be interviewed by Gary Sutton and Chris Tyler, at WSBA 910 AM  in York, PA.

Friday, July 19th, at 8:10 am, I’ll be on Dan Ramey’s showon WBEX 1490 AM, in Chillicothe, Ohio.

On Thursday, July 25th, at 7:10 a.m. (central time) I’ll be on Jeff Anderson’s show, KSDR 1480 AM, Watertown, South Dakota.

Watch this space for information on additional interviews.

Related Articles

6 Steps to Roof Maintenance (for the Home that will Turn Into a Rental House)

How I Evicted A Problem Tenant in 4 Steps

When to Hire a House Inspector – Radio Interview with Rich Peterson

Getting Rid of Bad Tenants

“Turn your home into a rental” on Mark Wayne Show

7 Reasons to Live in a Fixer-Upper House While You Repair It

6 Steps to Roof Maintenance (for the Home that will Turn Into a Rental House)

Our First Rental House Plunge

10 Most Frequent Problems Found by House Inspectors

5 Steps to Get Your House Ready to Rent by Terry Sprouse

5 Steps to take if your house is flooded

Some perfectly legal ways to maximize your rental profits

Add “Start a Rental House Business” to Your Bucket List

The 5 Rules on How to Lose Money and Get Your Rental Property Trashed by Tenants

Window Repair with #2 Son

Required Roof Maintenance for Fixer Upper Houses

Learn to Repair Your Fixer Upper Houses

How I Got Started In Fixer-Upper Houses

How to learn to operate a fixer upper house business

The Peaceful Warrior and Fixer-Upper Houses

Our First Rental House Plunge

Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013

By Terry & Angy Sprouse

 

We (Terry & Angy) are partners in both marriage and in real estate business.

Who says married couples can’t be business partners? And the great thing is we have never considered divorce . . . murder sometimes, but never divorce. Well, never murder, really, but maybe forcing each other to watch, in an uninterrupted viewing, the horrifyingly bad movie, The Clan of the Cave Bear.

In reality, this business has been a bonding experience, not only for us, as husband and wife, but also for our two boys, who have been active participants in the business from the very beginning.

9/11 Attacks Take the Starch Out of Us

We started in real estate investing following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The ensuing economic recession forced our hand. The hours at Terry’s job were drastically reduced. We realized that for the security of our family, we needed to have a business on the side—a business able to provide regular cash flow in case Terry’s 9 to 5 job suddenly went away.

This led Terry to experience a very intensive period of soul searching and in-depth research (accompanied by gratuitous whining and moping). We decided that a rental house business was the best way to go. We were excited to find the rental business was an easy business to learn and to start. This business required no special license, degree, or training. And the results tempered the most important source of Terry’s whining. The rental business offered the potential to make money.

We Jump In and Hope the Net Appears

We essentially just jumped in with good intentions and very little practical knowledge. After we made up our minds that this is what we wanted to do, we simply bought an inexpensive fixer-upper house, one that had foreclosed and been repossessed by a bank. We moved into and lived in the fixer-upper house while we did the necessary repairs.

But most importantly, we did not sell our original home. We rented it out.

Angy Puts Her Foot Down – On Top of Terry’s Foot

It took a little adjustment to move into that first fixer-upper house. The first thing we did was to get one of the bathrooms back into working condition. Angy’s negotiating stance on that topic was, “I’m not living in that house unless at least one bathroom is fully operational!” At that, who could argue? Marveled by a mother’s logic, together Terry and the boys nodded their heads and dropped the labeled empty plastic bottles they held in their hand into the Recycle Box.

As we went forward with the repairs, we changed bedrooms frequently. Moving from room to room, we cleared out of one bedroom to install tile and then moved again out of the next to make room to install carpet. Huffing and puffing, we moved furniture from one side to the next as we worked through the house painting all the walls. We replaced the cabinets in the kitchen, the fixtures in the bath, the leaky plumbing and the outdated lighting.

Group Hugs

Preparing meals required serious creativity. Entertainment and rest required the same. But the support and flexibility from all family members, and a few timely “group hugs” (some through gritted teeth), got us through.

 

—–

Recommended reading:

Remove that Garbarge Disposal Now!

6 Steps to Roof Maintenance (for the Home that will Turn Into a Rental House)

How I Evicted A Problem Tenant in 4 Steps

When to Hire a House Inspector – Radio Interview with Rich Peterson

Getting Rid of Bad Tenants

“Turn your home into a rental” on Mark Wayne Show

7 Reasons to Live in a Fixer-Upper House While You Repair It

6 Steps to Roof Maintenance (for the Home that will Turn Into a Rental House)

Our First Rental House Plunge

10 Most Frequent Problems Found by House Inspectors

5 Steps to Get Your House Ready to Rent by Terry Sprouse

5 Steps to take if your house is flooded

Some perfectly legal ways to maximize your rental profits

Add “Start a Rental House Business” to Your Bucket List

The 5 Rules on How to Lose Money and Get Your Rental Property Trashed by Tenants

Window Repair with #2 Son

Required Roof Maintenance for Fixer Upper Houses

Learn to Repair Your Fixer Upper Houses

How I Got Started In Fixer-Upper Houses

How to learn to operate a fixer upper house business

The Peaceful Warrior and Fixer-Upper Houses

ey

“Turn Your Home Into a Rental House!” finally sees the light of day

Wednesday, May 15th, 2013

 

Although it took a little longer than we anticipated, “Turn Your House Into a Rental House Instead of Selling It!” has finally popped out of the incubator and is available as a paperback book.

In a nutshell, what is this book about?

With my charming wife and business partner, Angy, as co-author, we have created a guide on how to find properties, live in them, and then turn them into a rental house, instead of selling them.

According to the “American Association of Realtors,” the average American purchases seven houses during their lifetime. Angy and I believe that those seven houses should be converted into rental houses and held for the rest of our lives. They are valuable assets that will generate monthly income for the hard years to come, and provide further assurance of long-term economic family security. Like the old folktale says: “Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.”

How does this book help the average Joe?

We show the average Joe where to find the best properties, how to pay for your houses, property inspection, the nitty-gritty steps on how to prepare your new rental house for tenants, how to attract and screen tenants, managing tenants, and complying with EPA regulations. The appendix includes samples of leases, property inspection sheets, tenant selection rating sheets, and many other valuable forms to get you started in your rental house business.

What do millionaires do that most people don’t do? 

Go into politics?

Buy their own Starbucks?

Become a bearded recluse?

Well, those are some of the things they do, but according to Thomas Stanley, in The Millionaire Next Door, most American millionaires own their own houses, and they own at least one rental property.

Our perspective is, “If it works for millionaires, it ought to work for us too.”

Our hope is that this book will inspire you to buy a rental property and to receive the enormous benefits from that one bold action. Even if you buy just one rental property throughout the course of your entire life, your economic picture will almost immediately get better.

You may wonder, as we did, “Why didn’t we do this a long time ago?”

Where do we order this book?

Click here to order the book through Amazon.com.

—–

Recommended reading:

The Short and Sweet Guide to Target Retirement Funds at Fearless Men

Creating an Outsourcing Master Plan For Your Business at Louisville Gals

Top Sights In Australia For The Adventure Seeker at Untemplater

Is There Right Time to Buy Real Estate? at KrantCents

How To Easily Reduce Your Utility Costs | 5 Simple Steps FRugal Habits

How Big Should Your Emergency Fund Be? at Work Save Live

Working Towards A Debt Free Lifestyle In 8 Steps at Canadian Budget Binder

Help Me Spend $1100! at Eyes on the Dollar

How You Can Start Freelancing at the End of This Article at Modest Money

What to do when your property won’t sell

Wednesday, September 12th, 2012

There are times when even those of us who are using the “fixer upper and rental house” strategy need to sell a house, despite at one point  having sworn that we wouldn’t sell an investment  house till the cows came home.

A Clintastrophy

Sometimes we have to readjust our priorities, and as Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry famously said, but apparently disregarded at the Republican Convention, “a man’s got to know his limitations.”

Maybe it’s because the location is just not that good, or you can’t get good tenants, or maybe the property requires too much attention in terms of frequent repairs. In my case, I sold one of my properties in 2010 because of all the above.

So, what do you do if you want to sell a property and it just won’t sell?

Here are a four things that I suggest you do to sell your property:

This house might be overpriced regardless of the price

1.) Check comparable properties in the area and make sure that you’re property is not over priced. If you want to sell faster, and we all want to sell faster, put the price slightly below other properties.

2.) Offer your house for sale and for rent at the same time. If the offers that come in are too low, you can keep it as a rental for another year or two until home values rise again.

3.) Hire a well established real estate agent to sell you house. When I first started my rental house business, I wanted to do everything myself, including selling my properties. Now, I realize that some things are best left to the experts, and this is one of them. A good real estate agent has a lot of connections, not only with potential buyers but also with other agents. They can attract a lot more buyers to the property than I could.

4.) Offer seller financing. Many buyers won’t qualify for traditional loans because of strict requirements and large down payments. This should allow you to sell for a premium price and get a higher interest rate. (Thanks to Chuck at Landlordinvestor for this tip.)

Now for my semi-weekly roundup of other articles that I find interesting in the blogosphere:

I liked the tips by landlordinvestor on advertising to find tenants entitled Running an ad in a weekly paper.

Over at Louisville Gals Real Estate Blog is a provocative interview with real estate investor James Vermillion.

Fearless Men have another batch of highly motivational quotes in Fearless Men Quotes/ Volume 2.

Jewel had an inspirational article in 10 Lies that Will Keep Your Dreams on the Shelf – #1. If you liked “The Artist’s Way,”  you’ll like this.

I could relate to Guilt Induced Frugality at Modest Money.

I was educated by Get an Oil Change Without Getting Ripped Off at Blue Collar Workman.

I relished the article Can Introverts Succeed As Leaders And Entrepreneurs: YES! at Untemplater.

Coming Soon!

How to Turn Your Home into a Rental House, Instead of Selling It

Some perfectly legal ways to maximize your rental profits

Monday, September 10th, 2012

Most terrifyingly bad movie ever?

In the fixer upper and rental house business there are many perfectly legal ways to maximize your rental profits, which don’t require drawing a gun or subtly displaying the threatening DVD cover of The Clan of the Cave Bear.

Keeping tenants satisfied = more $ for your

Putting the comfort of your tenants first can result in you making more money. Three things happen when you increase the value (or usefulness) of a property:

1.) You attract more and better tenants;

2.) Tenants stay longer; and,

3.) You make more money.

 

Things to do make a property more valuable

Catzilla makes tenants complete

1.) Provide a clothes washer and dryer;

2.) Have a refrigerator;

3.) Add a carport to protect tenant cars from the sun;

4.) Install security doors;

5.) Put a storage shed in the back yard;

6.) Allow pets. Many people consider their pet a member of their family, and in some cases, make their decision on which home to rent based on the likely comfort of their pet.

Maybe pet owners cross the line when they refer to themselves as “mommy” and “daddy,” and maybe pets cross the line when they start marking their territory before you even get a chance to go through the checklist.

But in general, allowing pets is a win-win situation.

These types of things increase the value of a property for tenants, and may set our property apart from other rental properties. They also allow us to charge a higher monthly rent.

The more satisfied a tenant is, the more they are willing to pay a little extra rent.

 Related Posts

Remove that Garbarge Disposal Now!

6 Steps to Roof Maintenance (for the Home that will Turn Into a Rental House)

How I Evicted A Problem Tenant in 4 Steps

When to Hire a House Inspector – Radio Interview with Rich Peterson

Getting Rid of Bad Tenants

“Turn your home into a rental” on Mark Wayne Show

7 Reasons to Live in a Fixer-Upper House While You Repair It

6 Steps to Roof Maintenance (for the Home that will Turn Into a Rental House)

Our First Rental House Plunge

10 Most Frequent Problems Found by House Inspectors

5 Steps to Get Your House Ready to Rent by Terry Sprouse

5 Steps to take if your house is flooded

Add “Start a Rental House Business” to Your Bucket List

The 5 Rules on How to Lose Money and Get Your Rental Property Trashed by Tenants

Window Repair with #2 Son

Required Roof Maintenance for Fixer Upper Houses

Learn to Repair Your Fixer Upper Houses

How I Got Started In Fixer-Upper Houses

How to learn to operate a fixer upper house business

The Peaceful Warrior and Fixer-Upper Houses

Coming Soon!

How to Turn Your Home into a Rental House, Instead of Selling It

Add “Start a Rental House Business” to Your Bucket List

Friday, August 24th, 2012

Taking a break from my regular fixer upper rental house blogging, today I am going to comment on some favorite blog articles that I have recently read.

Fearless Men

While I agree with Fearless Men’s article on the silliness of most bucket lists, in their article, 12 Things A Man Doesn’t Have To Do Before He Dies-Stupid Bucket Lists, I also think that starting a part time business is the exception to the rule.

While most bucket lists consist of activities that might reduce your life expectancy ( e.g., bullfighting), or your ability to enjoy life (e.g., broken body from the ever-popular choice of skydiving), a part time business, like owning rental houses, can actually improve your life.

Landlord Investor

Chuck’s article on Vacancy, First one in a while for us . . . is an insightful description a recent episode of  losing  and replacing a tenant. I appreciate this “real life” rental story that I can both relate to and learn from.

Louisville Gals Real Estate Blog

In her article entitled, 13 Cool Tools to Make You a Marketing Superstar, Sharon describes 13 amazing tools to help real estate investor to streamline their business. This is great for me because I didn’t know a lot of these things even existed, or that I needed them, until I read her article.

Any Shiny Thing

I actually read Lynn’s article Nora Ephron Left Us Sleepless a couple of weeks ago. It’s the type of article that touches your heart and makes you reflect on life’s bigger issues.

Turn Your House into a Rental House

By now, you probably know that my theory is that one of the easiest ways to get started in real estate investing is by turning your home into a rental house, instead of selling it.

My wife, Angy, and I are presently finishing up a book about how we go about doing this, entitled, not surprisingly, How to Turn Your Home into a Rental Property, Instead of Selling It.

Here is a quote from a book

According to the American Association of Realtors, the average American purchases 7 houses during their lifetime. In our opinion, those are 7 houses that we should hold onto for the rest of our lives, to generate monthly income and for long-term economic family security. Don’t give away the goose that lays the golden eggs!

 

The usual procedure that most people follow is to sell the home that they live in and to use the cash from the sale to buy a new house. If we tweak the old procedure just a little, it can result in a huge difference in our net worth and our economic security. We propose that instead of selling your home, just refinance it, and use the money from the refinance as a down payment on your next house. Now, you own two houses and you can just turn your old home into a rental property.

Presently, the book is going through the final editing and formatting process. Of course, it’s being reviewed by Homeland Security and the Pentagon, to avoid any classified information from leaking into the wrong hands.

By September the book should be available in both Kindle and paperback editions.

 Related Posts

Remove that Garbarge Disposal Now!