InvestInRealEstate101

We just purchased a quad apartment property that was literally on it’s last leg and going down for the count this past Friday in Norcross, Georgia. The property (6379 Holcomb Way) had shrubs that had grown 4 feet out into the parking lot (see the photo below), a junk car in the parking lot, mounds of trash on the back patios and no gutters which was creating water damage on the wood. On top of that the property only had one out of four rented and the last remaining survivor had no idea what was going on.

So we send in the troops over the weekend and begin to cleanup trash, call in to haul off the junk car and start pruning back the shrubs. All of the properties were cleaned up with bags of garbage and old clothing and left behind refuse. All of the locks were changed over to master locks from www.MrLandlord.com as we begin to slowly shape and mold the property to our system of business.

The goals this week are to get the carpet cleaned and dyed, new appliances in one of the units, a new glass door in the back of one unit and more cleaning and pruning to get the property in shape. This new attitude of management is a complete 180 degree turn from the past management who hired out someone else to manage that did not care about the property and severely mismanaged his asset. We bring a hands on approach and are customer service driven. We take action every week on our properties and this shows in our high tenant retention and overall low vacancy rate (less than 5%). We believe that a property should be clean and safe for the tenant and they should always know how to get in touch with the property manager to take care of issues and get repairs done. This clearly was not done on this property and was one of many reasons for it’s decline towards foreclosre. We will talk more about this property and our upgrades as we move forward towards full rental and a cash flowing apartment building (a beautiful thing!).

You can find out more about our other Lang and Thomas properties at www.langandthomas.com or drop Brad McLeod an email at mbmcleod@mindspring.com or Jennifer Minge an email at: minge@mindspring.com if you have any questions.

We are on a real roll with 2 foreclosure quad purchases within the last 5 days. We purchased one deal on Monday and finished out the week with another great deal. We purchased the quad in a short sale for $240k with $15k down (thats 6%!). The down payment came from a silent investor who we are very grateful to. The owner really wanted out and was getting beat up by his property manager who may have been on the take and was definetly not getting anything done (more on this later). Will a little bit of work this quad will cash flow quickly and be a great money maker.

The quad (4 units) is wood siding on a slab with 2 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. We own a another unit that is fully rented (above market rents) 2 doors down from this one. The unit is in ok shape overall with no major structural or water damage. We are looking at getting the carpets dyed to keep from replacing and then painting and putting in a few appliances. We believe the rehab will be less than $10k which will put this unit at our lowest total cost to date.

An interesting note – the seller actually stood us up at closing last Friday and claimed someone had told him the quad was worth $200k more. This presented a slight hurdle so we ended up placing a lien on the property as we had a contract for him to sell the unit to us. The lien would make it very difficult for him to sell to someone else in the near future. The sellers broker talked to the seller and eventually he came around and sat down at the table to close.

More on this quad unit as we have some observations on ways to look at a deal and find and figure out ways to improve a property through management and tender loving care (TLC). You can find out more about our other Lang and Thomas properties at www.langandthomas.com Drop me an email at mbmcleod@mindspring.com if you have any questions.

We believe that one of the quickest ways to rent your apartment property is to have curb appeal. More than one property has been driven past as a prospective tenant sees the “For Rent” sign, slows down and then sees a junk car in the parking lot, a lawn that hasnt been mowed all summer and dogs sifting through the spilled over trash cans at the curb.

Keeping a property in good “curb ready” shape is really not that difficult but still remains a big problem for most landlords. We recommend a few things to help keep your property up to par and ready to snag that potential renter.

1. Have a professional landscape company to come by every two weeks in the growing season and mow the grass and blow the leaves and pine straw off all hardscapes.

2. Once or twice a year you should have someone get up on the roof and clean those gutters. This will prevent gutters loaded with leaves to sag and create a water damaging problem.

3. Drive by once a week and check on the trash and the unit itself. I know it is tough but keeping the trash where it belongs (in the can and at the edge of your property) is an easy step that can seperate you from the also rans. Here is the other benefit. When you check on your property once a week, you know a lot more about that neighborhood (are there new real estate deals that have just come on the market) and you know your tenants better, and you know your property better.

You can find out more about our other Lang and Thomas properties at www.langandthomas.com Drop me an email at mbmcleod@mindspring.com if you have any questions.

Much has been said about continuing education and doing everything you can to learn about your specific task at hand. Buying real estate and becoming a landlord can be very daunting for a first time beginner and fortunately there are many good books out on the market to help you as you move along.

Lang and Thomas Top Ten Real Estate Books

Brad McLeod List
10. Maverick Real Estate Investing: The Art of Buying and Selling Properties Like Trump, Zell, Simon, and the World’s Greatest Land Owners by Steve Bergsman
9. Secrets of a Millionaire Landlord by Robert Shemin
8. How you can become financially independent investing in real estate – Albert J. Lowry
7. Emerging Real Estate Markets: How to Find and Profit from Up-and-Coming Areas by David Lindahl
6. Trump – The Art of the Deal – Donald Trump
5. Rich Dad, Poor Dad – Robert Kyosaki
4. Risk and Grow Rich – Kendra Todd
3. 2 Years to a Million in Real Estate – Matthew Martinez
2. Rich Dad’s Real Estate Advantages: Tax and Legal Secrets of Successful Real Estate Investors by Sharon L. Lechter and Garrett Sutton
1. The ABC’s of Real Estate Investing – Robert Kyosaki

Jennifer Minge’s List of Real Estate Books
Top 10 Real Estate Books

Laying the Foundation
1. Your Credit Score: How to Fix, Improve, and Protect the 3-Digit Number that Controls Your Financial Future – Liz Pulliam Weston
2. What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know about Cash Flow… And 36 Other
Key Financial Measures – Frank Gallinelli
3. Emerging Real Estate Markets – David Lindahl
4. How to Use Limited Liability Companies & Limited Partnerships – Garrett Sutton
Showing What is Possible
5. 2 Years to a Million in Real Estate – Matthew A. Martinez
Multi-Family Investing – The fastest path to riches
6. Investing in Duplexes, Triplexes, and Quads: The Fastest and Safest Way to Real Estate Wealth – Larry B. Loftis
7. The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings – Steve Berges
8. The Real Estate Recipe: Make Millions by Buying Small Apartment Properties in
Your Spare Time – Brian K. Friedman
How to protect your new found wealth
9. Real Estate Investors Goldmine of Brillant Tax Strategies – Albert Aiello
10. The Insider’s Guide to Real Estate Investing Loopholes – Diane Kennedy and
Dolf de Roos

We hope that these books will help you as you grow as a real estate investor. I think that even if you can learn one small thing from each book that they will collectively benefit you immensely. Best of luck with your upcoming real estate investments and projects. You can find out more about our other Lang and Thomas properties at www.langandthomas.com Drop me an email at mbmcleod@mindspring.com if you have any questions.

Well the dust has settled somewhat and we have just closed on another great deal with a foreclosed quad apartment in the Norcross (north Atlanta) area. This makes our 6th quad apartment purchased below market value in 2 and a half years.

The apartment was owned by the bank and they had forgotten that they even owned the unit. They had finally asked a local real estate agent to go by and check on the unit and see what was going on. The agent took one look at the unit and saw that she needed help and then saw our “For Rent” sign out at the street. She called our number and asked Jennifer if we were interested in property management. Jennifer instantly asked her to sell us the unit. We got a really nice deal on this unit picking it up at $265k with $1,000 down (yes; that is not a misprint) with the same bank holding the note. That is a great deal and probably one you will one day see on a late night infomercial. Unbelievable.

We are now working on the unit to get the gates fixed, picking up trash, getting the gutters cleaned and talking with the tenants about their concerns and needs inside the apartment. It appears to only need to paint, cleanup, and a few screws tightened down. No major structural or water damage problems. We look forward to getting the unit fully rented (currently 2 out of 4 with one on the fence) and cash flowing before our first mortgage payment in February.

We are now actively looking for our next deal and also looking forward to our upcoming closing this Friday on our latest purchase (details will be coming forward). You can find out more about our other Lang and Thomas properties at www.langandthomas.com Drop me an email at mbmcleod@mindspring.com if you have any questions.