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December 29, 2011 - 10:26 am

FYI: CFG also operates in Atlanta / Georgia.

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December 29, 2011 - 4:20 am

CheevesFinancial, let us know how it goes with your fake security camera to see if it wins the psychological war against those thieves and see if your AC stays intact and pass 2-4 yrs .

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December 28, 2011 - 2:13 pm

I've seen similar security cameras here and I tell you what you cannot tell the difference between a REAL one and a FAKE one…they make them like the real deal….unless someone will tell you they are fake, you wouldn't know hence you think twice before doing silly things  while in the presence of the security camera….makes sense to me. Will definitely give it a go and for the price you pay, they are peanuts.

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December 28, 2011 - 1:49 pm

CheevesFinancial wrote:

I      My security cams have been there 8 months and not a single problem.  Tenants actually think its hilarious but at the same time honestly does think it is security, albeit, a fake one.

AWESOME….I'll get my guys to get one of those fake security camera, Psychological war with thiefs may actually work?

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December 28, 2011 - 9:01 am

It would be a challenge to know the exact amount on how much you've added to the value of your property before you  reno the property …usually you do this after the reno is done.                 But, having said that, if you know the valuer of your financier, use them and tell them how much you will be spending and which room you will be upgrading etc., maybe then you get the idea on how much you've added to the value of your property.

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December 28, 2011 - 5:15 am

I thought Donald Trump rank inside the 10 top among the wealthiest of Americans…..his fortune is only .058 per cent of Gate's wealth….funny you often hear more from Trump. I guess Gate is a quiet achiever.

Gate has planned to give 90% of his wealth to charities….reminds of me Carnegie.

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December 28, 2011 - 4:47 am

worldinvestor wrote:

I am keen to find out if you are sourcing your own properties in Atlanta, buying turn key or getting them rehabbed.

Cheers, WI

I have a feeling that you're going to ask me about this.

I used a buyer's agent here…they gave me access to their foot workers on the ground of Atlanta (e.g., Realtor, Building Inspector, Pest Control inspector, Attorney…the whole nine yard). I bought some properties before so i'm not new to the process of buying real estate investment.

Maybe I'll get my property manager to put a sign up "Beware of Dog"…..

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December 28, 2011 - 3:32 am

That is a good point, WI.

It is common in Atlanta for the CAC to be stolen. The property that I'm about to settle, its CAC was also stolen.

I'm interested to hear the post of others about this also.

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December 27, 2011 - 11:36 pm

jayhinrichs wrote:

property management is a necessary evil.
If you do not like what they charge, try it ala Carte
I do that with my high end rentals I let the rental company advertise Screen then place tenant then I take it from there. I handle collections and maintenance. And pay the co. the placement fee and nothing else.
JLH

That's very interesting Jay. Typically, here in Australia you transfer the responsibility of property management to third party…when you do that, they do all the work from collection right to the maintenance. Usually, here the collection is done electronically (e.g., bank to bank payment). You only hear from them if there are issues (e.g., runner like tenant skipped the town without paying rent or thrashed the place, hot water system defunct etc).

With your approach, I gather it has worked for you successfully. But, have it ever failed once or twice even despite the best effort of the property management company to screen out the prospective tenants?

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December 27, 2011 - 11:15 pm

Alex SC wrote:

if we can apply one technique we learn and it adds to our bottom line ( Great ) but you are correct this is not rocket science but simple rules must apply……..

. The rules, what I called the fundamental………..learn the fundamental first….fundamentals are old and in the books.

ideas are in the books….people who've gone before us already pave the way to success, again i use my KISS method, no need to reimvent the wheels just stick with the fundamental……………..I totally agree with you Alex…………if one idea can assist the bottom line is far more superior than doing the same thing and getting the same result without any room for improvement. This is also true in business as well as in personal development.

Good luck with your business meeting the guy from Adelaide.

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December 27, 2011 - 8:16 am

I like your sense of homour Alex…you're writing is fine

As said before, "knowledged uninvested in activity is wasted". If you don't apply what you've learned, what's the point of learning it.

12 months ago, I spent a lot of time reading real estate investment books…spent about close to $1K…. The fundamental of real estate investment in the US and Australia has high degree of similarity (e.g., buy at the buttom of the market, sell on the top of the market, flip, buy old house add value through renovation (or rehab in the US) etc)…but that is where the similarities end. The US real estate market is massive compared with the size of our market here and a lot of variables to learn etc. So I armed my self with the fundamental stuff, did my due diligence and 12months later I bought 3 properties near Atlanta, GA. Now, that is "knowledged invested in activity leads to success".

Time permits, I will be doing what you love doing in the US, because for me Real Estate investment is a wealth building machine since wealth creation happens when you buy appreciating asset that generates passive income overtime. Some people do flip, that's fine, if you want to accelerate your cash, but if you sell your IP, you will never get a cent from that property again…it is like killing the goose that lay the golden egg. But, I challenge that notion specially if your IP is not performing well maybe time to sell up etc. So horses for courses.  But, the opposite is true also, buy depreciating asset (e.g., car) and it looses in value the moment you drive it away from the showroom….this will decrease your NET WORTH.

WEATH CREATION IS ALL ABOUT NET WORTH.

I don't understand why people makes real estate investment a rocket science, it is not just do your home work (e.g., get educated, associate yourself with like minded people, like you guys here in this forum etc).

I've been in the IT industry for over a decade and time and time again, I see engineers make simple things complex…I also say this to them use my KISS method.

Keep
It
Simple
Son

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December 27, 2011 - 3:45 am

I totally agree, experience is priceless.

Jim Rohn used to say  " Knowledge uninvested in activity is wasted". In the word, you can read all the IP books you want BUT, if you don't apply what you've learned, it will be wasted. He also used to say " Be a good student NOT follower". Which means, soak up everything, filter the important bits and add some of your experience into someone else idealogy then apply the knowledge….DON'T JUST RUN WITH IT FROM SOME ESLE IDEA.

Very interesting insight about the huge boiler rooms….like to have some of the big cooler of Red Bull stuff    I think you pay under $4 bucks here for 600 ml…something like that very expensive.

Anyway, I listened to one of recent Kiyosakis' audio book and he described himself as producer of DERIVATIVE. A derivative is something extracted from something that generates an income. For instance you've described above, attend his seminars, then you have to pay for the books, membership, CDs, royalties etc., which all extracted from his philosophy, that is how he makes money…..that's how the rich getting richer.

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December 26, 2011 - 11:17 am

Well, i guess you have to take both side of the story (i.e, the negative side and the positive side then make up your own mind….this way it makes you a well informed real estate investor.)

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December 26, 2011 - 10:19 am

Thanks Emma…interesting about the dual role (i.e., property inspector / pest control inspector)…i know pest control inspector could come quite expensive. If you don't mine asking who did you used before who is qualified with dual role?

I did my DD while under contract…for me 7 days to do my property / pest control inspection…thus far both reports are ok, nothing that would scare you and back out completely….i guess for me the property that I 'm purchasing was slightly old property, but the property inspection report was o.k.

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December 26, 2011 - 9:40 am

Guys, the property that was posted here looks pretty good. I know being a warm climate in Georgia, when you did your DD (due dilligence), some of the properties you've encountered in the past might have some issue with termites for instance?  Did you proceed closing the sales even if you have some tiny issue with the property. I heard that termites is common in Georgia because it is a wooded place whereby termites love to breed.

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December 26, 2011 - 8:00 am

Interesting insight. Are you practising those ideas yourself ? Just curious that's all. Thanks for the link

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December 26, 2011 - 6:10 am

Hi,

Who's company that manages your property? You can send me a private email if you preferred to question discretely.

Management fee i ok
Tenant sign on: ok [ others will take the whole month rental income]
Renewal fee:
Recover of late payment: seems excessive and not necessary.

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December 25, 2011 - 1:41 am

Since i'm buying my third property in GA, near Atlanta, my educated guess of the final cost would be between 42K to 45K.
30K is what the Bank sold the property for but the reno cost, closing etc would push the total cost past 40K easily…but that's just my perogative but unless the figures are disclosed, we can only speculate based from experience.

Beautiful home.

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December 10, 2011 - 11:18 am

Here are my view points:

1. If you get sued personally, your personal asset will be a risk being taken away from you including your investment property including your house if ALL registered under your name. That is why it is advisable to separate your business transaction with personal transaction.
   
2. In contrast,if someone sue you personally, and if your investment property was purchased under a company name, the suer cannot get his hands on your investment property only your personal assets. And if your personal assets are registered under your wife's name for instance, your assets are safe.
   

My advise is control your assets but don't own them (i.e., buy them under a company's name, YOU being the director of your company to control them).

Hope that makes sense.

Good luck.

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November 11, 2011 - 1:55 am

jayhinrichs

That's what the property managers there, for  the stuff that you don't want to do, they do for a fee.

My advise is you can have all the things you want in the world IF you help others achieve want they want, only  if you decide.