When Life (And Death) Intervene

It's been a while since I have been able to post here.. I've been very busy at my day job and I was also out of state for four days last week, which created a big backlog of things I had to take care of upon my return.I finally got the letter I requested from my old property manager stating that she was letting me out of the management agreement early. She claimed she never sent it to me before because she thought I just wanted a letter stating she...

A Property Management Company To Avoid

It's been 2 weeks since I faxed my property management company. Despite my written request and several phone calls, I have not received the written confirmation of the management agreement cancellation that I asked for. I needed this so the new management company could take over. Without it, I have to wait out the 30 day period specified in the contract. Because the current company is not making any money from me when the property is empty, there...

You Know There Are A Lot Of Foreclosures When...

...people start giving tours of bank owned properties.On the other hand, this does show some creative thinking from a couple of Realtors who must be looking hard for some ways to drum up business these da...

Potential Windfall For Foreclosure Investors

CNN is reporting that the Senate has passed a bipartisan bill to address the foreclosure crisis. Among the provisions: a tax credit of $7,000 for people buying foreclosed properties! Wow! It's unclear if this will apply to investors or just owner-occupants, but..holy cow.. A $7,000 tax credit! Not a tax deduction mind you, but a tax credit. That will certainly spur a wave of buying from investors if they can claim it!Of course, this is just the Senate's...

Changing Management Companies Is A Pain

Last Friday, I fired my property management company and hired a new one. Unfortunately, my contract stated that I have to give 30 days notice that I am canceling the contract. I had hoped that they would not enforce that, since they are not making any money from me. I don't pay them a monthly fee is the property is vacant and it is, so there is really no point in them holding on to the contract - unless they think they can get it rented in the next...

Good News For Multi #1

When I first started posting about my potential investment in a multi-unit rental complex in Houston, much of the comments warning me against it mentioned the horrible economy and how the Houston market is deteriorating. Just thought I'd pass along this article that says the opposi...

Rental #1 Under New Management

After five months of sitting vacant, I have fired my property management company and moved to a new one. Hopefully, this one will be able to get some tenants for me.The contract I had with the old management company specifies I have to give them 30 days notice to terminate the contract, but I think they will waive that since they aren't getting paid anything while it is empty. The new management company is allowing me to just start with a leasing...