... and Landlord! Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast

I am a "Transaction Engineer" - Which is my way of saying that I engineer (or create) transactions of Real Estate deals, using whatever means or tools are at my disposal. Lease-Options are one such tool in my belt that I've used to great success. So in this episode of the... and Landlord Podcast, I relate my story of having used Lease-Options to successfully acquire 3 Rental Properties - essentially for FREE!

Now yes, I did have to put some money into each property - at least initially. Each required an "Option Fee", which is a non-refundable pre-payment of some amount of the purchase price to create a binding contract. For these 3 deals, the Option Fees were $100; $1,000; and $3,000 - respectively. Also, each property needed approximately $9,000 of rehab (give or take a few thousand) - to make them rental ready.

But I use zero-interest credit card promotions for most of my rehab expenses - so that's FREE money not coming out of my pocket. And here, the properties themselves kicked off enough positive cash-flow (once rented), to both payoff the credit card balances prior to any interest hitting. They also paid me back for any actual cash out of pocket, such as for the Option Fees or any rehab expenses that I couldn't put on a zero-interest card.

In this episode of the... and Landlord Podcast, I even relate how the properties increased in value during the Option period, so when I actually did complete the purchase a year or two later, I was buying them well below their current value - allowing me to walk away from the purchase closing table with a check in hand. How often do you buy a house and get paid to do so!?

Lease-Options are a two part contract... The first part is the Lease, which is not much different than any Lease for any property, where you agree to pay a monthly rent to occupy the home for some period of time, along with other rules, requirements and restrictions. Some slight differences here are that you are not going to occupy the home yourself, but instead have the right to sub-lease the property to an end Tenant of your choosing, and collect all rents.

The second part of the contract is the Option, which gives you the right to purchase the property at any point prior to the end of the Lease / Option period, for an already agreed price - that does not change regardless of if the value of the property should go up or down during that period. The Option contract gets recorded against the property title / deed, so that it cannot be sold to anyone other than the Option holder during the Option period. You have the property on lock.

And it is typically the case that in exchange for being granted a binding Option to purchase the property and full control, the Option holder is also fully responsible for paying all expenses related to the property, which would most often include the mortgage; taxes; insurance; repairs / maintenance; rehab / upgrades, etc... Because after all, you are making money on the property - its essentially yours, as you have full control and all rights. And depending on the market and property conditions, you may also be paying a premium of some amount to the owner for this privilege.

So I'm a real fan of Lease-Options, because if you can find a home and potential seller with the right motivation(s), and you can craft a presentation that explains the value and benefits to the owner, while overcoming any obstacles and objections (there may be several) - you can truly create a win / win / win situation.

Of course the first two wins are you and the seller; but that third win is for the Tenant who now gets to live in a great home that would not have otherwise been available - if not for your being a "Transaction Engineer" who understand and can leverage the power of the Lease-Option.

Back in 2016, I found myself clearing my first (AND LAST) toilet clog in a rental property. It was my 4th property, but numbers 4, 5 and 6 came to me in a very short amount of time. And by the time I got #7, I was officially out of the DIY (Do It Yourself) Landlord life. No more would you find me clearing tenant toilet clogs. I was done handling jammed garbage disposals. I was finished with pest control. NO future maintenance and repair tasks would involve ME - doing anything directly.

Over the period of time from obtaining rental property #4 to #7, I had started building my team of personnel and vendors, including: Plumber; Electrician; HVAC; Cleaners; General Contractors; Painters; Handymen, etc... So now when something needed to be done at a rental property, I had people to call who could take action on my behalf. But this was hard for me, because of course these people also wanted to be PAID - and much of the work I tasked them to undertake on my behalf were things that I was fully capable of handling myself.

So this 13th Episode of the [... and Landlord] Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast is titled "Avoid Becoming A DIY Landlord" - and its all about my journey from feeling I should be saving MONEY - by handling everything myself; to saving TIME (which is far more valuable than money) - by leveraging the time and skills of others to handle things on my behalf.

Finding myself clearing a tenant toilet clog was my eye opening moment to see how wasteful it was of both my time and ultimately also a waste of my money - for ME to be clearing toilet clogs. When I could have been out finding more properties to grow my Rental Property business. Or working to get clients to grow my Realty business. It certainly was not the best use of my time and skills to be clearing a toilet clog in a rental property - something I didn't want to be doing anyway! That certainly wasn't why I got into Real Estate, so why was I doing it?

Well no more DIY Landlord tasks for me.. And hopefully after listening to this 13th Episode of the [... and Landlord] Podcast, you will be done with the DIY Landlord life also. Or even better... Maybe this will help you to avoid it entirely if you've not yet fallen into that trap. Instead of clearing toilet clogs, go out and get more rental properties. And if those rentals are in the Raleigh / Durham (Triangle area) of North Carolina, then you should hire me and Blue Chariot Management to manage your rental properties on your behalf. I've put together an impressive team to handle all your Raleigh / Durham Property Management needs.

In this, the 8th Episode of the [... and Landlord] Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast, I discuss how vacancy kills rental cashflow; and therefore how to avoid vacancy.

On this topic of avoiding rental vacancy, I discuss such things as making sure that your existing tenant leaves on terms that are favorable to your finding a new tenant BEFORE they're gone. This includes having a requirement of 45 days notice to end tenancy (not 30 days unless mandated by law). Also, having it stated in your lease that you have the right to show the home to new prospective tenants during that notice period while the current tenant is still present - along with details on how to handle this properly.

I speak on how to advertise the property for rent and making sure its priced right. For example, might you be able to rent the property faster and for a longer period of time at a slightly reduced rent? And for once you have people inquiring about your rental, I talk about screening those prospective tenants in a way so as to lawfully eliminate those persons who are more likely to create problems for you and likely to be short-term tenants - as you want tenants who will be in the home for years.

This is because tenant turnover is expensive, so I speak on ways of getting your existing tenant to remain longer, so as to avoid not just vacancy, but also the major expense of making the home rental ready again between tenants. Your tenant is your customer, so you must treat them with appreciation, while also running your rental business with professional processes that make them want to remain being a customer (tenant) of your rental property business. This even includes how you handle lease renewals and rent increases.

And lastly, I give an example where one of my better rental homes will soon experience a tenant turnover. The existing tenant in this homes gave notice in April that they would be vacating the home at the end of May (Sunday, June 2nd actually to have one more weekend to complete the move-out). We quickly got the home listed for rent and scheduled showings. There were lots of inquiries and showings, which resulted in 5 applications being submitted. We processed each and approved one for a new tenant to begin occupancy in this home on June 7th. That will give us 4 days (from June 3rd to 6th) to complete touch-up painting and any other work as needed to make the home rental ready again for the new tenant. And because of how we manage our properties, it is highly likely that very little work will be needed to make the home ready, as it passed an inspection just a couple months earlier.

In line with this example, I speak a bit during this episode on property management, such as doing quarterly inspections. This creates a situation where when you do experience a tenant turnover, you already know the condition of the property and its likely to require minimal work if all prior quarterly inspections have been passed and the tenant follows the move-out cleaning guide.

The episode ends with mention of the new [... and Landlord] Podcast Book Recommendations page at: https://www.andlandlord.com/books - and my personal comments here referencing: The 4-Hour Work Week & Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. I highly recommend both books, and you can read details of what they did for me at the above links.

Do you believe your local market to be "Too Hot" to start investing in Real Estate? No deals to be had where you live? If only you lived "there" - where deals are plentiful, because prices are low and rents are high - there. But where you live... Nope! Sucks to be you... Your Real Estate investing dream will have to wait for another day - when it's not such a "seller's market". Or at least, that's what I hear...

My local market is Durham, North Carolina. I'm both a Durham Realtor and an Investor in Durham. I started Investing in Rental Properties here in 2015, and I'm still buying in this market right now, for both myself - and for client's who I represent as their Durham Real Estate Agent.

In this episode of the... and Landlord Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast, I question those who think their local market is "too hot" and that there are "no deals". Yes, competition has increased across the nation. How could it not, with house flipping shows on every 10th channel? But are you not able to out perform someone who just watched a TV show and then said "hey, let's flip a house!"

If not, then your problem may NOT be just the "Hot Market". Maybe you also need to improve your systems and process. Or maybe you need to partner with an Investor's Agent - like me! Or at least if you're investing in Durham, North Carolina... Outside of Durham, I can't help you.

But I'm convinced that deals are available almost everywhere. So don't fall for the "grass is greener" syndrome. The grass is fine where you are also - but maybe it just needs some care. Likewise, maybe you just need to apply some consistent effort in your local market or work with a local professional to get a deal done.

Yea, I've got #2020Vision - in more than one way. So in this Episode #40 (the first of 2020) of the @andLandlord Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast - I'm engaging in the New Year / New Decade pastime that pretty much everyone else is as well... Goal Setting!

What's your 2020 Vision? For that matter, what's your Vision of 2023, 2025 and all the way out to the end of this / the next decade - 2030!? That's what we discuss in this episode of the... and #LandlordPodcast - We'll be setting grand goals and making plans to achieve them.

If you've already got a Rental Property (or few); or if you're trying to get your first - getting from where you are to where you seek to be will be aided greatly by a goal directed by a plan. So let's get to it and kill-it not only in 2020 but for the decade to come all the way out to 2030 (and beyond)!