Auburn Investment Properties Podcast with Chris Kearns

In this Episode, I'll share 9 or 10 of the Real Estate books that I would recommend to someone no matter which stage they are in as an investor. Some are inspirational, some are more about urban economics, the history of cities, or even how to prioritize your work when you are feeling overwhelmed.
I often say that our actions follow our philosophy, or in other words, we do what makes sense to us. If that is true, then it's helpful to see the bigger picture and understand the context of our decisions beyond just what we can see right in front of our face at the moment.
Here are the books, with Amazon links:

• Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki
• Cashflow Quadrant, by Robert Kiyosaki
• The E-Myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber
• The Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs
• The Option of Urbanism, by Christopher Leinberger
• The Rise of the Creative Class, by Richard Florida
• Who is Your City? by Richard Florida
• The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey
• The One Thing, by Gary Keller
• Jim Rohn (various YouTube videos in a playlist)
• 80/20 Sales & Marketing, by Perry Marshall
• Mega-Trends, by John Naisbitt

Other Links from this episode:​​

• Work with Me
• Real Estate Brokerage Services: AuburnInvestmentProperties.com
• Real Estate Investor Coaching: BetterREI.com

In this episode, we talk about buying in your name vs buying in an LLC, and some advice on partnerships and other types of "corporate" organizational structures. If you are just buying 1 house as 1 person, you have plenty of options available. But if you are joining forces with another investor or moving up to commercial property, then there are organizational contracts that are better then just buying in your name, and sometimes the bank will require something called a "single purpose LLC", so we'll talk about that a little bit, as well as how these things affect your taxes and even ways to do some wealth/estate planning for your family too. As you may have already picked up on, I think that having a good Real Estate attorney is important to give you guidance but also peace of mind.
Then we look at the financial side of things, starting with a bank or mortgage company, and moving on from there. What are the 2 main parts of a mortgage - and why is that important? Well, sometimes you may need - or want - borrow from someone you know, either for the down payment or a rehab or just for a large unexpected expense. And if you understand how that is done, then you can do it without the bank as well. We'll talk about using IRA's, both yours and other people's, as a source of funds as well, and that can be Roth IRA's and Traditional IRA's. Another option would be a margin loan on stocks, and you have to know what the pros, cons, and consequences are to using all of these more "exotic" money sources. Lastly, we circle back to refinancing, and we talk about how you might use it to get a better rate, of course, but also to shorten or extend your payoff period, depending on your goals.
In the Tips and Takeaways section, I'll compare investing in Real Estate to playing LEGOs, and how the real fun begins once you've got some experience under your belt and you can create the deals you want instead of just buying off the shelf. I'll also tell you how, why, and when we used different LLC's over the years, how we named them, which ones are still around today, and I'll introduce an inexpensive tool to help ease the fears of your private investors if you are out there trying to raise money.
Links from this episode:​​

• Work with Me
• Real Estate Brokerage Services: AuburnInvestmentProperties.com
• Real Estate Investor Coaching: BetterREI.com

In this Episode, I'm going to take you back to a diner on Beale Street in Memphis, on a lonely night more than 15 years ago. I felt like I was drifting a little, and needed some wisdom in my life about dealing with success, not feeling needed, and being kind of depressed about it.
Around that time, I started reading classic books and plays to keep my mind active, and this particular night I sat down to read The Glass Menagerie, not even knowing what a Menagerie was, or why the play was so famous. In fact, the play itself was not very memorable to me - I had to look it up again and do a google search to find remember what a "menagerie" was again just so I could do this podcast! Lucky for me, I came across something in the first few pages of the book, before the play even started, that was as memorable and influential as anything I've read before or since. It's not often you get life advice from someone so gifted with the written word, and I'm definitely talking about Tennessee Williams here, not me! Anyway, this is a super short episode with a very impactful lesson about your Real Estate career, and about life in general. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Links from this episode:​​

• Work with Me​
• The Catastrophe of Success, by Tennessee Williams
• ​Real Estate Brokerage Services: AuburnInvestmentProperties.com
• Real Estate Investor Coaching: BetterREI.com

In this Episode, you'll hear the second of two parts of an interview I did with my long-time Real Estate Attorney, Russell Balch of the law firm Akridge & Balch in Auburn. Besides being my attorney, Russell has also been my office landlord for a few years too. I met Russell through my first post-college employer (Fred & Miles of the Charter Companies) in the late 1990's, and when I started my mobile home sales business way back in 2000, Russell was my guy!
Eventually, I moved on to single condos, and then started buying apartment buildings to turn around, or renovate and cut into condos. Later on, Russell helped me acquire a 50+ unit portfolio with a multi-million dollar "Lease-Option" type of contract. Well, that huge acquisition completely burned me out and I needed a break for a while, so I decided to sell all of my properties, and Russell helped me with that, too. He's started 8 or 9 LLC's for me, either as solo businesses or with partners, and I always felt prepared for what happened next, even when one of the partners in a 3 man group actually died and the other filed bankruptcy! The bottom line is this: a good Real Estate attorney is one of the most valuable members of your team, and Russell is a damn good one.
Listen in as Russell and I talk about: (items in bold are in this episode, the rest were discussed in the previous episode)

• Various types of closings
• The differences between Residential and Commercial Deals
• The finer points of contracts and how they can affect negotiations
• Contract and the review process for complicated deals
• Options, Due Diligence periods, and Hard Money clauses
• LLC's and how they are designed to be firm but flexible, and can be modified on the fly to fit your evolving projects
• Three types of dispute resolution (Mediation, Arbitration, and Litigation)
• Parting thoughts and words of wisdom

Links from this episode:​​

• Work with Me​
• Expert Legal Services for Real Estate: Russell Balch at Akridge & Balch, PC
• Call Russell or my go-to lady FB Henderson at (334) 887-0884
• Real Estate Brokerage Services: AuburnInvestmentProperties.com
• Real Estate Investor Coaching: BetterREI.com

In this episode, we'll wrap up our overview of the contracts and paperwork used in the leasing process by hitting the last 4 milestones: Renewals, Pre-Leasing, Move-Outs, and Deposit Refunds. I mean, lets be real - people are going to move out and you'll have to be ready for the transition, right? I'll introduce the concept of "Future Pacing" and how it will help your new tenants, your current tenants, and even you as a landlord. Yep, even with 20 years of experience, I've given myself some homework to do after recording this episode because we should all be on the lookout for ways to improve our business when we come across a good idea.
We'll also talk about hiring a Property Manager, and what they will do - and not do - for you as part of your Management Agreement. We'll talk about what to expect when you are buying a property that is already under management, and what your options are at that time. And we'll end this section talking about how you might get stuck with a Condo Assn manager that you don't like if you aren't careful.
In the Tips and Takeaways section, we'll talk about the best time to buy from a motivated seller - even in Auburn's relatively hot market. And we'll wrap up with some advice on the best times of the year to start a new lease to get the most Applicants and the highest rent - from my opinion, and how to structure your leases to give your tenants flexibility while still retaining control of the important stuff.
Milestones in the Tenant Life-Cycle, as relates to contracts: (bold sections are covered in this episode)

1. Application
2. Lease + Clauses
3. Payments
4. Renew or Not?
5. Pre-Leasing
6. Vacate
7. Deposit Refund

Links from this episode:​​

• Work with Me
• "Family Truckster" Scene from "Vacation": YouTube Link
• Real Estate Brokerage Services: AuburnInvestmentProperties.com
• Real Estate Investor Coaching: BetterREI.com