I hate to use the "I told you so" or throw out my over 30 years of property management and real estate experience, but seriously? Are you listening at all?
So many times people buy a home or get the idea to invest in real estate to make money because they see it on TV or read it in a magazine and want to get rich. Can you? Absolutely! But if you have never done this before, listen for just a few minutes:
Ask my advice before you buy your house! It could sound great as some other investor off-loads his headache on you. Bad area, bad tenants, deferred maintenance-its all now yours.
Got money? If buying takes all your funds and now you need the tenants money to make your payment this is going to go badly. You need a minimum of 4 months rent in the bank as a cushion.
Cheap is cheap! Yes I use good vendors, and yes you can find a guy with a truck who will work for less, but if the work is substandard and has to be done 3 times that will cut into profits!
Breathing is not a qualifying parameter for a tenant. Let me advise you or you will get a bad tenant. Tips? Anyone who has recent evictions or needs to move in this week is a bad risk.
There are a lot of other tips I can help you with, but are you listening?