If you’re very new to all of this, you’re probably wondering how to dive in to the wonderful world of buying rental property. I’ll share with you what worked for me, and it involves 5 specific steps:- Find a good real estate agent
- Practice running the numbers
- Conduct physical inspections (drive-by’s & showings)
- Make an offer & negotiate
- Manage the contract processSTEP #1: FIND A GOOD REAL ESTATE AGENTEventually, you will need your own “team,” including a real estate agent, mortgage broker, insurance broker, title company, attorney, home inspector, and a handful of trustworthy contractors. But with the exception of a real estate agent, your team does not need to be brought together right out of the gate. You will gradually assemble it as you go.STEP #2: PRACTICE RUNNING THE NUMBERSAsk your new broker to send you all the active 2-8 unit multifamily rental property listings in your target area, and practice running the numbers to identify the most beneficial ones. As long as you know a simple formula and have a few key numbers from the property, can use those numbers to do rapid-fire “back of the envelope” calculations to quickly screen properties for financial practicality. Read my property valuation article to learn how to do this.STEP #3: CONDUCT PHYSICAL INSPECTIONSOnce you have a list of financially viable multifamily rental properties, take some time to do drive-by’s. Whether the numbers work or not, you do not want to get any property in an especially bad area (in fact, you’ll find that the numbers usually work best in such areas…you get what you pay for!). Plus, while not a flawless science, if the outside looks like it’s falling apart you may want to pass.After this process, you will have a list of maybe 3 or 4 properties to look at with your Realtor, instead of, say, 10 or 15. Have your Realtor schedule weekly showings, and bring a notebook to jot down notes so you can later use this info to adjust your bid amount.Keep physically inspecting properties with your agent in this manner every week and do not get discouraged. The majority of rental properties you come across will be poorly maintained and/or overpriced. Tenants beat them up, and many, many landlords could care less about maintaining their investment.So, buying rental property takes time. All I can say is be patient, and remember that the more deals you inspect, the better deal you are likely to get when you finally pull the trigger.STEP #4: MAKE AN OFFER & NEGOTIATEOk, so you’ve run a bunch of initial numbers, did a bunch of drive-by’s, and physically inspected a bunch of hot prospects with your agent. Finally, you’ve found a 2-8 unit multifamily rental property you’d like to purchase. Time to negotiate!STEP #5: MANAGE THE CONTRACT PROCESSYippee, your offer was accepted! So now what? Well, there are various steps that round out the process of buying rental property:- Get the property “under contract”
- Initiate title work; note that some states require an attorney
- Conduct a property inspection
- Get an appraisal
- Arrange financing
- Get property insurance
- Get a property survey
- Review settlement documents and close the dealThis may seem complicated if you happen to be new to all of this, but it’s really not. After you go through the entire process once, you’ll be ready to start buying rental property like there’s no tomorrow!
Start Buying Rental Property With This 5-Step Process
Why Automotive Logos Differ From Country to Country
The fact that automotive logos differ from country to country is true it’s not only the automotive logos that differ. This phenomenon is happening due to a lot of factors not only for identification on the production lines to know which car is for which country.As the same model cars differ in specs for different countries, and gets marketed under a different name. Why do the specs differ from country to country? There are a lot of reasons and a lot of petrol heads don’t believe this.This was a big discussion in my workshops already when imported cars came in for repairs in the past. When you inform the customer you can’t work on his car due to the fact it was imported into this country. Normally he will tell you it is only the automotive logos that differ because that was what the salesman informed him.If the software differs on a car your diagnostic tool don’t even enter the cars software, to do a diagnostic on the car. The next thing you need is a spare and it is not available in your country. That is normally the point the customer starts to realize it is not only the automotive logos that differ on the car it’s a lot more and the salesman lied to him.That is the point the owner of this car wants to know how it works.• Firstly the automotive software on the car will differ for various reasons; different countries have different driving conditions. This means temperatures, altitudes, fuel mixtures and even the drivers and driving styles.• The whole setup for the country you are in must be build into the car in the factory. For instance your specs on cars differ from the northern hemisphere to those in the southern hemisphere.• Your country authorities lied down all the specs for cars that can be driven in your country so that gets specially built into the car. In South Africa all vehicles that get imported into the country must have an approved number issued by the C.S.I.R our quality controlling board.• If you have a manufacturer of a car in your country or a register importer they will be the only ones that will get cars with the right specs for your country. Because they have the distribution rights in that country and they must be protected. This is not only for cars it work the same on all products.• In South Africa if they found any product in the country that doesn’t adhere to the laid down spec’s it gets destroyed.• So if a car’s automotive logos differ from the rest it is easy for the authorities to spot it.That is why automotive logos do differ all over the world in one country a car goes under a name. In another under a different name even if the look the same, and came from the same production line.
10 Easy Saddle Fitting Tips
If you want a good fit take a few minutes and answer these basic questions.
1. How much does your horse weigh? If a 1000 lbs or more, look to a Full Quarterhorse Bar (FQHB)/wide saddle.
2. What kind of withers does your horse have? Mutton-withered? Look to a FQHB if your horse is anywhere close to a 1000 lbs. i.e. 900 lbs or more.
3. Consider your horse’s back. Is he wide or narrow? Can’t tell? A wide back will require a FQHB. A narrow back will need a semi-quarterhorse bars.
4. Is your horse short backed? Look for a shorter skirt or round skirt saddle. You don’t want the saddle skirts to rub the horse’s hips.
5. Is your horse gaited? Seriously consider a gaited saddle. Gaited saddles have more rock with wider bars in the front and are smaller in the back to allow for the movement of their shoulders.
6. What is your budget? Be reasonable in your expectations. Leather saddles cost more than cordura saddles. You will find few leather saddles for under $500, so be realistic. Most of the time you will get what you pay for.
7. Consider what you are going to do with this saddle. Yes, the trail saddle looks nice, but you won’t rope off of it for long.
8. What seat size do you need to look for?
9. What saddle pad will work? Most horses do not need special pads, but some horses do. Think about what will work, and do the necessary research.
10. Answer all the questions. All these questions need to be considered to insure a good fit. If you don’t answer all the questions you may find a saddle that fits and you might not.