Investing in Rental Property

Originally Posted by jluck

The two best tips I have learned.
>Don't rent to family or friends! It just invites awkward and unnecessary problems. Also they seem to feel like on time and full payments are optional.
>Charge a premium and or invest in "better" property's and skip the slum lord route. There are plenty of people looking to rent a house and more all the time with the current foreclosure rates.

I have been involved in the rental business since I was eight or nine years old, My folks have had many rentals and they still continue to be my problem. I have seen some of the grossest nasty things you could imagine (including a suicide) in a rental.....It can be tough.

With decent planning it can be a very lucrative proposition though.

As a side note....with all I have seen I still am trying to purchase another property.....

I would like to buy decent homes to rent out to families or young couples. Part of making money on this is buying nice homes for bargains and then charging a premium. I know a guy that has made tons of money with his rental property business, however he rents to really bad people. He has TONS of issues with his people, and I know its because he rents out crap property for cheap. He has told me many times he carries his Glock with him whenever he makes stops at his property. I DON'T want that type of property or those people renting from me. I know now is the time to buy property, but I don't have enough cash. 5 years down the road I'd like to have enough.. I want to plan right now to have enough cash when the time comes..