The stock market keeps kneecapping me, so I’m working on saving up money to buy a second house as a rental, and trying to figure out what needs to happen to make that work well.
So far:
- Chatted with three accountants, chose the one I liked best, and they advised LLC.
- Chatting with a recommended attorney focused on real estate to double check things. So far, most people are stressing insurance as the most important thing here.
- Chatted with a property management company. I can’t leave work to go fix things, so I need someone to handle these things for me. Going rate (for a single house) seems first month’s rent to find a tenant, and 10% of rent to maintain a tenant. (Potentially less with fewer properties. Advice I’ve gotten here is “don’t ever be friends with your property manager.”
- Found a good realtor as a buyer’s agent.
- Have an inspector who many realtors hate, as he’s picky as hell. Perfect.
- Have an insurer who’s glad to work with me, who I know on a first-name basis, who’s paid out claims to me before without any problem.
- Finally, preapproved by a mortgage lender I’ve worked with (happily) before.
The ducks are in a row. I just need more cash on hand, which will come over the next few months or so. My planning/meeting/setup speed beat my cash stockpiling, which isn’t completely surprising. Looking at cheaper properties in the meantime, but not very impressed by what I’ve seen.
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