Weeks ago, I made the decision to move away from using the term “owner-financing” and “lease-options” to “lease-to-own”.  Currently, the mood to buy homes is low and rentals are now more popular.  It is much easier to get into and takes less upfront money.

Although it seems like a small change, the reaction has been popular.  With the price cuts we implemented and re-popularizing the the term “lease-to-own” in our local area, the response has been huge.  We have blown out every vacant home that was available.  We have received less upfront monies than before but the vacancies are filled.

I still do not like the term “rent-to-own”.  The distinction between “renting vs. leasing” may seemingly be small but it does attract a different crowd.  Fundamentally, we are still using lease-options, but using the term “lease-to-own” has been a positive experience.

For the very first time, I am running a 40% discount sale of all “TurnKey Investor” and “Ascend Beyond” titles for orders over $99.00.  This is an experiment to see how many people will respond to a limited time promotion across multiple titles.

If you order $100 worth of products, you will get a $40 discount.  This is a very steep discount but I can afford to do it as the publisher and author.  You will have to enter a coupon code to take advantage of this “sep08sale”.  It expires on September 30, 2008.

If there have been any titles you wanted to order, now is the time to order.

Go visit the Ascend Beyond SuperStore for this very special sale.

These are the procedures to do a Bank Garnishment in Muscogee County, GA as was reported to me.  You should verify these procedures with the Clerk’s office if you plan to execute on this.

Essentially, you can sweep a garnishee’s bank account.  It is a powerful way to collect on unpaid judgments.

First, you have to pay $47.50 to domesticate a judgment if from out of state.  That judgment has to be served.  It gives them the opportunity to contest it.  After a waiting period and if they don’t contest it, you can move to bank garnishments.

To do a multiple bank garnishment, we have to pay $49.50 for the first bank and $3.00 for each additional bank.  In the past, there were only 7 major banks to garnish.  However, we now have 16 banks if you include all the small, community banks that have cropped up in recent years.

One attorney reportedly files for all 16 banks in one shot.  At only $3.00/bank, it is a good value.  Garnishment fees are reimbursable and can be added to the balance.

If you do not get all the monies on the first wave, you simply refile at a future time to sweep the banks again.  Although you have to pay another filing fee to sweep the banks, you can once again tack on that fee to the outstanding balance.  You can do it as many times as you need to, to ultimately collect the balance and all the filing fees.

My opinion is that you can only do this once in a great while since people will be wise to it and may avoid bank accounts altogether.

It was with great disappointment that I had to announce the cancellation of “The TurnKey Investor’s Real Estate Portfolio-Building Workshop” last Friday.  While there was some interest, early commitments were simply not there.

It didn’t help that I did a poor job getting the word out.  In some ways, it is a bit of a relief although my investor friends were certainly looking forward to it.  What this project did allow me to do was take inventory of what I thought was important and in the big scheme of things, canceling the workshop seemed the most obvious project to cancel from my already full plate.

After several requests from the last few years for a real estate investor coaching, consulting, and mentoring program, I have decided to create and develop “The TurnKey Investor’s Consulting Program“.

I have been resistant to doing this program because I have been very guarded with my time and personal schedule.  Even with this announcement, I still am.  However, I believe I have created a way to comfortably coach, consult, and mentor others in a way that is effective and reasonably priced.

What sent me over the edge was a customer seeking a coaching, consulting, and mentoring program was actually considering an offer of $10,000 upfront and a monthly fee of $1,000/month from someone who had less real estate and credentials than my real estate partner, Wes and I did!  I told my customer I thought that it was ridiculously priced.  Shortly after that conversation, I decided to develop a program that was reasonable and effective, not this overpriced B.S. program.

For many beginning students, their toughest time is the first 30-days.  That is often their make or break period.  Because of this very formative period, it will be the most intensive period for both my students and myself.  I have to shake them out of their comfort zone and push them out to make things happen both effectively and intelligently.

To maintain good quality control, I will accept students into this program only by a written application and telephone interview process.  I only want to work with students who have a good shot at success.  Having coached, mentored, and instructed many students over the years, I have a good sense of who is committed and who is simply all-talk.

I have committed myself to those individuals that are optimistic, mature, confident, independent, flexible, creative, can listen, and accept constructive criticism and direct feedback.  These types of people have the innate personality traits to succeed at nearly anything they set their minds to.

And while my Consulting Program is considerably less expensive than most real estate investor seminars, it carries a strong enough of a financial weight for the students paying to take this seriously.  It can be afforded but I would not say it is affordable.

Additionally, because the program is on strict time schedules, the student ultimately loses if they get lazy and don’t do their assignments or stick to their 120-day plan.  I also reserve the right at any time to let go of any student who isn’t being accountable to me and to themselves.  I don’t have the patience and stomach for it.

Like my time during the Investors Roundtable, everyone will be put on notice that they must perform.  And after 4-6 months of consulting, I will likely give them notice that their time with me will come to an end.  Basically, if there is no results or success, the consulting must end.

The rules are set.  I am excited by this program.  I have set a high standard for the students to meet.  Only the most confident and capable will want to take this program with me as their coach and mentor.  I openly tell the people I coach and mentor, I cannot be their friend and effectively help them.  Friendship has to be secondary and only after the consulting process has concluded.

Just a quick note…

It has taken awhile but I am happy to announce that the registration for “The 2008 TurnKey Investor’s Real Estate Portfolio-Building Workshop” is now open.

There are Early-bird registration discounts as well as discounts for spouses and business partners.

And for the student who wants a premium experience, we have 6 VIP Registration slots open.

Also, there have been new promotional articles written “My Personal Story” as it relates to the workshop and “Great Reasons to Attend the Workshop”.  These two articles are meant to help interested parties decide if the workshop is suitable for them.

Now that I have just finished my rant on Russell County, Alabama, I guess I will rant a bit about the Lee County, Alabama court system.  The Lee County, Alabama courts and offices are in the nice Justice Building in Opelika, AL.  It is a healthy 45-minute haul for us to file an eviction from Columbus, GA despite the fact that most of our rental homes in Lee County are in Phenix City and only 20-30 minutes away from Columbus, GA.

We have also had the good fortune to not have to often file evictions (unlawful detainers) in Lee County, Alabama.  In fact, we have never been in front of a judge ever.  On prior unlawful detainers we filed, our tenants would simply not answer or show up to court and so we win by default judgement.  Quite frankly, we love winning our cases that way.

However, I recently filed a lawsuit against a non-paying tenant that had moved out last year and fled the local area.  It would be over 6 months later we would have her process served in Mauk, Georgia.  IN any case, I received a call yesterday by a clerk from Judge Russell Bush’s office confirming the location of the rental property in dispute.  I told her the address and she said that the case was in the correct jurisdiction and she would set a court date.

She casually mentioned that the July 10th date was full so she had to schedule us to the next available date of August 7, 2008.  I thought to myself that sounded strange and I asked the clerk that Small Claims only holds court once a month?  She said yes.  I was astounded that we had to wait an entire month for the next date.

To be fair, I don’t regard our small claims case as a higher priority to any eviction (unlawful detainer) we might file.  The difference is that we already have possession of our property back from our deadbeat tenants.  Once they are out, we can take a more leisurely pace to going after the “runaway” deadbeat tenant.  But to wait a whole month for the next small claims court date simply amazed me.

This yet another strike against the Alabama landlords and real estate investors because of how slow the court system seems to move in relation to other cities and jurisdictions I am familiar with.

In a prior post, I expressed my dissatisfaction with how the Russell County, Alabama Eviction court system operates.  We have been fortunate that we don’t file often but it is a pain to deal with when we do.  First off, the clerks don’t seem to care much.  While they are polite, it seems like you to have be extra nice to just have them do their jobs.  I often get the feeling if you are not extra nice to them, they can easily sabotage the process by deliberately slowing the already slow process down.  I often feel they have the people they serve held hostage administratively.

I understand that we have to give our tenants 7-days to respond.  But when that period is over, we often have to wait another 2 weeks to get a court date.  For the average person and the clerks, it is not a big deal.  But from my point of view, that is nearly another half a month of “free rent” that the tenants get while we are waiting for court.  Of course, no one gives a second thought of our pain that we have to continue paying the underlying mortgages on those rental properties on time.  The deadbeat tenants get to pay whenever they feel like with no regard to the Landlord’s ongoing challenge to remain profitable.

Our past experiences with Judge Bellamy have been positive and fair but it seems like there is no back up for him.  If he is out of town, out on business, has personal issues, or whatever, all the Landlords and Property Managers have to pay for all the delays.  I simply don’t understand why there is another judge to help support Judge Bellamy during his absence.  In Muscogee County (Columbus, GA) Judge Denson backs up Judge Turner.  I surmise Russell County does what it does for budgetary reasons.  Be that as it may, all it does is reinforce my thoughts that newer real estate investors should avoid Alabama and simply not invest in Alabama or Russell County.  Being a Landlord in Russell County, Alabama is financially punishing and often a thankless job.

My business partner, Wes Weaver, and I are looking forward to selling off our Alabama properties after the real estate market turns around.  IN the meantime, we will simply grit our teeth.  We go into the Russell County, AL courthouse and be as pleasant as possible while knowing we will be put through an inefficient and slow system.  As I said before, the only saving grace is that our past experiences have shown Judge Bellamy to be a reasonable judge.

There was a period of time years ago when getting a court date was quicker.  But that seems to have changed.  Either that or we have been unlucky enough to get caught while Judge Bellamy’s schedule is overloaded or he is unavailable.

One of the reasons I blog about this is that I believe complaining to them directly does not do any good as most of the people there don’t really seem to care much.  As I said, they are polite but they seem to take a minimalist approach to helping people.  However, when enough people share a common plight and act upon, maybe changes will happen.  Or if investors simply stop buying investment property in Russell County and start selling them off, they might notice that rental housing is becoming more scarce and the property values drop.  With fewer investors and Landlords, there will be less evictions to deal with.

Phenix City hates being the ugly step-child to Columbus, GA.  But part of the reason is the way Alabama and Russell County does things.  We pay higher taxes and more for housing in Columbus, GA but yet more people prefer it because there is just less of “deadbeat factor” that exists on the Alabama side.

It has been a few weeks since the last update for “The TurnKey Investor’s Real Estate Portfolio-Building Workshop” Seminar.  Quite frankly, I have been focused on various issues relating to our own real estate portfolio as well as other administrative issues.

Despite very little promotion, I have heard from a few people who seem excited about the upcoming workshop in October.  I surmise they like our guest speakers, field trip, and the idea of a real estate portfolio resonates with people who are focused on building true wealth, not simply turn deals month after month.

Registration is coming soon!  I promise!  I also promise I will have an extensive update on what the workshop will cover!  There will be a great discount for people who register early.

Check back for more announcements!

Although the State of Alabama attempts to unify the judicial system and the eviction filing process, there are still local variations of how you must file an eviction.  In Russell County, they have prepared a nice information packet and sample form for Landlords & Property Managers who want to file their own evictions.

In Russell County, they are a bit picky if you are a management company doing an eviction.  They insist that that you have an attorney represent your management company if the case goes into court.  In other words, unless you own the investment property yourself, you will need an attorney to represent you.

Essentially, before you file for an Unlawful Detainer (AL Form C-59), you should have already sent your tenants a written 7-day notice of failure to pay rent.

Russell County Sheriff’s Department will make a few attempts for personal service before they simply post a copy on their front door.

The filing fee is $235.00 plus $15.00 for each additional defendant.  For most tenants that are couples, it will cost $250.00.

The Russell County Clerk’s office will also insist you provide a photocopy of your lease and tenant’s payment history.  This is NOT an Alabama requirement.  This is only for Russell County.  So come prepared with the photocopy or you will be sent away.

Your tenants will have 7 business days to respond. If they don’t respond,  you will automatically win default judgment and you will have to pay another $50.00 to get this.  However, you will also get immediate possession of the property.

If your tenants do respond the Unlawful Detainer you filed, you will be given a court date generally 2 weeks out, sometimes even 3 weeks out depending if the judge is in town or not and if you are near any major holidays.  If you are gasping for air at this point, I don’t blame you.  Waiting another 2-3 weeks for your court date can be a costly endeavor indeed.  This is why if you can negotiate possession of the property with your tenants, you should try to do it, within reason.  Don’t let your fear of the legal process let your tenants get the upper hand.  Remember, they stand to lose a lot by having an eviction record.  (As a plug, this is one reason why “The TurnKey Investor’s Rental Property Repossession” was created and how we have reduced our eviction rates by nearly 80%.)

If you do everything correctly, you will almost never lose.  Our experience of Judge Bellamy is that he is fair to Landlords and will not let tenants dawdle in your property if they have not paid.

Once you get your judgment, you can move on to the collections stage such as garnishment.

I am increasingly getting dismayed at being a real estate investor in Alabama because it is quite an expensive process to evict a deadbeat tenant. You have to give a 7-day notice of failure to pay rent, then you pay another $250.00, the tenant gets another 7-business days to respond which often translates to 10-calendar days.  If they do respond, you lose another 2-weeks waiting for your court date.  In all, your deadbeat tenant could get nearly another month of free rent as you wind your way through the legal process.

Basically, you have to lose one month’s rent along with the filing fees.  This is why you cannot waste time with your tenants if they are late in paying.  Get that 7-day notice out ASAP!  You can give them more time to pay if you feel inclined but you can’t give them less time.

Also remember, if you accept any monies after you file, you will invalidate your eviction case and have it thrown out.  So, think carefully before you accept any partial payments.  We will occasionally accept partial payments but only before we file.  But once eviction has been filed and the fees paid, we will see it through unless our tenants pay their back rent plus court filing costs.

Although we have quite a few properties in Alabama, I am downright recommending that real estate investors DON’T buy investment properties in Alabama especially if they are located in Columbus, GA. Why invest in Alabama when the Landlord-Tenant Laws are more favorable in Georgia?  The State of Alabama can collect those nice fees but anyone who has a choice are better off channeling their investment capital outside of Alabama.

One of these days, I may write a letter to the Governor, Congressmen, and Senators of Alabama that investors will only invest in those places which will protect the investor.

The 2007 Landlord-Tenant Law Update made some improvements to help the Landlord but it is still not where it needs to be.  The “deadbeat factor” and “bubba factor” in Alabama remains high.  If Alabama wants to change their perception and rankings in the U.S., they can start by improving the statewide Eviction process and make it a higher priority.