Ugly Side of Real Estate Investing: Break-ins, Thievery, Dregs of Society, & Wanting to "Go Postal"

May 21, 2009 - PRLog -- Today I'm sitting on the porch of one of my rental properties while my tenant is at work. I am "security" today, until she gets home from work. I had a break-in two days ago, and I will not leave the house unmonitored until the new security system is installed.

This little house is nothing to speak of, but it sits on an incline on a quiet street, has a big magnolia tree to my right, honeysuckle galore all around it, and it’s mine, mine, mine. How dare someone put their foot thru the door and come in and just take.

My girlfriend in the Navy offered to take me to the shooting range to sharpen my skills this weekend, but the little man on the paper with the holes in it is not the target I seek.

Times are hard, investors are struggling to keep what they have and thirsty for more properties to secure their futures, and yet you have thieves, thugs, walking around in broad daylight when hardworking people are at work, ripping copper out of the walls of someone else's blood, sweat and tears. Lazy cowards they are!

It's enough to make me wanna go postal on every Tom, Dick and Harry that walks past my cute little house this afternoon. Him, right in my vision, just beyond the ledge of my laptop... was it him, or the two guys that passed by earlier, or the big bulky guy in the loud car that drove by four times yesterday?

Yesterday I spent the day with my handyman getting the doors back up and barring the windows -- as I ran the hell out of my little push lawn mower over the 1.3 acres just to calm myself. Arrrrgggghhh!!!

The rain is starting to fall and I should probably go inside, but I want to see the "suspects" pass me by. Going a little nutty, but I have a business, Foreclosure Cleanup, LLC, and should be at my office working. But this break-in has been a slap-in-the face reminder: As an investor, I am reminded that securing, protecting, guarding my properties, by any means necessary, at inopportune times, and at all costs (and cost it will once that security company gets here), is part of the investing business, too. Especially in the feeding frenzy for pariahs that has been created by a market riddled with empty houses.

Yup, I am security today. Me, and the steel anchored to my leg. Consider formal security beyond the John Wayne for all of your properties from the moment of purchase. Companies like Brink's and ADT have been around for a while, but the larger companies require contracts and they have higher monthly monitoring fees. With many of the big ones, you don’t own the equipment, you’re simply leasing -- and you’re locked in for three years.

If you consider a local company who charges you a competitive fee for installation and the equipment purchase, you are likely to have a lower monthly monitoring fee and you own the equipment from the beginning. If you don’t have a landline at the home, you will need to have the monitoring linked to a cell phone. Count on that costing you an additional $225 and up. Companies have different names for the cell monitoring equipment: cell modules, cell guard, etc.

The company I settled on is ultimately $695 initial out-of-pocket. I own the equipment ($395), I am NOT locked into a contract, and my monitoring fee is $25 per month, billed in three-month increments, first three months up front. Not bad, considering it’s coming through the cell ($225). The monthly cost is immediately passed on to the tenant.

Note that writing the security company check will be no fun, but it will be well worth it in peace of mind, because investors are smart people and need those brain cells to keep making deals in what is a ripe market for low cost properties.

Seriously, remember, investing is a business, with real gains and real risks, too. Prepare your mind and your wallet, and find a vice (yoga, meditation, exercise!) to ease your nerves in times of disharmony.

Take precaution early on, and good luck with your investing efforts!

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Foreclosure Cleanup, LLC specializes in clearing out and cleaning up homes that have been foreclosed upon in the Atlanta area. They are authoring company of "How to Start a Foreclosure Cleanup Business" e-Book. Website: www.ForeclosureCleaningBusiness.com.