All Forum Posts by: Alfred Litton

@Will Fraser @Robert Gonzalez  I don't invest there right now, but I've heard stories about the problem with inspections and permits in Del City.  Is that what makes you want to run for the hills, Will?  I've heard it's an expensive nightmare to do any reno in Del City. If I'm wrong, do clarify. I've been tempted to invest there are have held back for that and other reasons.

@Ryan Schaefer  So, if I'm reading this right ("The term ‘covered mortgage loan' means any credit transaction that is secured by" etc.), if there is NO loan on the property, and thus no credit transaction secured by a mortgage, deed, etc., the provisions would not apply?  In other words, if you owned the property outright, the property is exempt?

Imagine for a moment that we were treating stock investments as they are proposing in this bill re: rental property.

That you could not collect dividends declared by a company if the company chose not to send them to you. That you could not sell the stock without the company's permission. That you could not screen the company's financials. That you had no say in who was on the board. That you would be taxed on capital gains even without collecting income from the sale of the stock.

Would you invest in stocks in that environment? I wouldn't. Pass a bill like this, and I'm out. Millions will follow. Good luck finding something to rent.

Hi Jennifer. Brady's right. I use Sandra Wortham, who is also basically affiliated with Jim Chandler and Remax.  We've been very pleased so far. We interviewed several, but these guys were the most professional. There is one outfit in town I would run from (PM me if you want to know). Don't pick one just because they have lower fees. You want to make sure they have very good relationships with tradesmen (plumbers, roofers, electricians, general handymen) that they can call on when repairs are needed. You also want someone who listens to what you want in a tenant and is careful to screen applicants so that you are comfortable with who's renting from you.

@Susan Maneck I''m not so sure, once regulations of this sort come in, that it will be all that temporary. But let's hope it is.

@Susan Maneck Same here. I think most states don't have limits on deposits like CA (Texas, where I am, doesn't). I don't think people would jack them up right away, but they'll creep up there. It's a backdoor form of screening. People have to hedge risk. We cut one of our tenants' rent because she's a hairdresser and was out of work. Like you, I didn't want to have to find a new renter in this environment. Waddayagunna do, eh?

@Susan Maneck That's what I was thinking. But you can bet deposits will go up unless there's legislation to stop that. Deposits would serve as de facto insurance against nonpayment, at least to some extent. You have to think, if the govt just upped my risk level, how do I protect myself? LLs will find any number of ways to do it, possibly including upping the deposits as a form of protection.

I think some folks are forgetting that, if something like this ever passed, the landlord's greatest ally is the BANKING industry--a pretty powerful set of folks. After all, if rents couldn't be collected and evictions couldn't be processed (so as to replace nonpaying with paying tenants), mortgaged properties would go back to the banks. 2009 on STEROIDS. Banks don't want to own our rental properties--and be subject to the same eviction restrictions.

So relax and rest easy in the arms of BIG BANKING interests who won't allow this to happen. Kinda like knowing Tony Soprano has your back. (Yippee! *Gulp*)

Midwest City neighborhood might be more to your liking. Good C-class and lower B-class properties at reasonable prices.  Delmar, too, but the city there gives you all kinds of grief if you want permits to rehab a place.  If I buy there this coming year, which I probably will, it will be in Midwest City most likely.  [BTW, the Youtube channel "JohnTV" made S. Robinson famous. He would go out and film Johns picking up prostitutes in that area to shame them.]

I'll let others with more detailed knowledge of OKC than I have weigh in here, but I will say that I was doing my research on OKC about a year ago in hopes of investing there and learned very quickly that the Capital Hill area can be quite dicey.  In and around that are is a great deal of crime, and S. Robinson in particular is notorious for street prostitution and drugs. I live in north Texas and went up there to look at a couple of duplexes in that area. Nope, nope, nope.  Not for me.  It may or may not be up-and-coming, but I'm not willing to risk it from what I saw. Again, though, others may have more detailed info that I don't.