All Forum Posts by: Alissa Engel

@Thomas Lee Nuckles

Does your realtor have rentals? If not...ignore them. So many realtors love to give opinions about investment properties and they have zero experience or understanding.

I’d be more inclined to go with the PM, but ultimately it’s your job to figure it out. Sometimes PMs low ball because it’s easier for them to find a renter, and they often make their money on the turn-over anyways. They don’t really try to get you the highest possible in rent.

Get a couple PM opinions. Do more research. If you still don’t feel confident, assume the worst when running your numbers. Then try renting it at the higher rate. You will know if it’s too high.

@Alan Brown

Response is late, but thanks for all this! The deal didn’t work out after doing all of the suggested investigation. The repairs needed were too much given the asking price, and the seller wasn’t budging.

And Montana says hello! It’s really booming here....great place to invest!

@Jessica H.

Thank you!

We ended up averaging the water bills over the the 8 months of the year where the sprinkler system wasn’t on. We divided that amount in half and gave each tenant a flat-rate monthly water bill. We pay the sprinkler bill, so the grass stays nice. Tenants have responded well. I think they like the set amount, because it makes their budgeting easier.

I’ve never rented to a section 8 tenant, and this experience is solidifying my choice on the topic.

I’m purchasing a tri-plex and a duplex with a 1031. The tri-plex has one problem renter that we required be evicted prior to closing.

Problems:

1. The unit has a heavy cat urine smell. I don’t allow cats. Again, this is why.

2. She has her 19 year-old grandson living with her. He doesn’t work, doesn’t go to school, and isn’t on the current lease.

3. Our plumber found a meth pipe in her basement laundry room. I’m pretty sure it belongs to the teenage grandson, but the laundry is shared with another unit (been vacant for 6 months). Technically, it could have been there awhile, but there have also been beer cans and “hippy lights” hung each time we visit....just seems like he parties/hangs out down there.

4. The unit really needs an overhaul, and we could double the current rent.

We were scheduled to close on the 8th (her 30 days were up on the 7th). But she hasn’t lifted a finger to get out. We paid for a rate lock extension ($300) and refused to close until she is out.

The seller owns it out-right. He is well off and doesn’t need the money. His partner (lives across the country) lost all his retirement in the last crash, so I assume he needs the money. We only deal with the first seller as he is local and manages the property (poorly). He is checked out and not engaged. When we query him; he says, “As far as I know, she’s making progress.”

He doesn’t seem to care when we close. My husband is the realtor, so he is in-contract with the tenant. It’s sob story after sob story.

I’ve never had to evict ANYONE in 17 years of LLing.

How do we evict a section 8?

Are there any different rules? Any gotchas?

I’m about to do everything I can to make her life miserable, but technically, I’m not her landlord yet. Could a formal eviction cause her to loose her voucher? Could the drug paraphernalia cause her to lose the voucher? And yes, I am not above threatening to “tattle” on her to the state if she doesn’t leave.

Would you recommend holding out longer to get the seller to follow-through OR would you just close and deal with it? We do have the 1031 timeline to follow but our “clock” just started on the 8th.

@Erica Moore

I had a strong reaction when you said, “Allow cats, but not dogs.”

Really, cats are the worst. I mean I LOVE cats myself, but they can destroy a rental. Think urine smell soaked into solid oak original hardwood! Yup....one cat destroyed, arguably, the most durable floor out there!

This is my criteria, and I have never had a dog do much damage.

ONE dog (you will get a million sob stories of why 3 dogs will be fine, so brace for it and hold strong).

3+ years old. First, older dogs don’t cause nearly as many issues. AND who gets a puppy while searching for a new rental? Irresponsible and impulsive people is who!

I purposely have homeowner insurance that has breed restrictions. Insurance companies make their living running stats to reduce risk. If they think a certain breed is more risky; I am going to adhere to that thinking too. And I require vet records stating the breed to avoid the “lab mix” lie.

Must have bite coverage on rental insurance policy.

Must have all shot records.

Charge pet rent and deposit.

It’s worked very well for me. I had one border collie who scratched a bedroom door to get out. No other issues in many years and multiple properties.

@Jacob Graul

Your profile states that you, “came from nothing.”

Often, people who are raised in an environment where survival is the daily goal have a harder time giving up the security of a 9-5.

These people didn’t have the security of knowing that “it will all be fine if I screw up, loose my job, or my car breaks down”....because it quite literally might not have been “okay”. One of those things could have put you on the street.

I’d recommend doing some personal work around the “fear” of giving up your W2. What does that mean? What are you afraid of? Do you trust yourself? If you don’t trust yourself, who DO you trust?

If the fear is about something material or concrete...just plan for it. I think this is what you are doing by having paid off properties. It feels safer, and that’s okay. But ask yourself what else you would need to feel safe to quit. A certain amount in savings? A large life insurance policy? A strict budget?

But the fear most likely is emotional. Fear like that gets stuck in our body (think PTSD) and it can’t be rationalized away. Mindfulness and EMDR would be my suggestion if you discover that it’s an emotional fear coming from childhood.

@Alf Holst

I used to reduce my deposit for military. Only on the AHRN site, because you must be military to look at it. I wouldn’t do that on a more public advertising forum, because some idiot will cry discrimination.

But it really had no effect. I wanted Military because they are a known entity to me (I’m Military). But really, they can be bad renters just like anyone can. Personally, I’ve never had a bad military tenant though. Also, they move a lot and can use SCRA.

I was also hoping to “give back”. But it just didn’t seem to make a difference to the tenants or to my business (increase in military applicants).

@Angelo Aguirre

Yes, this "relationship switch" happens. My husband is a realtor. We send out letters farming for multi-family properties. My husband represents both the seller and buyer (us) in the transaction. We get a discounted sale price because he doesn't collect a commission, and they either get the same price as listing on MLS but with less hassle ( not showing the property many times and we don't haggle over inspections) OR a bit higher sale price because they don't pay commission.

Sometimes we Farm someone who has a whole portfolio to sell. We will buy one ourselves, and he becomes the listing agent for the other portfolio properties.

That said, he runs all of the paperwork on these by his broker to ensure that we are not unfairly taking advantage of the relationship. Some people are very ignorant, so it’s a grey line between good business and exploiting someone.

In your case, I don’t think the realtor did anything wrong. It is not her responsibility to run a title search OR to somehow know that the seller had a second. It’s insane that someone “forgets” they have a second mortgage. First, the seller should know this. Secondly, the lender should see it on the credit report. Finally, the title company will do a search. Honestly, the realtor is the only innocent one in the situation!

And it is definitely not the realtor’s responsibility to pay more for an INVESTMENT property because the seller is out-to-lunch. The point of the property is to make money, hence the word investment. And it sounds like the realtor was initially trying to help the seller out of a tough situation (first deal falling through and already having a new home to pay for). It sounds like the seller is bitter and is misdirecting their frustration at the realtor. But I don’t hear that she did anything wrong.

@Al Pat

I do the same! My mother was a lender at a private finance company when I was a kid, and she taught me this trick. She swore that people who keep their things nice will also pay their bills.

@Cameron Riley

Easily.

Meet them. Watch them.

Maybe it’s because I’m also a therapist, but it takes me five minutes.

How are they acting AND how are the parents acting.

Once I had to feed the kid an entire box of fruit snacks to keep him from rummaging through the current tenant’s belongings. He was running all over the house and tried to climb on the kitchen counter to get more snacks!

The mother said and did NOTHING.