All Forum Posts by: Alyse Moore

@Aaron K.

Yes, I'm starting to believe she wants out for whatever reason. I'll make the fixes the door lock and porch light and see if she continues to come up with complaints then I'll try taking another route. 

Thanks!

Yes crook county lol. 

Exactly my thought..what did she respect regarding noise when she moved in, it's an apartment! 

I actually required a move in fee so I'm covered in that respect.

I'll go ahead and replace the door knob and put up a battery powered motion light. There's nothing I can do about the noise (she's barely there anyway). She's made so many ridiculously small complaints that I immediately addressed that I held off on the door lock fix with the thought process of "training the tenant". 

I believe she just wants out for whatever reason, but we'll for sure after I make the updates she's requesting. 

Thanks for the advice!!

@John Underwood

Thanks for the advice John. I'll get the bedroom door lock fixed. My thought was trying to "train the tenant". She's complained about super small things like this before and it became ridiculous so I held off on this. Had it been something major like a faucet leak I would've addressed it immediately. BUT i will go ahead and fix. 

When I first bought the building I actually purchased solar motion lights which was a mistake. With the way the building is structured the sun light couldn't hit the the lights so it never got the energy source it needed, didn't know this would happen until after I installed. I'll go ahead and get the battery powered lights. Thanks for the suggestion!

Got it, I'll stick to enforcing what's the lease. I knew I should but was trying to find a solution that would work for both parties if I decided to find another tenant. 

Yes, I thought of trying to find someone with hearing difficulties for that unit however I'm not sure how to find that particular kind of tenant. Any suggestions on that search?

Appreciate the advice!!

Hi All! Looking for some advice on whether I should let tenant out of lease early. 

I got an email from my property manager today which has a couple emails between her and the tenant I have on the first floor. This tenant can be described as "the complainer". The tenant is asking to be removed from her lease because of the noise from the tenant on the 2nd floor (tenant on 2nd floor has 2 small children). She also complained that the door knob lock on 1 of her bedrooms still isn't fixed and that there isn't any lighting on the porch (as explained to her plenty of times porch lighting is being budgeted for and will be updated soon). My property manager reached out to the tenant on the 2nd floor on the noise when the tenant on the 1st floor complained and is in the process of reaching out to that tenant again. I have 3 issues with the tenants' complaints which make them sound very suspect:

1. It's an old building and you can hear if people are walking. If there are children running on the 2nd floor I can hear it, however I have not heard children running often within the last 1 1/2 months.

2. The tenant on the 1st floor is barely there. She works all day during the day and comes in late at night. Weekends she's barely there as well, and I know this because I can hear people walking when they're in the building. Especially the tenant on the 1st floor.

3. Why is the tenant so diligent about a bedroom door lock? I've lived in apartments before where the bedroom doors didn't lock, kitchen cabinet knob may be missing, etc...and I never cared nor thought to complain to the landlord. 

*FYI, it's a 3 flat building. I live in the basement unit.* 

My question is what would you all do in this situation?

She pays rent on time which I like, however she complains all the time. It's a very nice apartment and in great condition.

I'm thinking if I decided to let her out of her lease she'll have to pay 2-3 months rent which will cover my vacancy costs.If I decide to have a legal battle with her I'm quite sure I'll win, but it will cost me time and money.

Thoughts? 

@Dan Jaeger awesome. I'll do some research and reach out to her. Thanks!!

Hi All! I tried searching the forums for this but didn't anything out there. Are there any good accountants in Chicago that service real estate investors? I just purchased my first multi unit and want to make sure I've got a great accountant on my team as soon as possible. 

@Elbert D. I've been trying not to limit myself to certain areas as much as I possible. I look at properties in areas outside of the ones I mentioned and the cash flow in those areas is good, however safety is my concern since I'll be living alone. If I wasn't living in this particular investment I'm making right now I'd definitely consider making offers on those properties, but I will keep an open mind on the area since Chicago is truly block by block. 

Thanks for the advice! 

@Crystal Smith thanks for the advice! I have a hard money lender lined up, but wanted to start with value-add buy and holds to get knowledgeable on the process and find a good reliable crew (contractor, project mgr, etc). I plan to go into doing some fix and flips to generate cash for more buy and holds. 

Now it's so competitive it seems like I'll have to reverse that strategy and start with fix and flips to generate the cash to purchase the buy and holds. 

Did you start out investing with partners?

@Ibn Abney hi Ibn! I really want to start finding those off market deals! I came across a couple off market deals by networking but at the time the deal didn't work out. Would you mind sharing the steps you're taking to find those off market deals (outside of networking)?

@Michael Facchini Hi Michael- My preapproval letter is pretty strong. I'm pre-approved by Wintrust. The properties I'm really looking for are value-add properties so I'd need to use an FHA 203K, and to my knowledge typically takes about 30-45 days. Yes my realtor is tapped into the markets in these neighborhoods.

Generically speaking for these neighborhoods/properties, In your opinion what would you view as a strong offer (i know there are a lot of variables this)?