All Forum Posts by: Ana Marie B.

Oh and @Sara Taslitt - Other than age of the home, you should add location, location, location, to your list of criteria :)

Hi @Sara Taslitt - As others have said, you'll want to hire a reputable inspector to perform a thorough inspection of the older home.  He/she will prepare a report that details what requires repair.  You can then choose to walk away if the numbers don't work.

Also, you should request/receive thorough disclosures from the seller/ seller's agent that also notes areas that need repair, or items that were recently replaced (i.e. water heater was replaced last month, etc.).  

Good luck with your journey!

@Patrick M. - I don't have the time to do homework for you, but can say that I've worked in housing law in SF defending eviction cases so have some knowledge in the area.  Again, not sure how NJ UDs go, but as far as I hear, your laws seem quite tenant-friendly as well.  Good luck to you.

@Heidi Kenefick - I fortunately did not sign a contract with this particular PM I wrote about.  I did however, pay a small fee as a kind gesture for the time he spent preparing my listings and handling showings.  

As an aside, I do have a contract w/ a different PM for my out-of-state rentals and can say that they typically hold you to their agreement for the first year, if I'm not mistaken.  Perhaps you can try to simply talk and reason with your PM.  Be as "human" as possible and say that you're in a really difficult place (as he well knows) and need to go a different direction.  I doubt he'll come after you, but worst case scenario is he'll ask for partial payment for time spent working on your case. 

Try to research reputable PMs in your rental area and make the switch.  Have a list of questions ready before you call each one.  I spent one afternoon doing this and found an excellent PM who I told you was able to get our home rented in less than 2 weeks. Price is not "always" the issue.  

Hi @Cynthia Andersen - I want to help you, but am having some difficulty understanding your question. Are you interested in applying for a HELOC, but don't know what banks to turn to in AZ? If so, I would suggest contacting local credit unions, as they typically offer low variable rates.

As for the $2,500 "supporting and coaching" classes, I'm also a bit perplexed by what that's all about, but I would advise against it just because it seems to be a ridiculous amount of $ for what sounds to be a silly course.  

Again, not sure if I'm on the right path with your questions, but hope I'm helpful somehow.  I remember when I was new to real estate investing and had difficulty phrasing my questions correctly :) Good luck to you!

@Patrick M. - Not sure how things work in New Jersey, but in San Francisco, if a tenant shows proof that they paid the LL any portion of rent (whether it be via Zelle, Cozy, etc.), then the pending eviction case ends in favor of the tenant and the LL essentially needs to start over.  Sad, but it happens all too often here.  

@Mark Forest - Not too sure how Zelle works, but I can see how your "hypothetical" issue can become a big problem.  I personally use Cozy and they have a feature when you can stop accepting rent for exactly this type of reason.  Oh and Cozy is free.  

Obviously it's too late to stop accepting payment if your uncooperative tenant also sent it.  However, for next month, ask Zelle if they have a way to halt future rent payments.  If not, I'd switch to Cozy or some other software if I were you.

Oh and want to add that I'm not familiar with your area, but do analyze rent prices in your neighborhood and price slightly under to get your home rented ASAP.  Good luck to you!

@Heidi Kenefick - I was recently in your same situation.  The issue was the PM.  Hire a different one ASAP.  

To give you some insight into my issue, I was getting tons of showings and "Likes" or "Hearts" on Zillow, etc., but little to no apps.  I finally read my PM's application forms and found he was charging nearly $80/ adult to process apps/background and was requiring apps to be snail-mailed to a physical address, which is unheard of in this modern era. Long story short, we ditched him and hired a new PM.  We had our house rented in under 2 weeks with the new guy.

Thanks again @Mark Gallagher!  What other reliable alternatives do you suggest, other than what @Anthony Gayden mentioned (LTE hotspot)?  

At this point, we have ordered 2 LTE hotspot devices from Verizon w/ unlimited data.  However, the Verizon rep did warn us that if internet service is slow in our area (which in general it is), that other households may also rely on LTE hotspots as their main internet source and this may slow down service all around :(  I guess this is a temp. solution until we get Comcast internet installed (or AT&T internet improves from a current snails-pace of 3 megabytes per second).  

We've also went to see the local city/town agency to inquire about this issue and they put us in touch with the Director of Public Works who manages the local Comcast agreement/permit (?) to serve its residents.  

Thanks for your input :)