All Forum Posts by: Andy D.

So this means, in essence, that a landlord would have to have a) animal control at the ready and b) a tow truck just to avoid an otherwise totally fine and at the ready eviction to miserably disintegrate into a pile of steaming youknowwhat??

If that is indeed the case: what other contingency would one have to factor in?? Child services because a neighbour's kid was paid 10 bucks to sit in the house and told to refuse to leave? Hazard crew because asbestos mats were thrown on the floor of entry doors? I'm sure others will come up with more such stuff...

This does not sound right, and it's the first time I heard of this. Anything state/county specific that comes into play here?

@Jack B. I'm a firm believer that equity (in a property) should be put to work and make itself profitable. This is not the case if it "sits" in the property.

While you obviously want to have a decent equity-cushion (@David Faulkner's point #1) the only way that I can think of to protect any equity that exceeds this "cushion" (in my opinion the percentage is to be defined by each investor individually based on their situation) is to pull it out and invest in something that creates value.

This can be another (cash flowing) property. Or maybe the stock market with a decent yield on investment (diversification!). Then again, both of these are currently somewhat toppish. While one will find real estate markets in the US that are less toppish than others, one might not be able to or not want to invest there for various reasons. I'm in that boat. And in "my" markets I'm having trouble finding good deals when trying to follow the usual "number crunching".

So now I have a bunch of cash sitting in my account that costs me serious money in interest payments. Yes, I can deduct that from my tax bill (important thing for my situation) but ultimately it currently costs me money. Period. Then again, I did this to be ready to pull the trigger if a good deal shows up. And there will always be good deals at some point. Just got to be patient.

So now I'm looking into possibly using these funds for hard money loans to others, playing the interest rate spread game. This is usually short term and therefore, say over a period of 6 months, I should have covered my (annual) cost and possibly even made some money in the end while also having a half year gone by to see what the market has done, with new developments (liitterally) having surfaced.

One other thing that just now occured to me: what about investing that money into an empty lot. Lot's seem to increase more quickly in my area than some properties with structures on them. Go figure. But to a certain degree it makes sense: a building requires upkeep (= costs money), a lot does not (leaving aside some minor costs for e.g. infrequently checking on it). These lots are sought after (obviously depending on the location - as always), so selling it fairly quickly should not be an issue if the money is needed for a good deal. Maybe something to look into in more detail.

Otherwise I fully agree with what David Faulkner wrote.

Thanks, all, for your input! For what it's worth here's what I decided on as a trial run:

1x

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/9021713...

plus 3x (2 outer edge and 1 smack in the middle)

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/6021722...

with the bracket turned 90 degrees so it can be attached to the upper part of the opening (with prior removal of the rail). It's therefore important to get a bracket that fully encloses the rod so it doesn't jump off/fall out.

With respect to the actual curtain I will try this:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/8011198...

Considering the quote of $250 per hallway/closet door-setup given to me for using something with doors I'm quite happy with the total price for the diy above. I'll do a test run in 2 units (C+/B-) and see how long that holds up.

Yes, that came to mind as well. I would need a bottom railing so as to avoid the doors being slammed into the wall or being pulled out into the room and then detaching from the top rail system (idiot-proofing!). It would work for the hallway as there would be enough room left and right but not for the bedrooms, unfortunately.

 Yeah, that will work for a closet but not for the washer/dryer area (at least it would annoy the hell out of me there, trying to shuffle stuff from the washer into the dryer). Plus, do you use a bottom railing? They also always cause problems, even in houses where "normal" people live, LOL

Hhm. Ok. What type of system did you use to attach the curtain? I'm sure tenants will manage to tear out some of the attachment-thingys.

Also, did you use fire-retarding material for the curtains?

I guess you all are familiar with the typical folding door setup, say, in a hallway hiding away a washer/dryer for instance, or in a bedroom as a closet door. You will mostly have two parts with a knob in the middle of each part that, when pulled, will pull out the middle of that door-duo and have the outer edges slide along a railing on the top of the opening. Mine do not have a railing on the floor, so in essence gravity will pull on the end of those two sections, making the top roller eventually pop out and the door wobbling around.

What a stupid concept!!

Short of doing pocket-doors that are too expensive for these particular units I'm at a loss as how to make these doors tenant-proof.

Any ideas for a good solutions?!

Honestly, if all that is required is to put more concrete around the footing - geez, I can do that... Why such a big deal with respect to the person doing this being licensed? Are there any potential insurance issues that I'm not seeing? Because, heck, the whole damn thing was built by someone unlicensed. You are obviously not planning on tearing it down. So what's the big deal? Just make sure the work is done properly by someone who knows what they are doing. Yes, you can very much mess up concrete work, but it's not rocket science. Not for such a job - this is not the foundation of a skyscraper. ;-)

Oh, and btw: lesson learned, I guess! Spell out everything in detail because, obviously, people try to fulfill their duties the easiest and cheapest way possible.

@Chuy Gonzalez You typically raise rent after the lease is up, i.e. typically after 1 year if you have a 1 year lease. Even with m2m you wouldn't raise rent every, say, 3 months. So the argument that "it's easier to raise rent with m2m" is entirely moot as far as I am concerned when considering what I just described.

If you have a good tenant that you want to keep and they have indicated that they have no problem staying for another year - heck: WANT to stay longer - then there is no reason not to sign another 1 year lease. And as has been said: you tell the PM what you want, after having gotten their professional opinion which you then evaluated - and decided not to follow and do otherwise.  I personally see no reason why one should not sign another 1 year lease if tenant wants to stay. Then again, Greg S. would totally disagree as he only does m2m. ;-)

This post got to be one of the best I have read on BP lately! Accurately describes a (typically) long-term approach to clever investment in real estate, focusing on good cash flow, combined with a non-real estate investment strategy (= never put all your eggs in one basket = diversification), while at the same time already picturing a clever (i.e. primarily "tax cheap") exit strategy for the investment properties. I'm happy to see that my idea (not there yet as I'm still in the building-phase) is also something that another person who has their head on straight is employing.