All Forum Posts by: Andy Collins

if they are good tenants, I'd clean the carpets,,spending $200-$300 to save a couple of thousand you would spend getting the house ready for new tenant and lost rent,,,

As someone else said, look at the big picture, tenants are our clients, for a good tenant I'll spend a few dollars to keep them happy.

No matter where you get comps, even if its MLS, you have no guarantee that an appraiser will come up with the same value.

One house this year was appraised with an after repaired value of $110k,,,,then I went to refinance and the appraisal came in at $85k,,then I changed lenders and the appraisal came in at $100k,,,,,these are 3 appraisals done by licensed appraisers in about a 3 month period.

Who's right, probable somewhere between $100 and $110, the reason I know that is I know the area, the low apprasal came in because the appraiser pulled comps from the wrong neighborhood,,,just remember, appraisals are coming in all over the place,,and its very subjective

the cost will really depend on just what the code will require you to do,,I had one panel that was located in a closet,,the problem was if we had to replace the panel, it had to be moved outside, and the closet was on the first floor,,,,so we found a way to not replace it,,moving it outside took the cost from around $1k to over $3k

It seems like when I buy a house there are always a couple of doors missing, so I started changing out all doors except closet doors with 6 panel doors,,,it really doesn't cost that much if you have to replace some anyway, and it does make a difference,,we also use satin nickel hinges and handles,,,I figure I'm adding $300 or so to the price, but its a much more upscale look,,,

I also buy appliances from the scratch and dent area of homedepot/lowes (I'm sure most people on here do also), and buy any stainless appliances I run across at a good price,,it really dresses up the kitchen

on top of what Jon said on making sure it can be renewed, see what the cost is for renewal,,many times if you go past the first term, say 6 months, you have to pay a couple of points for the extension.

Make sure he can qualify for the loan after the fact, you will still have to look at credit score, DTI, etc,,even if he is only financing 50% of the homes value, if he wants a mortgage his personal DTI has to be under 45 or 50%,,,

The biggest problem I have in refinancing a hard money loan is getting a bad appraisal for the refinance,,but since he is only financing 50% or so of the deal that won't be a problem

It sounds like you have everything in order, and the buyer is just looking for someone to help them solve a problem you discolosed at the time of the sale.

Until you get something from an attorney do nothing,,,if you get something from an attorney you can have your out of state attorney reply,,if, in the one in a thousand chance, the guy really sued you, get an attorney in that particular town,,,small town judges and juries many times don't like "big city" attorneys

you said the payment would be the same thing they are currently paying in rent, but now they should be responsible for insurance, taxes so your "net" will be much higher, also they are now responsible for maintenance

for a conforming loan they will apply 75% of the income from the property toward the payment, after 2 years of having the property on your schedule E, they will go by the actual cash flow from the property.

I do a hard money loan, then after a tenant has moved in, refinance to a confirming loan, using 75% of the lease amount toward the PITI of that property,,,,I'm sure there is a way, with that much cash, that you can do it without the expense of a hard money loan,,talk to a mortgage broker that deals primarily with investors and they will find a way to make it work,,,

andy

Maybe its a "Dallas thing", but I don't charge a fee,,,I tell applicants what I am looking for, and normally they will tell me any problems that might have credit wise, if they had a problem I won't accept (like an eviction), it saves running teh application, if they don't tell me of any bad problems,I run a credit/background check.

I have only had one person this year that "forgot" to tell me about something, and after I ran the background check they disappeared,,,

I figure if they lease the house its part of my cost of doing business,,,if they don't qualify, I don't want them calling wanting their money back (or sending that brick through the window)

Unfortunately you are dealing with a legal issue, and what common sense tells you is "right", isn't always the way it works.

Until you have a judge's order evicting them (or whatever is required in Georgia), find them a place to stay. I know it doesn't seem "right", but not doing so could cost you plenty.