All Forum Posts by: Angie W.

Just an update for anyone who may run across a similar situation to this.

I spoke at length with my realtor today who confirmed what I believed. The biggest issue with this property is the comps - all of which are HUD/foreclosures. I finally got the understanding today when she explained that trying to sell the property at retail (even if someone is willing to pay retail) that owner occupants or non cash investors more than likely will have a hard time with financing because of the comps. Regardless of what someone is willing to pay it all boils down to what their appraisers will say when they do the appraisal. Her experience lately has been that many appraisals are coming in well below the contract agreed price, which no one has any control over.

So her advice to me is to try to rent it if I can, as I would have to sell it at a significant discount at the present time. She agreed that it is a great rental and perhaps I should take a little more time to see if a decent applicant comes along. Hopefully in the future the trend will turn to more traditional sales in the area and I can try to sell then. In the mean time she is going to network for me to see if she can find a leasing agent willing to help me, or if anyone has any leads. She's been in the business for 25 years so I will trust her judgement.

Now off to revise my application and some of my paperwork and start a postlet ad and see what happens.

Thanks for all of the replies. The reason I asked if investors look for or buy ready to go properties is that this area is trending more towards renters/investors than owner occupants. Most of the sales in recent years have been "handyman specials" and the comps make it hard to price at retail for O/O. This neighborhood is approx. 40 - 45% rentals.

The other issue is this is a 2BR home in a 1940's tract neighborhood that is approx. 85% 3BR. Top dollar in this neighborhood is around $48,000 for a 3BR completely finished - 2 BR comps are hard to find. Rents for 3BR currently run between $700 -$800 depending on amenities. Mine was rented for $635 for the last 2 1/2years.

I plan on using an agent for the sale, but I like to be knowledgeable before hiring someone to do something for me. I have never sold a home before that would be suitable for investment purposes, so I appreciate all the feedback. I'm going to have to go shopping for a RE today as the one I have used for years is having a problem getting back to me.

I'm open to anymore advice or suggestions/opinions anyone may have.

I agree with David on this one. My first investment is in an ok area and has provided good cash flow for the last 3 years. I got lucky with my first tenant (until his girlfriend somehow managed to kick him out of his own home and then proceed to trash it) but now I am finding it very difficult to find an ok tenant much less a quality one. So I'm thinking of selling it to invest in a little better area.

There are a lot of "issues" in lower income areas that can cause a lot of headaches, as well as longer vacancy rates if you wait for that "quality" tenant.

@Lucas Pfaff thanks for the tip! I will look into that and see if there is a realtor in my area that is willing to do that. I wouldn't mind paying someone a months rent to get someone in there, as it will be setting empty anyhow if I have to wait until our time permits.

@Dawn Anastasi and @Lucas Pfaff Hiring a property manager is an idea I have toyed with. I did contact one and asked for a standard contract to look at as I had no idea what all was involved. This particular one was full service. After looking over many of the terms, I felt that the contract favored the PM over my interests. We also have problems with giving up that much control, i.e. maintenance, who the property is rented to, control over the late payment process, etc.

Currently my biggest obstacle is having the needed available time to effectively market the property, answer calls, and show the property when most people are available. I'm a good private investigator, and do fine processing the applications, I prefer to pay my own bills, and handle all maintenance issues as we see fit (my husband does HVAC and maintenance by trade) and basically want to know what is going on at my property. I am just not good at marketing and confrontation (directly denying an applicant, or dealing with rude or confrontational people on the phone). My husband also has expressed a concern about my safety when showing the property as well.

So my dilemma is that I need to be able to hire someone to be the front person and let me control things behind the scenes. From what I have found so far when I search "property manager" for my area I can;t find anyone that offers these types of services only. If I owned more than 1 property and had enough to justify it I would just personally hire someone to do it.

I do plan on staying in real estate, but I am thinking I need to be in a different market now that most of the responsibility falls directly on me.

@Taylor Jennings I didn't know this would be considered a "turnkey" property. I thought that meant that you already had a tenant in place and under management.

This is a nice little property that has provided pretty good cash flow over the last 3 years. SInce we own outright, the monthly costs are minimal to carry it. At this point vandalism is my biggest concern with it setting vacant.

I have a SFR in a low to moderate income older neighborhood. We've owned it 3 years and rented it out.

The house has been vacant now for a few months, partially due to cleaning and doing improvements. We originally thought we would rent it out, but have found that we simply haven't had the time or patience to deal with type of applicants (and tenants) we will get. My husband has started a new job that takes all his time and I am just not cut out to be a low income landlord by myself.

So we have decided to sell. I am thinking the house should be marketed to investors, but was looking for opinions on this. The house is ready to rent and has had a new roof, driveway, kitchen and bath in the last 3 years, and we just put new windows in. Basically, it's ready to rent out for someone who has the time to find a tenant. The neighborhood is a small one with tract homes of 2/1 and 3/1 @ 925sf and probably about 40% are rentals. Things seem to rent well here if priced right. This is a 2/1 but one of the nicer houses in the neighborhood.

Do some investors look for finished ready to go homes? If so what would they be looking for (i.e. lower price, etc.)?

@Forrest Lundstrom I'm with George. If anyone is giving notice it is usually me to pay or quit :)

I've never had an early termination before and I don't have an early termination fee in my lease. It is my understanding that the parties are legally obligated to pay the rent in full until the end of the lease. If they decide to move before then they are still contractually obligated to pay for the remainder of the lease.

I agree that you should pro-rate the rent until the end of the 60 day notice. If you have a security deposit it should not be returned until all damages are determined (which should be deducted) and (at least where I live) you may deduct any unpaid rent. If there is still money left you return the remainder with a detailed explanation of the charges that were withheld. If the security deposit doesn't cover all of the expenses then you can keep the deposit and send the same detailed statement with a balance due over and beyond the deposit amount. Give a due date on the notice also.

I would guess if you were lucky enough to get them to give you the early termination fee you would collect that the day they actually terminate the agreement. With house purchases anything can and does happen to delay the closing etc. So they may need to stay longer.

If I could get people to voluntarily move and leave my property in good condition with 60 days notice I don't think I would worry too much about termination fees or breaking the lease, provided I could get a new tenant in in a fairly reasonable amount of time. Here if I tried to collect that in court they would probably laugh at me. They only understand non-payment of rent.

I would just send them a letter and outline what the lease says and see what the reaction of the tenants are then go from there.

Good luck!

@Terry J. My husband got a furnace through Goodman a few years ago. He said he went online and found what he wanted and then went to Sutherlands in person and placed the order. It was in the next day.

If you are not familiar with Sutherlands, it is on the southwest side of Columbus just north of Grove City.

@Roy N. I've seen you mention an auto responder before. Could you share how you do that? What service/program/software do you use? What does your auto response message contain (a personal message, attachments, etc.)?

For those who correspond by email...

Do you ask in your ad that they include anything specific in email replies?

If they respond with name and number and I'm interested in seeing the place - do you reply to the email giving more info or asking for more info or just call?

I've never done the email route and am getting ready to try it. Input would be greatly appreciated.