All Forum Posts by: Asif Ahmed

@Chris Seveney just PMed you!

Hello BP!

As it states in the title, I'm looking for some recommendations for an attorney in the DC/Baltimore area who can help me with fixing up a few leases, one for a residential property in Baltimore City, and another for a commercial property in PG County. I'm not running a big operation here, so I'm looking for an attorney can understand my perspective. 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions! 

Has anyone on this thread ended up joining the Open Spaces? I'm really curious to hear someone's experience with them - I'm surprised there doesn't seem to be any other threads on BP about this. 

@Chris Davidson thanks for the reply! I think you're right, I'm going to just stick with the account with the credit union, which is also a personal account. But how about paying for all my various expenses? Should I be using a credit card or debit card for that? Do I need to open one just for real estate expenses? I've heard some people open a new account for every property they own, but that sounds crazy even after just owning 5 or 6. What would you recommend? 

Hey everyone! 

I just closed on my first property literally today. Super excited but now I'm a little confused. I want to make sure I get all the tax benefits from the property, so I want to make sure I track my expenses. I'll be driving up there a few times to let handymen, plumbers and electricians into the house, and I'll be buying a new washer/dryer unit as well. How do I pay for this work? Do I need to create a business checking account? Do I need to open a new credit card to charge these expenses? Should I already be talking to a bookkeeper or a tax accountant or start using Quickbooks? I own the property in my own name, with a loan, but I don't have any other financial stuff set up yet. I created a new checking account with the credit union that gave me the loan, is it sufficient to just fund and charge everything from that account? 

What are the key things I need to do next to set myself up for buying additional properties as well? 

@Russell Brazil, so for most of the DMV area outside of Baltimore, is it true that the strategy is primarily banking on price and rent appreciation? Specifically, it seems like that involves eating the high cost up front through the negative cash flow under the assumption that within a few years the rent growth will eventually make up for it? Or is there a way to cash flow up front that I'm missing?

Update: I reached out to the original builders with whom I have a warranty. They allowed me to pick a repair date in January but I have to let them know by EOD today. I let my tenants know that I managed to postpone this repair by a month, but they sent back a very strongly worded email about how they're old, immunocompromised, and they've been great tenants, letting other repairs in, keeping me updated on any issues, etc. They've offered to pay for the dimmer switch and installation themselves.

At this point, I don't want to argue with them anymore. While I recognize I have the right, per my lease, to give them due notice and enter anyway, I'd rather not do that. What's my next step? I won't be using my warranty, so do I take them up on their offer to pay for the repair or do I have to eat that cost? Is there even a way for me to take them up on that so that 3 months from now, when COVID has died down, they can't just change their mind about the cost? My lease certainly doesn't cover this issue.... Any advice would be great. 

Thanks everyone for your input. I think my first step is to see if I can schedule this with the builders for a month or two down the road while still honoring the warranty. Otherwise, sounds like I'll just have to assert (as stated in our lease) that we have the right to complete repairs with proper notice. 

Curious to know what people's thoughts are on why there is such a huge disparity between Baltimore and DC. I lived in between Baltimore/DC all my life and have worked in both Baltimore and Arlington, VA. I have plenty of friends with good jobs who live in both cities. I've seen plenty of improvement in some of Baltimore's better quality neighborhoods, but overall I'm not sure why DC's population has exploded while Baltimore's has diminished and the city has continued to deteriorate over the decades.

I'm managing my parents' condo right now, which is a new construction building in Gaithersburg, MD. Since it's new construction, we still have access to a warranty from the builders that expires in a month. They have been having some issues with the lights, and I was able to get the builders to agree to send an electrician to replace the lights and install new switches. However, my tenant in the property is refusing to allow anyone into their unit because of the COVID risk - but if I wait, our warranty will expire. I even offered to have them be away from the unit for an hour so that I can let the electrician in and they won't be exposed, however they're worried about droplets that may remain in the air. 

I want to be sensitive to their concerns, as my family is also concerned about COVID. Has anyone had to deal with something like this? How would you guys handle this situation?