All Forum Posts by: Benjamin Aaker

Hi @Brandy Stewart, I started in healthcare too. I'm still doing a W2 job with 64 units. It sure makes it easier to get a loan when you have a job. You can always quit and self-employ later, when you can prove you are making money in real estate. Get your RE license and take the time to find a good broker who will work with you and work around your day job. Find out if it is working before you go full time. Best of luck!

Sounds like you are looking for a primary residence. Are you comfortable with doing rehab? Start driving. Look for cracked concrete, bad roof, cracked windows, siding needing paint, newspapers piled up on the front porch. These might be indicators of a vacant house. Most localities have a GIS that you can look at and find the owner of the property. If that owner is not the same as the property address, you have a landlord or absentee owner. Send 'em a letter. This process takes a lot of work and there are companies that can do it all for a fee if you want. 

High LTV are nice but make sure you look with a keen eye on the cash flow. The monthly mortgage payments might be so high that you can't pay. It makes it easier to buy but harder to maintain. Consider saving some money to put more down.

Texas's insurers will have a lot of expenses in claims. Later, rates may go up and that would cause values to dip. Probably not a huge raise, however. If you are a mold inspector or mitigator, you are rubbing your hands though.

Hi @Carlos Garcia,

He could be hiding something, but it might be that he just doesn't want his tenants to know he is selling. Get that place under contract and he will know you are serious. I doubt even he presumes that a buyer would buy without knowing what it looks like inside. More likely he doesn't want the tenants knowing or want to waste his time without a contract. Put a contingency that you have to personally inspect and approve before paying earnest money and I'll bet you'll have a deal. Let me know how it goes.

Benjamin

I can see this getting extended again. It's too easy to do and it's a 'crowd pleaser'. I think it'll continue until landlords start folding and a new crisis happens.

What kind of property is this? I wouldn't say her being demanding is something you are able to evict for. If the requests are reasonable, then you have a reasonable amount of time to make the repair and don't need to jump right away for everything. You are responsible for normal wear and tear.

If she has been damaging things above that, you need to document that very well. You indeed can evict for destruction of property (unless the moratorium is more restrictive in WA). Contact your multifamily housing association and ask if they have an eviction attorney they recommend. Most attorneys will give you a free consultation.

You should look for neighbors who have been unable to enjoy their homes because of this person. Have a third party do the repairs and avoid going in the unit except for inspections (which you should do). You need the word of an uninterested party or it's just a he-said she-said. Finally, there is always cash for keys if you think it is at that point. Good luck.

Didn't realize that this was an old thread...

Hey @Pete Krentz, nice to see you. How many units is your subject property?

Also consider that it would be unusual to do three separate boilers. If you put in one, how will you bill back the tenants for the gas bill or do you plan to pay it yourself? Separate electric baseboard heat is an easier way to have the tenants pay for their own heat. You should check what the rest of the multifamily units in your area are doing. This will have a big effect on tenants you can attract. I live in South Dakota where it gets extremely cold. I have one building heated by boiler and another with electric baseboard. The expenses(to me) are much lower in the electric one and I don't have any trouble getting tenants for either.

Also, get rid of knob and tube but make sure it doesn't brake the bank first. That can get very expensive.