All Forum Posts by: Brad Hammond

Hey @JoDaniel Vazquez, this is an awful situation without a doubt.  Just my opinion and your comfort levels might be different.  I would talk to your property manager and tell them you can't afford the break lease fee and see if they can negotiate on it.  You never know.  If that doesn't work, think about if you are ok with having that go to collections.  Your home will close by the time that happens so you aren't risking your deal.  As long as you aren't planning to use your credit score, it might make sense to take a hit for a couple of years while you pay that back.  

Hey @Hilary Graves, just my opinion but I think a photo with cigs counts.  Maybe the tenant will say it was a guest, but even her guests must obey the same rules.  I would serve her the notice and see what they say.  If they have a sold response, you can always reverse the notice and charges. 

I can't comment on permitting, but it is going to come down to what your permitting office says. Another thing to figure out is if a lender will lend on a duplex with an ADU. I've heard that they won't qualify but I would double-check with your lender.

Hey @Stacy Lane, I have one I made on google sheets if you want to use it.  https://docs.google.com/spread...  If you fill in the yellow cells it will auto-populate the others.  It isn't pretty but if you have any questions, let me know.  

Hey @Angelo Llamas, I see benefits to finding both first as one might be able to help find the other.  I would recommend looking for both at the same time and be able to pivot.  Just because you "found" one person, doesn't mean you can't change a month later if you found a better match.  For example, I've got some great lender connections and my lenders would help you find me. Hope that helps. 

I would expect that to be included in the contractor's bid.  I would recommend pushing back a little and telling him that's fine but that will be included in the total amount and the GC will pay him.  See where the conversation goes from there.

Hey @Arturo Garza, I don't know the answer to your question but I might be able to point in the right direction.  First off there are a few different ways of house hacking so getting clear on which method is right for you will be key.  Would you want to rent by the room, do a live-in flip, live in it then rent it, or create a separate unit?  

The biggest question is going to be if the city will allow you to get a permit for whatever you are doing.  They mostly care if you are going to add a unit.  I would talk to the permitting department of the cities you are looking at and get an idea of what they won't allow.  Chances are it will also depend on the property you find but if you could weed out ones that won't work, it will help your search. 

This is a tough one, but I can think of a few suggestions.  

1. Build a fence.  

2. Post some very strongly worded signs about trespassing.

3. Lock the dumpster (I know this is a headache for the tenants)

4. Keep up what you are doing and eventually people will get the hint.  It sounds like these are isolated incidents and hopefully, they will stop coming around when you tell them off.  Remember if you feed the dog, they will keep coming back. 

Hey @Irvin Nguyen, you will need your tenants to give you notice to vacate, you don't want to be the one to tell them to leave.  I would have your management company raise the rent as much as they can with 90 days notice and hope your tenants decide to move out.  Otherwise, it will be a mess.  Like everyone else has said, I would recommend leveling up into a larger property.  You will need to be strategic on how you list if you are doing 1031, let me know if you want to chat more about this. 

Hi @James Brewer, the lender will be looking for 20% (usually) equity in the property.  However you get there is up to you.  Hopefully, it is through forced equity in this case.