All Forum Posts by: Brandon Shewbridge

I also question the high income areas if/when you are concerned with recession.  If things get bad, people are more likely to move down not up.  Around here in 2008-9, anyone wanting to sell or rent high-end was ravaged much worse than those closer to the median.

Given the proximity to the continuously expanding Federal feed trough, NOVA should be safer than other areas.

Based on what I'm looking at  on the numbers, I think you're approaching this the wrong way.  Can you qualify for a $36,000 mortgage? If so why don't you get a conventional mortgage to pay off their note and then use seller financing for the difference. That would be the safest bet. With that much equity in the house it should be easy to get a loan if your credit is decent.

That way you don't have to worry about the due on sale clause being triggered or the current owners maintaining payments on the existing note (which is out of your control in the other scenario).

Tell them to pound sand and that you won't be allowing them to exercise their option.   Any tenant that spends $4k to install permanent fixtures without your permission and then wants you to pay for it isn't a tenant that I would want staying.  

Respond to their letter and tell them that first and foremost it is not "their" home.  Tell them that your attorney will also be in touch because you are not responsible for their negligence.  In addition they made permanent modifications to your property without your consent and that you can sue for any and all damages they caused.

Also tell them that you are within your legal rights to enter the property with proper notice (cite legal code) and let them know that if the alarm is armed and it draws a false response from the police that they will be responsible for any fines (most cities allow 1-2 false alarms per year before they assess a fine)  Also - as the owner, you are entitled to an alarm code for the purpose of entry to your property and if their alarm prevents you from entering the property then that is a violation of their lease.  If there is an emergency and they are on vacation, you need to be able to get in without setting off the alarm.

@Jassem A. Has the right approach.  For me, it's cheaper to own than rent and my current residence would cash flow nicely when/if I do decide to rent it.  I have roots in this community and don't plan on moving anytime soon.  If I was 25, then Mr. Cardone's comments may be more applicable.

In order to get started, I've decided to move forward as an investor with a contractor that I know.  After doing my due diligence, I will be investing and taking a 1st position note on the property in exchange for a nice rate.  This will help me build some additional capital for my longer term buy and hold strategy.  

Given that my questions are note related, I thought that this would be the best place to post them.  1) What wording will I be looking for or what will be the confirmation from the attorney/closing company that my note is in 1st position?  

2) Any other issues or gotchas that I should be aware of or ask about (title, liens, etc.)

Elfa by The Container Store.  Easy to configure and easy to install. The finished product looks very nice for a C+ - B+ property. This would be for a flip - not for a rental. For a rental you want what @Mary Ann Aulbur described as it would be more durable for tenants that don't give a care bout your stuff.  (I just hate painting shelves)

For my residence, I did an 8' long closet with top shelf and hanger bar the whole length and bottom shelves and hanger bar across 50% (suits & shirts).  On the other half, I installed a shelf with 6 drawers (2x3) below with 2 shoe shelves below the droors for my personal closet for under $1K.  

They usually have a 30% off sale every quarter. Just visit the website.  If you're between sales, you can usually find a 30% coupon on eBay.   Expect 2 weeks for delivery if you use their standard free shipping.

Welcome & good luck.  Sounds like a great plan.  Search the term "house hacking" for more info on that same concept.

I'd like to ask a question for the benefit of the original poster as well as others. Would the acceptance of a holding deposit require only notification and a receipt to the payer, or would it also require the payer to sign something acknowledging that it was a holding deposit?  I'm assuming that the holding deposit could then be converted to a security deposit.

An umbrella policy does not cover all potential reasons that you could be sued. If someone slips and falls or gets injured on your property, then the umbrella insurance would be fine. Unfortunately if someone sues you based on some action you took or something you said, the umbrella policy likely will not cover that. At that point they're going to be coming after other personal assets that you own in addition to the rental property because everything is commingled under your name. At a minimum you should have the property held by an LLC with an umbrella policy as well.

The ideal configuration would be to have the property held in a generically named trust with an LLC where you are the managing member named as the trustee. This gives you control over the property. Then you can assign the rental rights to a separate management / operating LLC. There are layers of protection here and since a trust document doesn't have to be registered with the state, it's much harder to determine who owns the property.

As someone who has rented a house with an oil tank in VA (many years ago in college), we moved in with a full tank and were required to move out with a full tank. We were not charged for the full tank upon move in like @Ann Bellamy suggested - that would be double dipping as we paid for what we used by leaving it with a full tank. Repairs were left to the owner, unless they were related to running the tank dry.