All Forum Posts by: Carini Rochester

My dad broke up the concrete in just a few locations so water could seep through and drain into the soil, then filled the pool with the cheapest stone and clean soil locally available, then planted grass. This was a 20' x 40' by 8' deep pool. He and my brother did the work. They just paid for the materials and trucking, and rented a dozer that my brother operated to grade the soil. Obviously, not everyone will do a project like this DIY. I would guess he spent 3000-4000 ten years ago. He had no plans to build on the exact location of the decommissioned pool.

 In my area most of these are clogged. Plumbers I've talked to won't even come out and try to clear the clog. I don't think their equipment can clear a tree root. You could put the garden hose in and see if it drains nicely. Also, my city has 'combination sewers.' The sanitary and the storm are combined in one system. During very heavy rainfalls the whole thing gets emptied into Lake Ontario! But usually the pure waters facility can handle the flow and treat it before Lake Ontario gets it. Most places, I believe, have a separate storm sewer and sanitary sewer.

In my experience, tenants will not change. She is not trainable. A landlord, however, can change. You can educate yourself. You can become more comfortable with confrontation and more successful at it. Once you get her out, you will have to select a new tenant. In the meantime, learn about tenant selection. Learn about the laws. Learn about human behavior. If you continue to own and manage this or other properties, you will find that tenant selection is one of the most important skills you must do well in order to succeed. 

I use Zillow. I just used it this week and filled the apartment in 48 hours.

You state that the ARV will be $240K. You can borrow 0.8x240K = 192K. Subtract 5K for closing costs. You will get $187,000. Also you're spending $30,000 on the renovations. You will spent $175,000 and you will refinance and get $187,000. After paying off the first mortgage, there should be some money leftover for you. You'll end up with a zero down payment property, maybe even a little left for your bank account.

You also seem to be asking where you will get the money to finish the renovations. Well, I don't know. Family member. Credit cards. Home equity loan (on a different house.) Hard money lender. Different people find that money different ways.

I thought this was a great question. I didn't find it offensive at all. It certainly generated some interesting and fun to read dialog.

"Anyone buy with all cash?"

I do. I buy my retirement funds (Wall Street) all cash. I buy my groceries all cash.

I buy real estate with 20% down and let my tenants pay the interest and the other 80% of the cost of the house. It's like an 80% off sale. Why wouldn't I do that?

911 will need to be in the loop.

I've started 3 LLCs from my desktop computer on NYS's website. I hire a company to do the advertising required.

I love @Melanie P. 's perspective. Especially this paragraph, "Housing stability is important, especially to families with school-aged children. You should never fight to get someone out of their home unless it's truly serious - they're hurting themselves or others, unpaid rent, or creating a real continuing disturbance that is detrimental to the property." Have you ever read Evicted by Matthew Desmond? The best part of the book is his epilog where he writes a masterful and convincing argument for the benefits to the family and to society for housing stability. 

However, when I make a contract with someone, I want both sides entering into the agreement to both have to abide by the written agreement. If the agreement says 1 year, then I want to know that I can tell the tenant that I'm not renewing and I have a legal right to get the unit back. Why does the tenant have 100% say in whether or not I'll get the unit back? If the tenant wants housing stability, then ask me to write a 10 year lease. Yes, the law provides for legal reasons to terminate the lease. But to pursue that, I need to document everything, testify before a judge, provide evidence, then hope and pray the judge rules my way and not the tenant's way.