All Forum Posts by: Catherine Javier

Refundable pet deposit of 200$ and a monthly pet rent of about $25-$50 depending on the pet. The reason my deposit is refundable is it incentivizes the tenant to take care of the place, because once your deposit is non-refundable the tenant doesn't have an incentive to keep it nice regarding the animal. And the monthly rent offsets the cost for the extra cleaning.

I feel like 150 per pet can be really pricey if the have 3 pets, and do you really need that much?

I really like this idea! It gives both security to the owner and the tenant! Thanks for sharing Brett!

0 Votes

Tacoma, Washington

thank you @Brett Deas! We just didn’t have experience about this. We usually have 1 pet/ tenant.

Quote from @Brett Deas:

The way I run my pet fee is as follows:

I feel like 150 per pet can be really pricey if the have 3 pets, and do you really need that much?

0 Votes

Tacoma, Washington

Hi everyone!

An interested tenant wants to lease our furnished home. 3 dogs and 4th is an ESA. Based on experience, we usually have 1 dog/family or tenant.

How much is a reasonable non refundable pet fee? Usually we charge $150/month Based on comps.
and it should be per pet, i am assuming. (For a midterm stay)

I am not sure if this matters, they’re Mutts and American bully.

and just in case they want to do a long term route, how much is the reasonable charge?

thanks everyone!

0 Votes

Tacoma, Washington

Hello BP Community!

My spouse & I have 1 LTR with a property manager, all 4 other unit we self manage as furnished MTR. We usually lease our home for 1-3 mos only. We have a new applicant right now and this is for a Class B property. The applicant (with wife, 2 small kids & a cat) want to lease our furnished home for 1 year. It is a single family home. How much security deposit do we ask for?

Also, this applicant is coming from abroad. He is a doctor on a visa for practice or education (if I am not mistaken). How do I screen him since he does not have a US number yet or SSN ( also not sure if he will have it).

The documents he sent me are his passport, his US Visa and his contact. He will be having the residency to the hospital where I used to work.

This property is in Orlando FL. We are currently in WA for work…

Just asking your brilliant minds for enlightenment!

Thank you!

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Thanks for the kind words @Shawn!

I will be working here in Washington area so I would be doing REA here in WA for now.

Quote from @Shawn McCormick:

@Catherine Javier

Great job on aquiring some rentals and going after the passion you have for RE. I would have a conversation with https://www.biggerpockets.com/...@Tylergibson. He has a team in the Orlando area and offers mentorship and training. There are other agents in here, like me that will be happy to have a conversation with you and give you some advice and guidance.

Best of luck!

0 Votes

Tacoma, Washington

Hello friends!

My wife and I are both travel nurses and we decided that I will pursue to be a real estate agent as a side hustle. We are from FL but will accept a staff nurse position in WA. We have 2 MTR's, 1 LTR in Orlando and 1 MTR in WA which we are house hacking right now.

My eyes lit up every time I hear things about real estate and I think it will be helpful for our family if I pursue this.

This will be a new arena for me and I do not know how to start. I guess what I am getting at is how do I start being a real estate agent. I researched a bit and most of them recommended Rockwell.

If I do the standard hours, how long before I can get my RE license.. and once I get the license, how do I begin? Do I apply to a company/broker.

Any information will be useful!

Thanks in advance!

0 Votes

Tacoma, Washington

Hello BP family! Asking for help & guidance, I am new in this landlording & tenant screening.

We have a two bath, two bedroom condo in Orlando. It is A midterm rental. The current applicant wants fo lease for 6 mos. He has 500 credit score and has two criminal backgrounds. 1st criminal was traffic- running in red. 2nd was battery of an officer in 2019 and was charged as felony. We are not comfortable renting out to him. Our mindset might be wrong, pls advise.

If we decline, how do we tell him correctly & politely?

Thank you!

0 Votes

Orlando, Florida

Hello BP family, we are planning to renovate and upgrade the master and guest bathroom, and add a kitchenette.

The first contractor is the one that we used for Our Rental, he is good, but it’s not responding back on a timely manner. Until now we don’t have a quote for the job and it has been almost 2 wks.

The second GC Is referred by our lender. He is also a real estate agent. He quoted us 20k For two bathroom renovations with the kitchenette- labor only… And he said that he can finish the job in two weeks.

The third GC is one of the vendors from Opendoors who repaired our door. He quoted for 20k but woth labor & some materials (some we need to buy) he said he can finish in 3-4wks.

We have no idea how much would the material cost for the bathroom renovations…

Any thoughts? Who should we choose?

Both of them asks for a 50% down payment. Is this normal? The two other renovations we had, contractor asked to be paid halfway on their job.

thank you so much. By the way, this renovation is in Florida Orlando area.

1 Vote

Orlando, Florida

Thank you for your insights @Lawrence Potts!!

Quote from @Lawrence Potts:

Quote from @Catherine Javier:

Hello BP family! Here I go again asking for your expert opinion... And as always, thank you everyone for your honest opinion and help!

My partner and I are ready to purchase another property. We are planning to put 5% Down, use a Conventional Homestyle Loan to rehab the property, make a part of the house a mother in law suite for ourselves and then house hack while we are away (we are travel nurses). We have 2 properties to choose from. Both are in the same city, Altamonte, both in good community. Both has 2 car garage, both can offer a mother in law suite. Both can be rented with similar price, but of course computations will be different because of the price difference.

We offered 325k on Property A, was verbally accepted by the seller last Friday. However our pre-approval was 1 day late and here comes the Cash offer. Of course we were beaten... But we agreed to be in second position. I was really crushed when we didn't get this property. Today our agent texted us and informed us that we may be back in the game, cash offer didn't pushed thru. It is past 5 days from the time we signed the 2nd position, we are thinking it could be a problem with inspection. Our realtor asked the listing agent but did not answer directly he just said "buyer wants to renegotiate the price". If we go with this property, this needs full rehab but sweat equity will be ours. I cant find the best Comps but looking at Redfin/Zillow probably it is on 380's - 400 when rehabbed. (all other properties I saw was 1960's up).

Also earlier today, we offered on another property. It is more expensive, but we think we will have to do less rehab. It has new paint interior and exterior. It was listed at 410k and we offered 390k. We will know tomorrow if our offer is accepted. I am assuming seller will negotiate the price. Comps around the vicinity is invalid because most of them have pools. but what I am seeing 400's ++ around this area.

I made a comparison, but we would appreciate any thoughts you have.

We want to ask your opinion how can we navigate on a better deal.

Thanks again!

As an agent, I’d never offer without a preapproval and as a listing agent, I’d never accept an offer without one. That surprises me that they let you offer without that. No wonder you lost to a cash offer.

I think your strategy is great! Just know that you’ll want to make sure it is completely permitted. Part of this strategy is the BRRRR method I’m assuming and you need to protect your exit strategy: the refinance part. You won’t be able to pull comps for homes with ADU’s if your project isn’t permitted. That means your capital is trapped in the home. Second, if you don’t have many comps in your area that support your ARV with ADU’s, you’ll need to consider how an appraiser will look at your project. I’d connect with your lender and see.

Also, zestimate is notoriously off on evaluating ARV’s. They simply look at price/sqft. DO NOT USE ZESTIMATES. Have your agent create an actual CMA or use SOLD PRICES to use as comps. Make sure they’re not further than 1 mile radius from the subject property. If you’re agent can’t get you a CMA in a day and let you write without a preapproval, I’d take that as red flags: what else will they be forgetting to do or not know how to handle? That could be your earnest money lost!

Hope that helps!

0 Votes

Hello everyone! Question from A newbie…
We have an LLC in Florida. We purchased the rental property using the LLC in Florida. After three months, We also purchased any rental in Washington state. Can the Property in Washington state be under the Florida LLC? It was purchased under our name but my spouse & I self manage the property.

Thank you in advance everyone!

0 Votes

Orlando, Florida

All Forum Posts by: Catherine Javier

Catherine Javier has started 27 posts and replied 93 times.

Post: How much pet fee per pet?

Post: How much pet fee per pet?

Post: How much pet fee per pet?

Post: How to screen tenant from abroad & how much security deposit?

Post: How to be a real estate in WA

Post: How to be a real estate in WA

Post: How to decline tenant application correctly & politely?

Post: Which contractor do use?

Post: Help! Which property to choose?

Post: Can FL LLC have property in WA