All Forum Posts by: Celena Lathrop

I spoke on the phone with a mortgage lender from Rocket Mortgage. When I told him my intention to purchase a property with the plan to rent it out in the future, he told me that was illegal and fraudulent. I've never heard this before! Does anyone know where he's getting this from or what he means by this? Please advise! I'm baffled.

My associate owns a rental property in Texas that is a SFH 4 bed 2 bath and rents out 2 of the rooms to long-term tenants while reserving the other 2 rooms for short-term Air BnB guests. They’ve made it a habit of checking up on the property almost daily, entering without giving notice to the long-term tenants. Is this acceptable since it is an Air BnB or must the landlord(s) still adhere to the requirement of giving notice to their tenants?

I recommend shopping around for property managers first. Inquire about their skills, schedules, additional services, location, etc. Worst case scenario, if you're not quite ready to hire them, you can always let them know you'll be in touch in the near future or that you won't need their services. It can never hurt to just gather information first though. Knowledge is power...best of luck!

While you mentioned your numbers are conservative, I would increase them a bit more to cover your absolute worst case scenarios. Particularly the vacancy/repairs. You also missed the capital expenditures (not the same as repairs). I recommend 8-10% per. Also, even if you're not intending to use it, I suggest accounting for the prospect of a property management expense (you never know). Best of luck!

Personally, my company does $25 with a 3 day grace period and a $10 daily late fee for the following days. Check with your local laws first, though!

Sounds like a smart hold. By refinancing and taking that $55k or so out, you can put another down payment on an investment as well as profit on your current property over time. Unless the property you're holding now is in dire need of immense repair or has any significant stress-causing issues on you, I recommend you maximize your profit and get everything you can from this seemingly decent investment. Best of luck!

While this example is highly specific to my location, maybe you'll find it informative. I own an SF3 property near downtown Austin, TX with a value of about $450k at the moment. With an ADU, the value is nearly $900k, about double. In this area of my market, it's common and popular to have an ADU behind the original SFH, therefore it's a huge value ad. May be different circumstances elsewhere, however. Best of luck!

@Joseph Bramante Oh, I love the Austin market! San Antonio isn't the market I'm looking for, but I greatly appreciate the suggestion. I currently operate MF rental props in Austin already, just answering your question (it's an obstacle). I imagine it would be a considerable challenge to compete for a desirable MF as an out-of-state investor, but nothing is impossible in our industry. Thanks for the advice!

On this topic, I am rarely inclined to deny a tenant their right to own pets. If your insurance company will protest, yes, saying no is the easiest solution. Those breeds are considered among the "dangerous" ones and are controversial as tenant-owned pets. Also, you really can't demand the tenant pays the cost of your repair because, I'm assuming, they were not the cause of the damaged fence. However, you can certainly require an additional pet fee and monthly pet rent to accumulate toward the cost of your fence repair over time, as well as requiring renters insurance and adding a pet addendum to your original lease agreement to cover any possible liabilities for you. Personally, that is what I would do, but also said, the easiest course of action.

I am always looking for MFs, but in my hot market they are few and far between. The ones I stumble on are generally in neighborhoods I wouldn't walk through alone during the day, and the remaining can not cash flow sufficiently. Financing is not the issue, but mere supply. Always looking!