All Forum Posts by: Christopher Lawrence

Hello All,

I have been having a bit of trouble finding an insurance carrier to write umbrella insurance on my portfolio of College Rental properties. When inquiring about umbrella insurance the conversation usually goes into what type of rental properties I am looking to get covered and when I mention that they are college rentals the conversation usually does not go much further. They have all been somewhat local agents so they are familiar with what clientele are renting properties in my area (Southern NJ). Do any of you have experience getting umbrella insurance on college rental properties and have any advice? Am I better off going for a bigger more national carrier that is not as familiar with the area or are there companies that specialize in my situation? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

Looking into LLC's as well but am also looking into umbrella insurance. Portfolio of 8 properties total: 6 of which are college rentals and 2 single family rentals.

Thanks,

Chris

Thank you. Yes I did read that I am not allow to ask about the reason for accommodation nor how the cat would remedy that situation as long as the documentation of doctors note was provided.

I think our course of action at the moment will be to get the required documentation from both the individual with the cat showing she has doctors approval and the individual with the facial reaction to provide documentation that it is stemming from the cat. From there we can determine if we need to speak to an attorney or not.

Thanks,

Chris

Thanks for the response. The tenant with the cat states that the condition has arisen after the lease was signed. Does this change anything? To me it seems like the health of her roommate should supercede the law allowing a comfort cat but would it then be my responsibility for removal of the tenant and cat or is it the tenant who is having the health condition within legal rights to handle the situation?

Hello,

I was wondering if any of you have had a situation like this arise. I own a college rental property with 6 students renting for a yearly lease. They came to us as a group of 6 and signed the lease without ever disclosing any information about a comfort cat. 

A few days ago we started receiving complaints from one of the tenants that another has a cat and will not listen to the complaints of the other roommates about having one in the house. Our lease states that the tenants are not allowed to have pets but we were made aware that she has a doctors note stating she needs this cat and that we do not have the ability to deny housing because of it. Additionally now one of the other tenants is complaining about a skin condition that she believes is developing from the cat (showed us a picture of a rash appearing on her face)

I guess my question is, do we have any course of action here in terms of removing the pet. They did not make us aware prior to signing the lease, however I understand she may need it for health reasons. The issue is that now it seems to be posing a health hazard to one of her fellow tenants and she does not have any consideration for this. Is it on the tenant who is developing the rash to get some sort of doctors opinion that the cat is to blame? Is it our job to resolve this or is it amongst the tenants at this point since the cat would be permitted under the fair housing law? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Chris

Hi Everyone!

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with getting zoning variances in Glassboro New Jersey. My current situation is as follows: I have recently purchased a property with my father. A single family home sits on one lot that is 100' wide by 150' deep. Included in the purchase is a second adjacent lot that has 50' of frontage and also is 150' deep. Glassboro zoning requires all R2 lots have 75' of frontage to build. I would need a variance to build on my 50' wide lot. Literally right across the street, a woman has listed a lot next to her house for sale and it is the same dimensions as my second 50' wide lot. Does anyone have any experience with getting variances in glassboro or any advice in general on how to approach this. Plan on visiting the Glassboro town office tomorrow but wanted some feedback before I do. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

@Robert Leonard 

Thanks! I found a foreclosure about a block from a college campus. We had a lot of luck with how much repair was actually needed and the timing of the purchase. Thanks for the clarification!

My questions is if the 2% rule applies to the initial purchase price or the price after rehab? I recently purchased my first property for $36k after closing costs etc. Rehab is roughly 15k. We are all in for 51k. Expect to get 1,100 in rent. Using the initial purchase price, this property would be 3%. If you use the all in price, this would be 2.1%. Which would be appropriate, and if it is not the latter, can you eplain why the rehab costs would not be factored in?

@Tom Austin 

Thats awesome! Cool to hear someone my age is in the same situation and looking at the same strategy as me. I would like to talk more.

@Kurt Naletko