All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Welcome Mandy and congrats on finding your first place. Not many people your age have the funds, credit or forethought to even dream about becoming financially independent. Kudos. I also see you're a student... I remember closing on my first property during finals week - my professor allowed me to leave mid-exam to go sign the paperwork, but I had to return right away to finish my test!

Besides owner/creative financing, be sure to keep an eye on foreclosures. I'd suggest viewing Homepath listings because they allow 3% down payments for owner occupied properties and 10% down payments for investors. Be "pre approved" ready, as dealing with lenders while fending off other buyers could cause you to miss out on rare opportunities. Sometimes the early bird gets the worm (before the hawk has a chance to swoop in) lol.

Also, multi-family properties (duplex/triplex etc) are a great way to own your own home while having separate rentable spaces if and when you ever become tired of the roomie situation. Good luck

Your tenant is a con man, and the fake check deposited at the last moment clearly shows that these types of people do not play by the same rules as the rest of us.

You're not obligated to do anyone any favors, but if you decide to help someone, you must set boundaries and I think Michael S summed it up perfectly. Another option is to hire a management company since I feel most people would be more wary of trying something on a company vs an independent landlord.

Even the banks aren't so cut and dry because sometimes stuff happens. Banks have 15 day grace periods for late mortgage payments, and you still have 60-90 days to avoid foreclosure after a notice of default. To be fair, at least the bank can take control of the property to recover losses... landlords don't have much recourse beyond retaining the security deposit.

Glad you're going to report the tenant to the credit bureaus so that the tenant won't be able to scam anyone else.

A large garage packed full of crap. The only odd thing that really stands out were the boxes and boxes of toothpicks. All the rooms inside the house were pretty much empty except for the room that belonged to the previous owner's son. He left behind a ton of sports/ entertainment magazines... and we also found his porn stash in the closet.

I use Chase QuickPay. It's free. You can send/request payments and have your tenant set up monthly automatic payments.

At least one user must have a Chase checking account. Transfers between Chase accounts process immediately or within 2 days depending on the amount, time of day, etc otherwise it will take 4-5 days to process with an external bank. You could have the tenant make a payment in advance in anticipation of processing delays (if you're picky about having the transaction clear on the first day of the month).

It probably depends on your area, the type of tenant, and the condition of the SFH vs Multi-unit. In my case, the duplex generates way more income than if it were a SFH. Some people will pay more for a smaller space as long as it's been updated nicely. I also have the option to increase the rent another 250 and still remain within market rate for the area. I would NEVER be able to do this if it were a SFH.

As someone else mentioned, with Multi-units you have one yard, one exterior wall, one roof, one tax bill, etc vs several individual properties to maintain. Just make sure each unit is separately wired so that you will not be respoinsible for utilities.

Ron Climer, thanks for the links.

The biggest hurdle at this point is finding a property where the owner doesn't owe more than what's it worth. A lot of the properties I've looked up on property appraiser were purchased during the bubble.

It depends. I'm a lover of historic buildings but I think each situation is unique and all angles should be looked at before demo. If it's just an "old building" without any architectural significance, history etc then yeah I'm all for replacing it with something more beneficial as long as it's congruent with the character of the surrounding area. The City of Orlando's Historic Planning Board will decide if the building is a contributing structure and that will determine if the building can be demolished... although exceptions have been made in the name of revitalization. My biggest complaint is that a lot of new construction made out of pre-cast concrete are devoid of character because more emphasis is put on cost than visual appeal.

Why buy into a historic neighborhood if one plans to strip away the very thing that defines the area?

Mehran Kamari, This was a few months ago so I'm not entirely sure if the lender didn't want to use the income, or if I simply never supplied that info based on my knowledge of a 2 yr rule. Also, before closing on the condo I prodded my broker for more info regarding acquiring additional properties, but he gave me the googly eyes and said it was too soon to talk about buying another property. I'm not trying to rush anything, but I am trying to line everything up in advance so that I'll be ready.

Bill Gulley: I would gladly study seller financing options but there are so many terms (subject to, assumed mort, etc) that I'm having a hard time finding thorough resources on the subject. Can you suggest any books or provide links to sites with in depth info?

My tenants are pretty quiet. The few emails I've gotten have been about a broken garbage disposal (was able to salvage), washing machine leak (20+ years old), & window screen replacement.

Hi Al, I remember this being one of the topics covered in your podcast, and I fully agree with you.

A neighborhood is a team effort, so I'll mow the front lawns of the neighbors on both sides of my property when they begin to lapse. Part of being a good neighbor also means improving the appearance your own property. I bought a duplex in a nice neighborhood where the rental properties kinda stick out compared to the well maintained historic homes. I've received positive feedback from neighbors just for painting the exterior & maintaining the yard. It's def a good feeling to transform a neighborhood eyesore into something more "tolerable".

Besides boosting the morale of the neighborhood, it also affects your bottom line. I think it would be much harder to attract quality tenants to a neighborhood that shows obvious signs of decay and neglect.