All Forum Posts by: Christen G.

Welcome! I'm always down to chat and talk multi-family! I have a handful of small multis in the PNW and a couple STRs. Looking to scale myself into 10+ unit buildings this year. 

Welcome! Come out to the PNW and let's find something to do together.

I agree with a few folks here: Red Flags abound! I'd follow Nathan's advice in writing:

I'm sorry, but we require a credit/criminal screening from every adult. You'll have to figure out how to remove the block so we can screen you or we won't be able to approve your application.

 Best of luck to you.

Appreciate it. My spidey sense is way up on this one. Going to walk the property today, have an inspection contingency, so it'll be an easy out regardless, but as I told my partner: if it looks like duck, acts like a duck...

I’m in contract on a 7-plex for well under listing. It’s a C class property - which I’m familiar with and have operated. On paper this is a win of a purchase for me. I can provide a fast purchase and close (buying in cash). Realtor noted that 1 tenant was in arrears and they’d provide more info but hasn’t. The inspection is happening and I’m awaiting the report but in the mean time the seller is not providing rent rolls or leases so I can do due diligence. They said once that rent rolls “were coming” and now they said they’ll provide at closing. This seems like a big red flag for me. Two questions:

- all things considered: is this a giant red flag for you, too?

- how common are estoppel agreements? I’ve never used / issues one.

Thank you for your input.

I agree that it's a good sign your tenant is asking/told you about these changes. As the others have said: screen (and if they meet your criteria) add the adults to the lease. I'd suggest adding them for the remainder of the current lease term to keep it clean. When one becomes an adult and if they're living in the home, screen and add them to the lease. It's for this reason that I have a re-leasing /new roommate / change fee in my lease. It's a bit of work for you, but at least that covers your time doing the checks and paperwork. Good luck.

Are you living in it? Or can you gut it/make it a clean slate and let them build out their own? That'd be your cheapest option. If you're living in it, and you can spend $3-5k to make an extra $10k on the sale then it's a good idea to renovate.

Apartments.com has been good for me (7 units across 3 buildings). They're upgrading consistently and now have a "Maintenance Portal" that tenants can submit to and track. Tenants have to make a profile so that's a nice first step in screening them and you can upload a lease, input your late fees, etc... that it calculates. It also does all the background checks, etc... during screening. One thing I dont like about it is the ledger format, but overall 4.5 stars.

I think you can go more affordable with a wyze camera(s) and a coded lock where you can have unique codes to unlock the door.