All Forum Posts by: Christian Buechel

@Mark Clayton If you're not quite ready for Pro, shoot me a message and I can send you a spreadsheet I use. It's definitely not as built out as BP's but it works for my needs!

@Ryan Blackstone I was thinking the same thing. Looks like there's no lawyers allowed in Arkansas small claims court so I guess that's the only monetary expense. With time being another one. 

Has anyone in the NWA area had the unfortunate experience of taking a tenant to small claims (Fayetteville specifically)? Unfortunately, we had tenants terminate their lease early and not pay the last months rent or any of the contractually agreed upon early termination fees. We tried to find a compromise with them multiple times, but they essentially moved out in 3 days and stopped responding to us.

I honestly don't expect to see any of the money. But I know this is likely going to happen to another unfortunate owner down the road unless those tenants have a mark on their credit for nonpayment of rent and seems like the only way to do so is via small claims court. Wondering if it's even worth the time and $65 filing fee

To put a pin on the saga - we posted the 3 Day Notice to Quit, along with a form for them to document their intent to vacate and pay a reduced amount for early termination. Have not spoken with the tenants, but they signed both documents and left the house largely intact with no major issues.

Probably the best outcome. If we somehow get payment for early termination, we'll be pleasantly surprised! 

Thanks everyone for the advice. Good to have a dry run with no real bad consequences in case this happens ever in the future

@Dan Travieso We had a verbal agreement they would be out by December 23rd at 11:59 pm. We went by today and there are still belongings inside (albeit pretty well cleaned out).

We're going to post the 3 Day Notice to Quit, as well as a letter explaining that if they want to avoid a legal filing for rent and fees due, we need a signed agreement stating their intent to vacate and hopefully a compromise amount. 

It's a bit tricky because it seems like they are voluntarily vacating, but the lack of a written acknowledgement of them doing so, I'm worried they might come back or something, causing it to be in a grey zone of he said/she said. 

Hello BP. Thank you in advance for any guidance being provided.

We have a situation with our first property in Arkansas (gotta learn somehow huh?). The tenants had rent due and have been on time for the last 4-5 months, but this time they were late. So we started by sending reminder text after rent was due and another call the day before they would be beyond the 5 day grace period according to Arkansas law. Still no response.

After the 5 day period expired, we finally got them on the phone and received a long story about how the man lost his job and was diagnosed with cancer and they wanted to move out on 12/23 to go back with his family in another city. Now, I really dont want to speculate on whether or not his story is legitimate and I really don't care.

Our lease clearly states that early termination results in us keeping their security deposit and a penalty of 1 month's rent. This would mean the tenant owes us $1525 for past due rent (with late fee), $1450 for one month's rent, and we keep the security deposit. So they would owe us $2975 total. We figured they would not pay the full amount regardless so we offered to remove the late fee and pro-rate the past due rent for a new total of $1870 to at least get something. Crickets from them since we verbally agreed on the phone to this amount. We have asked them to fill out an intent to vacate form and a written agreement for early termination and move out on DocuSign to which they have not responded.

As of today, we have confirmed they have moved out of the home, but I want to make sure that I am handling this correctly. I'd really rather not go to court as I doubt this tenant would be able to deliver the requisite funds and if the cancer thing is true then that's kinda rough.

What is the best course of action?

1. Post a 3 Day Notice to Quit to formally start the eviction process (is this necessary if they're voluntarily leaving?) and court filing
2. Get them to sign an intent to vacate form and just take the L and find a new renter (no court filing)
3. Get them to sign an intent to vacate form and take them to court for not upholding the contract
   
   

Originally posted by @Sam Hemingway:

@Christian Buechel Wouldn't buy and holds be a bad idea in a seller's market (at least its a seller's market here in Oregon)? It seems like investors would want to wait for the market bubble to pop, then buy at the bottom for a buy and hold strategy, no?

Admittedly, I was hesitant at first. But if you're always waiting for the perfect storm of factors to buy, then you'll be passing up plenty of opportunity and learnings. Our acquisition cash flows >10% in Fayetteville, meets our criteria, and has given us experience to build on. 

Can't say I regret buying in a seller's market. But I wouldn't have done it if it didn't meet our criteria.

My goal for the year was to acquire my wife and I's first property - which we accomplished back in March!

Buy and hold bought for 160k in Fayetteville with 20% down via conventional financing. Ended up negotiating a few thousand in seller concessions and did some renovations for ~5k. Rents for >$1400 and meets our criteria for a B neighborhood, 3/2 with garage, and not exclusively catered to college students, but could be if needed.

Found it on the MLS, but had to be quick to snap it up. COVID probably worked in our favor to expedite the seller's decision to accept our offer without hearing any others. We plan on continuing with buy and holds until we get 2-3 under our belt after which we will likely switch to more of a BRRRR strategy seeing as most of NWA is teetering on that line of where it doesn't make sense anymore to acquire properties that only need a little love that still cash flow >10%

@Steven Ha As others have mentioned, your criteria is going to be nearly impossible at the moment. Some C to D neighborhoods near south Dallas (near Fair Park and Oak Cliff) that could see change in coming years, but it’s definitely a risky endeavor

Originally posted by @Pete Harper:

@Thuy N.

I used to live in Lucas and agree the Hwy 75 corridor North has been a hot spot for years. Having done the Hwy 75 commute to Dallas for seven years I don’t miss it.

I always wondered why there is not a similar growth trend south of Dallas. Either I-45 or I-35 corridors. There is plenty of undeveloped land and traffic is not as bad. Any thoughts why?

There are parts of South Dallas that are seeing growth recently. Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Red Bird and even Hutchins/Lancaster to some extent have seen movement. I think it's for a few reasons:

1. People who work uptown/downtown, want a nicer home, but don't want the Southbound I-75 commute (which as you know is awful)
2. Amazon has two warehouses near Hutchins/Lancaster, which yield some decently paying jobs
3. City of Dallas was trying to incentivize growth there through a GrowSouth initiative in mid 2010s

 I think there are some deals to be found in certain spots. But unfortunately Dallas has a deeply rooted North/South divide that falls in line nicely with income. Most wealthier people dont want to live in South Dallas and that's why they've hopped right over the core of South Dallas to the other suburbs