All Forum Posts by: Christina Fleet

@Shane Siebenthall also make sure to cover in detail how the utilities will be split and paid.

My tenants split between the number of people living in the house. If I don’t fill a room for a month, its split between 3 people instead of 4. And I always charge them the following month for utilities. And then I highlight in the lease that they will have a final utility payment after they’ve moved out. I give them the choice to pay me directly or I hold the deposit for 10 days until everything is cleared and make sure to return the deposit once the bills are all settled.

@Shane Siebenthall I rent out my rooms to tenants/roommates. I read through the lease from rocket lawyer for CA. It is supposedly accurate for the state. But I would check with someone to be safe. One thing I found to be important in the agreement is that the “premise” they are renting is different from the “property.” So for example they are renting their room and a parking space. They have access to other parts of the house, but the rest isn’t theirs to take over. I had tenants take up my entire garage with their stuff and was able to tell them to get a storage unit because the garage isn’t what they’re paying to rent. (Plus I needed a parking space!) but it gives you more of a leg to stand on when juggling multiple people.

So my tip is to make sure to detail what the “premise” is to protect you and the other roommates.

@Alan Nelson this looks like a great short course that would answer a lot of my questions. Thank you for suggesting!!

Thank you! I’ve read through a few of the other private lending posts with advice from you and Jeff. And from there I have been looking up real estate brokers, HM lenders and attorneys to speak with today. Having a jumping point with understanding more of the jargon and the documents has given me a much clearer focus of where to start. 

As far as companies go, I don't have a lot of capital.  But as a single person starting out, I have a sizable amount of cash and I would like to get started with lending. I could only fund rehabs or very inexpensive foreclosures as of now. I will be seeking legal counsel to find out how to establish my business structure and to create the appropriate documents.  And I have a couple of books to buy - Making the Yield and Invest in Debt.  For anyone else who has done this, do you have any tips on getting started and minimizing risk? Thank you!

I made a mistake setting up my profile and tried deleting the post!  I thought I was titling my investment. But yes it has worked great for me, and is allowing me to be able to start investing 😁