All Forum Posts by: Chris Walsh

Thanks for the replies.  All good advice!

According to the lease with the previous owner, the tenant has access to one side of the garage.  It is a month to month lease that I have not altered because I am planning on everntually asking them to leave so I can renovate their side of the home and raise the rents.  They currently pay on time and their rent covers the taxes, mortgage and insurance and then some.  

Hello Bigger Pockets,

 I really recently purchased a duplex to "house hack".  I am in the process of renovating the side that I am currently living in. I inherited some tenants. The tenants are OK. They pay on time.   They are a little messy but nothing crazy.  I recently totally remodeled the garage and put an electric overhead door. The garage was falling down when I bought the property. The pad was totally wrecked and the garage doors would not close because the tracks were so badly damaged.  The garage backs up to an alley that has a few shady characters. I have asked the tenants twice now to keep the overhead door closed at all times.  All that is required to close the door is pushing a button. I woke up to go to work this morning and the door was open again. I have a few ladders in there and a nice car.  Their car was actually broken into while parked in the garage before I purchased the property.  

I don't think it's unreasonable to push a button and close the door when you leave.  How would you savvy landlords handle this?  Is giving an ultimatum of no longer being able to use the garage and effective way to handle this?  Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

Hi Wayne,

I was born and raised in Cleveland. Moved away for about 10 years and moved back five years ago.  Things are changing for the better.  There is a lot of new development.  The downtown and river fronts have been transformed.  There are a lot of great restaurants, one of the best museums and orchestras in the country if you are in to that type of thing. Sports teams are good besides the browns which brings a lot of people downtown.  The real estate market has definitely heated up over the last few years but compared to other big cities, there are still great opportunities.  The weather is great 6 months of the year.  Winters are cold and the skies are gray for a long time!    The hospitals are growing and bringing jobs to the city.  Hope this helps.

Nicely done!  How did you fund the rehab? 

Thanks!

Hello,

I currently have a commercial building that is owned free and clear. The approximate value is $250,000. Is there any type of HELOC program for commercial?

It would be nice to take out some cash to purchase more multi family residential.  

Any suggestions or other options I have not thought about would be appreciated. 

Thanks!

Hi. I recently purchased my first home. It is a duplex where I have a built in tenant when I purchased the place. They are currently covering the taxes, mortgage and insurance, plus $30 extra at the end of the month. I am rehabbing and living in one side. There are good first time home buyer programs with very loan payment options, as well as FHA 3.5% down. "House hacking" is a great way to get your feet wet in.

Thanks for all of the responses.  My credit utilization is always around 15-20%.  I pay everything on time.  The balances are paid off every month.  No late payments of any kind in over 7 years. 

Thanks for the response!

Hello everyone,

I recently bought a duplex where I rehabbed one side and moved in. The current tenant is covering the mortgage taxes and insurance.  I got a loan through a local bank that is subsidized by the county to help residence rehab properties. I'm paying less than 3% on a $25,000 loan I can pay back over five years.   I also opened up a Discover card in order to keep track of the expenses for the house. This all happened within two months. One of my credit scores went down 35 points, the other one down 65 points. Has this happened to anyone? I'm looking to purchase my next property but I'm afraid that my previous credit scores that were in the mid to high 700s are now in the high 600s. Anyone have any experience or suggestions on how this can be fixed?

Hello,

Thanks to all for such great information.  I am under contract to purchase my first duplex.  I am using a low down payment to live in one side for for a year and rent the other side out.  After the year is up, I will rent the whole place out and repeat. The house is in good shape but needs some work.  The bathrooms and kitchens need flooring.  The place needs to be painted and the one side needs a new kitchen.  I plan on keeping the place for a long time.  I want it to look nice inside to attract great tenants but I also want something that will hold up over time.  Any suggestions on the best materials for kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and flooring?   Thanks!