All Forum Posts by: Chinmay J.

Do you not have home warranty on appliances? If you haven't considered having one, you should. Appliances break and home insurance doesn't cover it. . For a small deductible you can get your appliances repaired or replaced (if the damage is beyond repair). Replacing HVAC or Water Heater can run into 1000s of dollars, and quickly bring you negative cash flow.

Also, why are you paying water/sewer. If paying for the utilities is in your contract, are you not paying Power and Gas. Just water/sewer? Typically, tenants are the ones who pay for utilities. I was wondering if you missed out something there.

Additionally, does the property have HOA? Not all properties have HOA. Some do; some don't. If you have HOA your Income statement needs to reflect that.

Lot of good information and perspectives about hard money lending. As I see not all hard money lenders are same. Can someone recommend hard money lenders in Northern VA (Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William Counties)

Sorry to say this but some of you guys are coming across as heartless. When natural disaster strikes, even the big banks, who are often portrayed as greedy sharks even throw in few extra days for people to put their lives together. 

If someone passes away at the end of the month, and the rent is due on the 1st, with 3-4 days of grace period built into the lease. With all the arrangements that need to be done, one can easily lose track of even something as important as paying rent.  Now if someone is coming up with excuses month after month after month.. That's a different issue. But one time thing.. Really? I mean really.....?

@Brian Simmonds  - If its a one time thing that the rent was late, I would personally let it go since its something like death in the family. Do you have a signed lease with the tenant? All my leases have $50 late fee. I go over that part 2-3 times and make sure they understand it. You can always nicely remind them that since the rent was late, there will be a small fee tacked on to them. If you want to be a real gentleman about it, I wouldn't even broach the topic right now. I would just tell them to pay you as soon as they can, and then deduct the late fee from the security deposit when the lease is over.

@Brendan Yu - Homework can mean a million different things. It all depends on what kind investment you are interested in getting into. REI is a very vague term. It seems from your response back to me that you are much more interested in "driving for dollars" style of marketing. You can still use craigslist, and depending on how powerful that engine is out there, you might get decent response. I have successfully used craigslist to get some tenants. I have also heard people being able to buy PRE FORCLOSURE lists, but I am sorry that is not my area of investment.

Good luck.. I am sure someone else on the site will be able to help you out.

@Brendan Yu -The last thing I would do is quit my source of income, unless you are already wealthy enough to live off part of the savings and still be able to invest in a meaningful way. Personally for me, two hours away is not a big deal. Most of the homework can be done right on the Internet. Yes, you might have to drive there few times to get sense of the area, surrounding etc. With the help of a good and trusted realtor, you can invest across the country these days. Whether to quit your job and get something close by entirely depends on lot of other variables, and its your personal decision. 

 I have been investing in real estate for over last five years, and still have my full time job. Actually, I am at my day job right now.. (shhh...don't tell my boss..lol..)  Having a full time source of income coming in is a great blessing. I don't rely on my real estate investment income to survive at all. In fact I don't even touch my real estate investment income for anything other than expenses related to the investment itself, and making more investments, of course.. 

Is your mom, who is a realtor, local to Westchester area? If yes, your work is half done. Why not use her expertise to tap in the real estate market. Realtors have access to great deal of information. I am sure you will be able to negotiate a better deal with a family member and make some investments as opposed to getting a realtor from the outside.

Good luck.. 

I always get a chuckle when people say, "How can I convince my wife/husband.."  I don't know how I or we, can convince your wife. If you were able to convince her to marry you, I am sure you can convince her that real estate investments can pay off very well.  On top of of that if you say you guys are "calculated" people ( I think the word you probably want to use is numbers person), there is plenty of evidence out there in plain sight to convince yourself.  

In this day and age, no one can convince others.. other than themselves that is.... 

@Jesse Allison  - I am a landlord and Realtor myself. You might want to consult a real estate attorney in your state to see what the laws are in Ohio for such situation, but mostly like the others have suggested I won't be surprised if you are bound by the terms and conditions of the old lease. After that lease expires, you have all the leverage in the world.  

That being said, pretty much everything in life is negotiable.  Have you tried to sell your case to your tenants? Show them how a detailed lease is a better option for both the parties in case of a dispute.  Offer them some discount to sign your lease. How about offering them $25-50 per month discount, or perhaps extending the lease by 6 months to a year at the same rent and offering them peace of mind that their rent payment won't go up for at least some time. 

@Josh Carr and @Ray Slack Thanks for the intel. I am not sure off the top of my head, but Frederick does have redemption period of 6 months, and so does Montgomery county. These are the counties I am primarily interested in investing. 

I will definitely research the website netronline.com 

Thanks again to all that have so far participated in the thread.

@Ned Carey - Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer all the questions. I really appreciate it.  15% is a pretty good rate.