All Forum Posts by: David S.

@Thomas S. What market are you located in? Thanks

@Nathan Gesner I have to laugh, though your input is very much appreciated as you have a lot of good advice, are you stiving to post in every thread by chance?? 

@Zach Simpson I think the notion that having a longer term lease to prevent vacancies in the dead of winter is fooling oneself is rather simplistic thinking. That tenant knows they’re giving up their security deposit on top of the fact that they probably don’t want to move in winter... that deposit is often a decent deterrent to moving out early, and come to think of it, it may be wise in a place like Idaho to structure a lease based on early spring... that way if they want to break the lease early and it’s winter, their loss of the security deposit is that much more significant if they only have two or three months left and even if they do break the lease early, now you’ve gotten last month and the security deposit to offset any vacancy time. So in a four season environment I do believe it’s enough deterrent to make a difference in vacancy. 

Now if you’re on the lower end of the market spectrum in a place like FL, I would totally go month to month. You have to consider your tenants carefully however... if they’re holding a job with a local employer that they’ve had for a long time, odds are they’ll stick around. If they’re moving to the area fresh, well, odds are your month to month lease might be a intended segway for then, especially if they have a history of owning rather than renting. 

Hope that helps! 

Listen, if you want the home and have found no other major issues with it, then buy it. If the tub is that big of an issue for your particular needs, then you may have to pass on the house. If it was a tub and shower combo, this would be a much bigger deal, but I suspect your use of the tub will be far inferior to your use of the shower anyway. I get what the builder is saying... they WILL find another buyer who doesn't care. 

As far as the access panel goes, well, you're rather unlikely to have any issue there over the duration of your ownership unless you live there for 10 or more years. IF you had a problem and needed to get to it, THEN you could reconsider this entire conversation. 

A thought; have you measured the depth of the surround relative to the depth of the tub? I believe these tubs are designed to not require a mud bed under them these days; they primarily displace their load around the edges instead. You may find that the base has enough room for the drain to flow the other way... there's also a trap under that drain that's not in the concrete mind you... it would only take an inch or two of extra space to be able to turn it to flow from the other side. As for the feeds, pex lines make that an easy easy fix. 

And finally, if they used a traditional P trap, you could buy yourself the extra room for appropriate slope with a low profile P trap. Perhaps they're still building these homes and you could talk to the plumber?? Chances are they're using a traditional P trap since anything different cost more. Get out your tape measure, try and figure out the distance from the bottom of the tub to the slab under it and compare to the types of low profile P traps you see online.

I may get badgered here, and I apologize if this may be seen as politically incorrect, but good for you... this is the exact thing we see in the bible, and in our church all the time; people who messed up, cleaned up, and were given another chance. I see a lot of people who assume that churches don't have sinners in them when the opposite is true. I'm glad you found your way and I'm sure that wasn't easy to just throw up on the forums; I appreciate you taking the time for that and being so honest. And with that said, you've also got a wise name to live up to @Account Closed Be well!

Hmmm, sounds like she's a real piece of work... just another lazy entitled American trying to plunder their way to riches off the backs of those of us who are willing to apply ourselves. These clowns are everywhere.

DON'T CALL YOUR INSURANCE! Even if it's just to have an adjuster come and tell her no... they are likely to consider it a "claim", which these days can be a broad term which is often a great reason for them to increase your annual premiums! Always call your insurance as a last resort or if you're rather confident you need to file an actual claim! I learned this the hard way. While they're talking to you they may just update your traffic records too! HA!

@David Song Thanks David. I see that the general consensus leans toward an assumption that one must make 3x the rent regardless however, which is exactly what I had suspected. Seems most LL’s would take a cookie cutter tenant over me even if most or all the annual rent was forked over up front. Psychology is often half the equation if not more! 

@Dave Foster All good points. I have the tax aspect covered, though indeed valid points in most typical scenarios! 

I fully agree with you on the land; we're not wanting to go into the suburbs but rather exchange 15 acres of ag land for 2-5 acres of wooded land. (35 acres with the rental home included) All this acreage adds up to a lot of work in fence repairs, keeping ag status current with cattle, cleaning up trees that have been dying in this long drought, picking up trash that blows from the road, weed control, etc. The acreage and long drive tend to require a tractor which is more time, money, etc. We want to simplify life, not to mention the acreage is worth a good bit but demands little for rent... it's appreciated nicely for us, but in the end of the day I'd like to put that capital to work in the form of more traditional rental homes. We actually farmed garlic for a few years which proved exceedingly difficult compared to Centennial just a half hour away; we get about half the precipitation of the Denver metro area and what does fall tends to evaporate with the winds very quickly. 

People don't realize what all comes with this kind of set up... between the two homes I've caught over 150 mice in the last 12 months and there's 6 cats on the property and plenty of bait stations around too. Then the ground squirrels (got em), voles, had a problem skunk, bears getting into the trash, etc. All the little quirks add up fast! I'd rather spend more of this time with my family or at least building up cash flow and retirement assets. The rental alone buys about 8-10 homes in good B class neighborhoods in parts of the Midwest... there's certainly better opportunities out there. 

So, are you in the market?! Lol. Some people love it and have their horses... I get it, to each their own. 

@Griffin McKisson you had me scratching my head there! You can edit your posts (for a while at least) at the top right of each post fyi! Good luck! 

And I would say, if your father is interested in having a rental at all, sit down and analyze some prospective properties with him. Offer to help him manage the place or even request that you be THE property manager behind the scenes. You run the numbers, you learn the tax implications, you familiarize yourself with the lease parameters, tell him what you think a deal would cash flow, factor in your vacancy, help him screen the tenants, etc, etc. By the time you're two years down the road you'll have learned so much it may not even matter if you broke even... it'd be worth it so long you could improve the next time around.