All Forum Posts by: David DuCille

Yes, if your lease is ending she can raise the rent on the renewal lease just as you have the right to take a hike.  you can check your local property appraiser/tàx collector website usually to see what taxes are and in a rapidly appreciating market, yes, taxes are going up so it could be legit.  even if they don't go up, it's her house, she has the right to do as she sees fit and you have the right not to renew.  as for repairs, put your rent in escrow and don't pay her until she fixes the issue.

cash is king, less obstacles to close and the biggest one usually being appraisals.  Experienced investors are far less worried about what problems they may uncover as well so they often times waive inspection periods entirely.

I agree with the other advice, if the numbers work to pay over list price then go for it but otherwise, you gotta be patient.

bad neighborhoods don't get better by not having good.people move into them.  If.youbare committed to being a part of the positive change the community needs you shouldn't consider living there.  Likewise, crazy **** happens in good neighborhoods too.  There was a double murder last year 2 miles from my house in a very nice section of Tampa.  Girl went nuts and killed both of her parents.  There are no guarantees.

i will guarantee you the cost of materials at home depot is not triple the coat at my home depot.  Yes contractors will probably cost more but I'm sorry, ive lived in NYC, a far more expensive place to live than where you are.  It does not cost anywhere near 100k to renovate that house.  It's under 1000 sq ft.  I do not want to disrespect your knowledge of your local market but it's impossible to spend that much to fix that house as a decent rental unless there is something major going on that I cant see in the pictures.

your numbers are not accurate at all in my opinion.  It's a 900 sq ft house, why is it going to cost you 100k to renovate?  I just renovated a 1500 sq ft 1920s bungalow for 90k and that was using lots of high end materials not basic "rental grade" materials.  I completely resided it, put in new windows, 3 brand new bathrooms, new kitchen, appliances granite etc.   When you renovate an entire house your cap ex budget becomes next to nothing.  Also, is your homeowners insurance really $6000 a year?????

I think your numbers look like a rookie that is being super cautious.  

Go on Zillow and look at 1102 e osborne ave Tampa FL.  You should be able to see the old pics from. The investor we bought it from.  So we have some similarities.

buy it, fix it up, rent it out.  People live in "war zones " everyday.  I have one house in a bad neighborhood with a lot of violencee.  I bought it for 25k spent 35k to fully renovate it.  Now it rents for $1395 a month and my mortgage is only $500.  Decently renovated properties in bad neighborhoods still rent to section 8 tenants pretty easily

yep, locksmith and be done with it

 Agreed, buyers are most often looking for the classic 3/2 although here in Florida with the snowbird factor and empty nesters/retirees there is probably a larger market to sell 2 bedroom homes than other places

oh to touch on repairs. the FHA/VA addendum States that the seller agrees to make required repairs per the appraisal up to a negotiated dollar amount. You can negotiate that figure with a regular seller but I can tell you from.experience most REO properties the bank does ZERO negotiating. It is a take it or leave it proposition.

i just closed a VA deal for my buyer last week. It was a foreclosure that Freddie Mac actually put 30k of renovations into prior to listing it. In spite of all that work we discovered that the hot water heater didn't work (they didn't bother to replace a $300 water heater that their initial 4 point inspection stated was original to the house (1983). I knew this would get flagged by VA appraiser so I alerted the listing agent hoping to be proactive. She said the bank won't make any .ore repairs unless it's flagged on the appraisal. So we wasted another week waiting for the appraiser to tell us what we all knew. VA appraiser also spotted damage to a retaining wall that was somewhat minor and my buyer would have been happy to fix on his own. Since appraiser flagged it it HAD to be fixed by the bank to close the deal. Long story short, cosmetically ugly and out of style is fine, not functioning isn't and WOOD ROT is a major no/no with FHA and VA appraisers.