All Forum Posts by: Craig Janet

I would move on. Keep an eye on the property and maybe you can get it cheap at a foreclosure auction.

I'm in Louisiana and have the same insurance problems as flordia. You need to find a good independent agent that can run policies from multiple companies. They will give you an idea of what to budget for insurance expenses. My insurance cost have doubled in the last couple of years and its only going to get worse. Do not buy a house in a flood zone with the flood insurance 2.0 system rates have skyrocketed and will continue to do so. This will eat any cash flow and make the home almost impossible to sell. 

If it was under a week, I would have told the tenants to pound sand (stuff Happens). But they went an entire month without AC. Every landlord should have a couple of window or portable units to install within a couple days. Would you go an entire month without AC? Maybe you could compromise and give them half of the rent and consider this a learning experience. 

My opinion is that the grind of landlording gets to them and they sell. Repairs, chasing down rent payments, damaged properties after a move out, expensive improvements (HVAC, Roof). It can be a lot for just a couple hundred dollars a month (if you're lucky). They realize that you don't just sit back and collect checks. 

How slow is the charging with a regular 120 volt plug. If they plug it in and leave it overnight shouldn't that be enough to "top it off"?

This seems to be a reoccurring post every couple of days. In most markets the price of homes and expenses have outpaced the increases in rent. This is making deals very hard to find. The increase in interest rates is also making other investments like bonds and CDs more attractive.

I'm curious how it got to this point. You don't provide much details. Usually with an insurance claim, they will send out an adjuster, then they give you a summary of the damages and how much the insurance is going to pay. Then YOU go out and get a contractor that will agree to the repairs for a price. The agreed price should be close to the insurance's settlement unless there is addition work the adjuster missed. Then the insurance will issue a check to you and the contractor once the work is complete.

So where did this deal go wrong?

After a hurricane, I used to bring my roofers beer. They weren't getting wasted. They would take a break, drink a couple beers to cool off, then back to work for hours. A crew of 4 guys would go through a case a day. It didn't bother me. 

I have 15 LTRs and when I talk about my rentals to friends and family, I usually talk about the crazy bad stuff. Like the evictions, nasty tenants, all the stupid stuff tenants do, etc. Its just good to laugh it off with other people. I don't talk about how much money I'm making, how awesome it is to not work a W2 job, all the free time I have to fish and travel with my wife. It just seems like bragging.

So maybe everyone hears all the bad stories and just repeats them. 

Don't let all the guru's fool you. They say you don't need a lot of cash. Real Estate takes a lot cash and a lot of credit. You can't get either unless you have a good paying job. If your school is paid for by scholarships, you would be a fool not to go. A fulltime student only goes to school a around 3-4 hours a day. That leaves plenty of time to get a job and save, save, save. If you can get a job in construction that would be best. I was lucky to get scholarships, live at home with parents for free. I saved up enough in college to buy my first home at 22 while my friends were still partying and I rented out my extra room to them. 

A middle ground would be to learn a trade such as HVAC. You will learn valuable skills in construction that will save you thousands and you will earn a higher salary at a younger age.