All Forum Posts by: Craig Janet

I wouldn't pull any permits. It's not rocket science any licensed electrician should handle this easily. Would you pull a permit to add a outlet in your living room? Not in my area. The expensive part depends on how far the plug will be from the breaker box.  

I'm stashing cash. Getting 5% on T bills and CD's is hard to pass up with the high cost of real estate, higher interest rates, rising insurance rates, rising maintenance and materials. Real estate is not worth the extra risk and headache for a few percentage points of ROI. In my market I need housing prices to decline and rents to increase. I'm always looking for deals but they just aren't there.

Just start listing all your other requirements to them, credit score, income, previous landlords etc. Then they will likely just move on.

20 inches seems like a lot, why doesn't he put it on his property? 

 Nice job calling her bluff. Now proceed with the eviction hearing. She won't show up and the judge will rule in your favor. You may not get any money out of it but now she will have a eviction on her record. You may save some other landlord the headache of this deadbeat tenant.

If there was no unexpected cost, such as rotten floors, shoddy electrical, had to reroute plumbing that couldn't be seen in the initial bid or you changed to more expensive materials. Then he simply under bid the job and is legally obligated to finish the job at the agreed price. It's very common for contractors to under bid to get the job, blow through the first couple of draws, and then near the end ask for more money. Tell him to give you a list with invoices of all the expenses. Ask why were they more than expected. If you don't agree, pay him for what work has been done and get someone else to finish.  

Interest rates, housing cost, insurance, maintenance, and materials have risen beyond rental prices. This has made cash flowing impossible unless you put a significate amount down. Then your ROE will go down considerably. Alternative safe investments such as CD's and bonds are closing the gap with real estate. It's not worth the hassle and risk to get an extra 2% ROI.

Just 5 years ago you could pretty much buy anything within reason and it would have been a good investment. Not so much now.

Classic professional tenant behavior. They think they can use the deposit for the last month's rent. Unfortunately there isn't much you can do. You can sue them but it likely won't get you anything. 

 I agree with you Mitchell. In my market a $200K house will get you about $1500 after all expenses you will probably net around $1000. So that's 12K on a 200K investment for about a 6% return. Or you could take that same $200K and but in a CD at 5% and get $10K. Is that $2K a year worth all the hassle and risk of owning a property, not to me. 

Either rents need to go up or house prices need to come down. Hopefully both. For the foreseeable future I'm holding on to my rentals and just investing my cash in CDs and treasury bonds.

If you took that 150K profit you could put it in a CD to get 5% that would provide you with $625 a month in interest. Risk free and hassle free. Of course you would loose the equity you pay down and and the tax benefits of real estate.

You also need to consider that you are paying down your mortgage at a very low interest rate plus you are cash flowing and hopefully some appreciation. Your total ROI is going to be hard to beat elsewhere.