All Forum Posts by: Justin Johnson

@Patrick Pierre, the one kiddo I got to meet yesterday was super sweet and well behaved.  Last minute things do come up for sure!  When they both were as willing to have her go through the same process of applying and vetting as the original tenant, I felt a tiny bit better.  She filled out the application about 5 minutes after I emailed it to her.

@Brianna Reynolds, agreed!  He is young and I think that he was renting from a family member for the last 5 years (since his graduation) so...possibly he has never had to rent from a landlord/lady other than his family.  Yes, I did verify that the point of contact that he gave me for his previous landlady was the owner of the property.

@Aaron Maravilla, thank you!  I will pick this book up today and read it.

Thank you all for your advise, tips, and input in general.  I will post again as the saga continues...

@Jim Shepard, yes, absolutely I do both background/credit checks!  She was more than happy to go through the application process and we got to have a little stand up meeting yesterday when she came to show her mum the place.  She is a very nice, sweet lady and I felt 10 times better after talking to her, her mum, and meeting one of her kiddos.

@Tom O., I screened her and am currently putting her on the lease.  She has a good job at a good company here.  I am also all about saving money and having a roommate is definitely a good way for people to save money and hopefully have less issue paying rent with the two incomes.

@Kevin S. I definitely did not want anyone living here that was not on the lease.  Someone visiting, that's okay, but if you're here more than 10 days and you get your mail here, you're either on the lease or everyone's out.

@Brianna Reynolds, I have a section that defines guests and the length of stay before they are considered a tenant, but not one that states how often guests can stay.  There is a falsification clause, too, thankfully.

@Todd Powell, I was extremely critical and as thorough as I could be with background/credit/google and social media with her.  

Noted, @Nathan Fisher, thank you!

@Theresa Harris, there is a clause in the lease about long term "visitors" only being allowed to stay for 10 days before being considered a tenant.  There is nothing about roommates being disallowed, but have to have my approval for said roommates.  He says that the kids probably won't be there that often, so I am thinking that she does not have sole/full custody of the children.  Like I said, I'm going to sleep on it tonight and then talk to both of them tomorrow.

Thank you, the two of you have helped me think about this a little more clear headed.

Thanks, @David Clay, I have no problem with roommates or them having children, but the fact that it is last minute.  Drive-bys?  I'm house-hacking this one with him! :-D  Originally, before I got angry, I was trying to think about it as him helping someone out, and I honestly think that he is, that is what I keep telling myself...just the feeling of getting lied to, even unintentionally, burns me up inside faster than anything.  I am going to sleep on it, call the original tenant and talk to him and his roommate.  After that, I will *still* do all of the checks and call references on the new roommate.

Thank you again.  

@Theresa Harris he would be paying the rent, but from time to time she would pay him a little to stay here with him.  So, even though we have already signed a lease agreement between myself and the original tenant, I could still say "nope, sorry, find another place"?  This is what has me in a wad right now.  Even after we signed it, I can cancel it?

@David Clay I did all of the background checks and credit and he came out good, that is why I accepted HIM.  Yesterday he comes and tells me that he's going to have a roommate that will pay him rent, but he can cover the rent himself, she would just pay him a little.  His income, verified, will cover everything; however, the lease that we have signed already states that he, the "Resident along with the following other Occupants: *None* being all the allowed and
authorized Residents and Occupants of the Premises" as well as my hard pass on sub-letting: "This Lease may not be assigned by Resident nor can Resident sub-let the Premises (including temporary or vacation rentals to third parties)."  I am in the same boat with you about this and just wanting to say "NO" to both of them at this point.  2 weeks you could've come to me and say "hey, I have a roommate", not 3 days before.

I am taking my time and trying to be cool headed, but I'm leaning very heavily towards just pulling the plug on this deal!

So, I have a tenant that is moving in on 2020-10-01 and we have already gone through the whole pre-screening, interview, application process, background/credit check, signing the lease agreement, everything was great.  The lease is signed between him and myself.  In our initial walk though/interview, I asked if there was going to be anyone with him and he said "no, just me" and 3 days before he is scheduled to move in he tells me about his roommate that he's been talking to, "telling her what's up", and her 2 kids.  He mentioned she would pay him rent and he would pay me.  I told him that I do not allow sub-letting and I would have to approve her anyway and her name would have to be on the lease.  I have no idea what to do in this situation.  I'm frustrated and I need a little advise from some more seasoned investors on how to handle this.

I've had them reapply for the property so that I could create a new lease with her name and her kids names listed.  Any advise would be appreciated.  Learning experience and I'm trying to learn all I can :-)

@Jamie Kammers definitely worth the money to upgrade. I did 90% of my analysis using the Pro Tools on BP.

I think the advice you got early of thinking about the cost of NOT doing a deal is great. I just did the analysis, once I found the place that made sense and cash flowed after expenses, I just trusted the numbers and went for it and stopped thinking. I can't tell you how great it felt to finally put into action all the plans that I'd spent making for the last 20+ months.

Breathe, calm down, trust the numbers, and remember you have all of BP to help you out on the way (even when you freak out like I did :-) )

@Kevin Bevillard congrats on your first rental!! when I find another property, in going to look at the travel nurse rentals for the unit I am currently living in.

@Kincaid Ryken "Set For Life" https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/set-for-life-paperback-ultimate

This, I would say, is a must read for just about anyone