All Forum Posts by: Curt McClements

@Russell Pitts

I like your plan! I have invested in 2 duplexes in the past year in Puyallup (it's a place I've lived for 30 years, so I'm very familiar). It is a great "bedroom" community for the south sound. Demand for rentals is crazy right now and property values have been climbing. I'm sure that applies to the other areas mentioned here as well.

Sounds like a great plan! I agree with @Brady Winder regarding interest rates though. I have purchased 2 non owner occupied duplexes in Puyallup in the last year or so, and haven't been able to get an interest rate lower than 4.25%. Good luck with your project!

If tenants are a problem then yes, now would be the time to make the move. I read, "Sellers don't want to deal with tenants or negotiate anything with them and spelled it out in the contract" as the sellers just want to sell and not do any extra work as part of the sale. Which ever way it is would be clear to Justin.

I'm not seeing where @Justin Owens said the current tenants are being a pain. Once you take ownership, you should meet with them and have them sign a lease that is either month-to-month, or for a specified period of time. A lease covers much more than the rent amount. It covers payment terms, pet policies, smoking policies etc. If they don't agree to any of your terms, you can give them notice. You can try to get them to sign a one year lease with the rent amount increased by $100 per month. But it's more likely that they'd want to continue with month-to-month with an increase like that.

@Catherine German

Welcome to the forums! Do you refer any of your maintenance contractors to others who self-manage (like myself)? Or is that something that's not in the best interest of your business (which I would completely understand)?

Enjoy your time on this site! There's a ton of useful information here!

Curt

Thanks @Account Closed, I'll check it out.

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to prepare for the eventual need to replace the carpet in one of my rentals. What is a reasonable cost per yard installed? Does anyone in the Puyallup, Wa area have a recommendation for a place to purchase and an installer? Thanks!

@Tim Ball

I have one duplex and just closed on my second. I was considering opening a second set of accounts, but have decided to keep my one rental checking and one rental savings (for deposits) for the time being. We'll see how it goes.

I've been using truerent.com to track everything. It's free and pretty straight forward. It generated reports that I used at tax time. I use QuickBooks for a small business and it's way too much work (for me) to set up to use for the rentals. And it's expensive.

Good Luck!

@Alex Chin

You're right! I am not figuring in vacancy or repairs. PITI is $1620 / month on my first duplex. Rental income is $2615. I'm expecting similar numbers for the new one. I did put a large amount down, and that's why the numbers are good. Both duplexes are newer and so far, repairs have been minimal.

@Matthew Richey

The monthly rent is $2850 total. Cash flow is about $1,000 per month (I put 25% down). I purchased the other one last year for $315k. It is a little older and needs occasional repairs. The cash flow is also about $1,000 per month.