All Forum Posts by: Dan Shelhamer

@Sai T. Yup.  The other day I got "my dad has an eviction because the property he was living in lost so much value, he stopped paying rent"  Some of these leave you speechless.

@Alex Deacon  Thank you for your responses!  I definitely have learned to take whatever a tenant says with a grain of salt.  The one question I had with them not knowing they had an eviction, is that even possible?  How could someone not know an eviction was filed against them, and on top of it, be allowed to live there for another 2 years! Doesn't seem to add up.  

I always use mysmartmove for the BG checks, ask for last years W2's, call references, last 2 months bank statements & last 2 months pay stubs.  I try to screen them the same way a lender screens myself & then some!

Have 2 of my rentals listed right now for rent, and I have come across a few questions from prospective tenants.  I wanted to get other investor's take on these comments below.  Thanks!

"I just found out I had an eviction from 3 years ago, I paid and stayed there another 2 years..."

"There will be 3 adults on this lease, and 1 of them has had an eviction before..."

"I don't have much of a credit score because I just started building credit, but my income is over what you require..."

"I have 2 birds, do you charge a pet fee for the birds..."

@Bob Okenwa thank you for the info!  What do you mean by "community property state"?  Also, I see that you live in AZ, and we plan to move to the suburbs of Phoenix in about 12-15 months.  Is it different out there?

I've been looking around the Gilbert/Chandler, Peoria/Glendale, & Scottsdale areas.  How do you like Peoria?

I will be getting married in a month, and would like to make sure I am setting us up for the best possible situation with our investing going forward.  I currently own our primary home in my name, as well as 3 investment properties in my name.  I understand that each person can get up to 10 conventional loans in your name.  However does that change when you get married?  Does having a home in my name, also count as a loan in my wife's name?  Can she have 10 loans in her name as well if she takes my last name, or would she have to keep her last name in order to do that?  Thank you for any and all advice!

I am currently looking for a licensed and insured General Contractor who would work in the Round Lake Beach area (Northern Suburbs) in Illinois.  I am looking at homes that need a full gut, and currently have 1 bid from a non-licensed contractor.  Unfortunately, the lender won't finance the deal unless they are licensed and insured.  Thanks!

I have a friend who's an investor in Kenosha, and has 20+ properties now.  He doesn't screen any tenants, and said he hasn't had any issues thus far.  Is that a common thing in that area to not screen tenants?  His properties seem to perform very well, as they are mostly multi-family performing at around 2.5-3% Income-Expense Ratio.  I am investing in Round Lake Beach (IL) currently, and seeing great returns, but am considering partnering up with him on a few deals since the returns seem to be amazing.  Just wondering how much risk/stress landlords in Kenosha are seeing?  Thanks.

@Bill Gulley,

Thank you for the input. From the research I have done, I would like to setup an LLC to protect myself and not be personally liable if a tenant or anyone for that matter decided to sue for some reason. After speaking with our accountants and doing research in general, is how we decided that we should form an LLC so as we buy properties we can put them into the LLC. Right now I have 2 rental properties, and my goal in the next 2.5 years is to have 20+ units, and a 15 year goal of having 100+ units. I also have an umbrella policy on my own assets as well. I currently have an LLC setup for a separate business. I guess I am looking for what provides the most protection while also being cost effective. Thank you, and please let me know if I left anything out.