All Forum Posts by: Dave Atwal

Hello,

Is there a comprehensive rental property inspection checklist that you've used for periodic inspections? I googled a few websites and didn't find something that was simple, crisp and thorough.

I'd like to send something ahead of time to the tenant.

I do see a lot of move-in/move-out checklist, but not much for periodic rental inspections.

Thanks!

Not to be-labor the point, but why is it that managing your own properties opens you up to tremendous liability?

I've changed 2 property managers in past 3 years and both treated the property as 'just a number' - so I decided to take it into my own hands and stay on top of repairs and tenant issues.

Thanks.

Thanks Costin, and some of the bigger pockets community for their inputs/opinions.

I'll look into available avenues for asset protection.

Thanks Costin for the pointer to the book (and the flow chart).

To answer you Q's: I manage my properties myself.

A couple of follow-on Q's: a) Can you elaborate on "you guys in CA are different kind of special"? And how do you propose to "separate out asset holding from operations side" ?

Thanks!

Thank you all for your prompt replies and your inputs. Much appreciated.

With the collective wisdom of Bigger Pocket experts, I was trying to determine if I was missing some asset protection strategy that is standard with landlords..

Thanks again!

Problem is I'm being told that Umbrella policies have loop-holes and even LLC protection can be broken. So, it's not going to be 'all-encompassing'.

I did get a HELOC approved on one of the properties but have not used it (since the Northern California market is too hot to buy any more real estate).

I have 5 rentals. All paid-off. They total upto $1.5 million of rental assets.

How do I do asset protection against any lawsuits, especially in a tenant-friendly state like California.

Actions Taken:

- I have broken them down to 2 LLCs (3 properties in one LLC, and 2 in another).

- I have Umbrella policy of $2 million.

Ideally, I'd like to have 1 LLC per property but California LLC are one of the most expensive in the country.

Can really use your help and inputs!

Thanks, Dave