All Forum Posts by: Derek Kreps

I was wondering if anyone has any guidance on this and if it's as simple as I'm thinking. We've got a room in the back of our house that is unfinished and isn't currently counting towards our total sq footage. It used to be a garage (detached 2 car was added prior to when we bought), and is a mix of a shop room and a laundry room is connected. My thoughts, hire a contractor to connect the ductwork to get HVAC linked with this room which SHOULD mean we get to add this portion (approx 250 sq ft). Has anyone else done this before and from a flip perspective, how did that extra space impact your ultimate value? Home values are around $150/sq ft in our area, so this seems like a no brainer for a relatively simple and inexpensive project. Anything I'm not thinking of?

Thanks for the quick response Hannah. The current lease ends 6/30/18 - and I haven't gotten the rent payment for the month of June. So that shouldn't be an issue in keeping the deposit and using as his rent. I will be doing some research on PMs.

Hey everybody! I own a rental home (old primary residence) in Illinois, but I now live in Florida. I manage the property myself due to ROI constraints. We are on the last month of my tenant's 2nd year. He notified me a few months back that he wouldn't be renewing and we have been in contact sporadically since. With a little over 2 weeks left in June, I am not getting any responses from him. He hasn't paid his rent (I have his deposit), but my worry is he has up and left and I am trying to find out the best way to deal with this being from out of state. I have a Illinois Notice to Quit form printed out and I plan on overnighting this to the property today via certified mail. A few questions - what if he is not at the property? Does FedEx just leave the package at the door? The form I printed also contains a Certificate of Service, does this need to be stamped by a notary? If he doesn't pay, will I be required to fly back to Illinois to get access to the home? Would hiring a property manager at this point help in dealing with this current issue? This stinks. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I am a young professional looking into buying my first rental in the Orlando area. Preferably a single family home or duplex. At this point I am primarily looking to learn from someone who has done it before or is currently in search of a deal. The main questions I have are related to financing, where to look and what types of mortgages would be possible for a buy and hold? What are some companies that are reputable in the area? I am good with finance and in determining if something is a good deal on paper, just need to get hands on to see how the process would entail. PM me if someone would like to inform me and get some good karma!