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All Forum Posts by: Destin E. Thomas

Destin E. Thomas has started 6 posts and replied 29 times.

Post: Bad Neighbors scaring away prospective Tenants!

Destin E. Thomas
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Posts 30
  • Votes 7

Hi Karl B., yes I've definitely been tracking the good & bad times to do showings based on when they're out front the most, so for sure trying to take advantage of that at least! Thanks!

Post: Bad Neighbors scaring away prospective Tenants!

Destin E. Thomas
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Posts 30
  • Votes 7

Hi Marian Smith, you make a good point about the sign out front and taking advantage of the familiarity of the neighborhood, and I just started letting other neighbors know that I will give a referral fee of about $200 if they refer someone and that person gets approved. But I like the familiarity viewpoint and will add that to my toolbox/tricks-of-the-trade going forward. Thanks!

Post: Bad Neighbors scaring away prospective Tenants!

Destin E. Thomas
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Posts 30
  • Votes 7

Thanks for the kind words, guidance, and advice Mike Hern! It is much appreciated. Just wish it wasn't such an overly frustrating situation for my first investment property, but I respect and value your opinion and I thank you for the time to show me some of the ropes :-) take care and wish me luck!

Post: Bad Neighbors scaring away prospective Tenants!

Destin E. Thomas
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Posts 30
  • Votes 7

Hi Mike Hern,

I know it may sound like I’m being judgmental, but I’m honestly not. To answer your questions:

> Yes, they are working on their cars frequently, not in bad condition, just usually double or tripled parked in the middle of the street (I wish they would once just stay on the porch);

> I don’t know how long they’ve been there, but I’m going to inquire with the other neighbors;

> I know the house is owned by their older parents and they just stay with them. They bump their music ridiculously loud on a frequent basis (at an obviously disturbing level) and occasionally into the night. I feel bad for their elderly parents having to put up with that disrespect in their own home!

> I assure you the words “quiet enjoyment” are not in their vocabulary. In addition to the constant loud music, they speed their cars and motorcycles up and down the street regularly too.

> My next move is to walk over and talk to them with a “peace” offering goodie-bag or something and let them know I’m trying to rent out the unit. However, that even feels unethical because I know if I was renting this place and locked myself into a lease thinking I’m in a nice quiet neighborhood and the next day all this crap comes “out of nowhere” I’d be pretty pissed.

I promise I’m not venting, just would rather focus on solutions. I’ll just have to plow through and see what I can figure out, thanks.

Post: Bad Neighbors scaring away prospective Tenants!

Destin E. Thomas
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Posts 30
  • Votes 7

Hi John Teachout, yes I've literally had prospects come in excited about the unit (it's been fully renovated so I'm confident it's not the condition, and it has a security fence surrounding the unit for safety), they walk back to their car, and later that night I get a message to my phone from them saying, "my family agrees with me that the neighbors across the street are a concern...they're thinking it's not safe" or "I don't know what's up with those people across the street but I need to protect my little girl"... these are literal messages I've gotten :-/ 

Post: Bad Neighbors scaring away prospective Tenants!

Destin E. Thomas
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Posts 30
  • Votes 7

Hi Jay Hinrichs, yeah those are some good ideas that I was considering as well as I'm all about transparency, so that might help for sure, thanks!

Post: Bad Neighbors scaring away prospective Tenants!

Destin E. Thomas
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Posts 30
  • Votes 7

Hello BP community, I purchased my first rental property (a duplex) a few months ago and I'm trying to rent out one of the units (I'm househacking), but the neighbors directly across the street are like those wanna-be gangsters that hang outside in their front yard all day and literally it's scaring away all my prospective tenants (SUPER annoying!).

It's actually a good neighborhood and really developing, but it's just this one house that is making renting out the unit almost impossible.

I've thought of a couple ideas, but instead of trying to reinvent the wheel I'm curious to hear from others who have gone through this similar situation and what you were able to do to "fix it" to get a unit rented. I'm now going on 2 months vacant and can't keep affording to pay the PITI on my own. Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Post: Looking to House Hack a Duplex in Southern California

Destin E. Thomas
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Posts 30
  • Votes 7
Originally posted by @Peter Mckernan:

@Destin E. Thomas yeah, the off market deals are good to look at especially when the market is this hot. The one key piece to this is that even with those off market deals, they get spread thin between being a deal and selling for top dollar in markets like this one. My experience is the seller either lists the property with a traditional agent, or has a wholesaler send out an email blast for the property at top market value.

Yeah man you're right, guess I'll just have to keep being as creative as I can and just find something that works. I'm going to incorporate a few of the strategies (driving for dollars, direct mailing, those that fall out of escrow, etc.) and keep grinding it out until something hits. Thanks again Peter!

Post: Looking to House Hack a Duplex in Southern California

Destin E. Thomas
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Posts 30
  • Votes 7
Originally posted by @Chris Collins:

The FHA financing on an offer could be a non-starter to some sellers. You may want to try targeting properties that have fallen out of escrow at least once and offering a high earnest deposit and/or appraisal gap to show you're serious. I'm up in LA, but I've been seeing a few duplexes in your price range go in and out of escrow. They all need work/rent increases, but not necessarily a full rehab.

Yeah I hear ya about the FHA, which in my situation though I'm actually well-qualified it's just hard to get the 20-25% down payment that a lot of lenders are requiring, so FHA seemed the most viable route at this time. But yeah you're right, I've seen a lot of properties popping in and out of escrow so I've been keeping a list of the ones I'm keeping my eye on. I've been using the traditional 3% EMD amount and the appraisal gap kind of falls into the down payment category since the lender would eventually make me pay for the difference anyway. I feel/sound like I'm making excuses, and I'm really not, it's just been so hard to find anything lately. But I'll take your advice as well and keep a look out for the ones that fall out of escrow too and see what happens. Thanks for the input Chris!

Post: Looking to House Hack a Duplex in Southern California

Destin E. Thomas
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Posts 30
  • Votes 7
Originally posted by @Andreis Bergeron:

Hi Destin,

Is your main issue that you can't find a solid property, or is it that people keep overbidding you? These are both common issues for many people right now. Happy to connect and chat more about it with you.

Thanks.

Dre

Hi Dre,

Yes, both. My agent and I have been putting in offers that get outbid by those offers going well over asking (as you mentioned), so just starting to look off-market as well now on any potential leads. Thanks for reaching out!