All Forum Posts by: Diane S.

as a new agent you need to decide where you will hang your license,(broker), you dont work on your own, part of the idea is than an experienced agent will over see you and help you work,there are many companies out there, interview with a few, let them talk, most would rather hear themselves anyway, steer clear of more independents that boast letting you keep more, not for newbees, i started out with national chains till going to remax after many years, the chains will will have additional training for you, I also mentored two other agents after hitting elite status on nationals, be ready to give some of commission for mentoring, dont volunteer it up front, you will have many fees to pay starting out, sometimes you can also be an assistant to a major agent too, you will list thru a multiple listing service that other agents used to find houses, public too, they cost also for membership, on your own you cant list on craigs and do open houses, there are some who only list and some who only sell, and some inbetween, if you are lucky enough to get both sides, suggest you get someone else to take buyers side for transaction if you have iron clad relationship, or stay neutral, some list only to take buyers elsewhere, one house one sale, one house many buyers, what ever you do stay intouch with listings, plus with national agency lots of experience, lots of ads, national website, referrals,traing avail if you got in this to work from home and make a large commission right away you got sold, fees will eat you up, sales take time, money and experience, some get in it to buy their own, that is an option too, do lots of phone time, stay friendly with all in office, avoid politics of all kinds, do rentals to pay the fees, they can  turn into buyers, expect to make first listing within 3-6 months, sale 6 months, till up to speed, my standard was 2 of each a month, some more some less depend on season, can tell you stories.... doing floor time once had buyer walk in, said wanted to spend no more than 2, turns out was million, no one wanted to do floor time, also my first listing was a real frank loyd wright home, other agents would me give their rental lookers, be willing for all, I worked in area of NJ where a famous golf course is, was one of few that belonged to all 3 mls, so had advantage, a $1500 corp rental relocation will some day buy, get to know the relo person, we used to give nice gifts to clients, make it something they will see everyday not flowers or candy

had a client that had a tenant do this, never pay till work done, or increments, have a secondary that can check if out of state, sounds like bad blood between you for some reason, dont think was drugs, looks pretty competent at what he was doing, but may have been staying there, some pretty get pretty bitter, get property manager, would be cheaper and vet better long distance

the gc doing a walk thru is about giving you an estimate for work, imo should be free, if you are looking for purchase, hire inspector than has no game in finding repairs, you could then throw out for bids on repairs

what it sounds like you are asking is illegal in many ways, section 8 laws, local laws, duel contract laws that conflict, there always has been also those out there looking to catch you breaking them,  avoid it, dont offer it, dont entertain it, there is leeway up if the tenant meets certain conditions, say need 1 floor rental, if not rent may be inflated over realistic market, which is what rented at not listed at, keeping in mind sec 8 market rents also include utilities paid, you can usually reach by email fastest, they have set chart, heat type, neighborhood etc, more than listings found online

the rent may go down a bit but will across board, if you screen the same,  a tenant will not move up or down based on rent alone, remember reasons for changes, some incomes may not recover so will be more demand at bottom, and even if rent deferred, payment histories still there there just may be more hard choices to make, if you cant adjust for 10% your numbers are too tight, I am looking at 4 sfh unit, mortgage $500, setting each rent at $400 at 75% occupancy still show over 100% profit, can rent for more but want long term, may rent for more for sec 8 senior, looking good now as guaranteed rent paid, all 1br homes

the 8k I would assume is late fees etc, try cash for keys, he give cash(check) day tenant out, if eviction process could delay sale and lower sales price, I would not buy owner occupant with tenant in, or eviction pending,public record, would sell as if foreclosure, and if wants to rent out would make property have bad record, you dont care if they rent new or move in with family but must be out with walk thru, move in next day, yes self for couple days on air mattress, change locks, he can say has been rerented, do landlords truely do their own taxes or use online sites or have good accountants for write offs and costs?

there are more than one section 8 program, the one most will run into is the hcv one, that is used by housing authorities and the va, it sets a % that the tenant can afford base on income , roughly 30% to 3.5 income , sometimes more or less, the authority pays the difference, so the tenant will qualify based on your income standards, the program states you dont have to take it,as well as you dont have to take a person of color or nationality, but you cant turn down because of that, and that is what they are getting to, you cant use it as a sole reason to deny, in many states and localities they go further to define that, there are many testers out there, be warned, and a lawsuit will be against government, they even recoup their legal fees, so putting it out there or any questionable wording is inviting scrutiny, might as well be saying no children, you may get by one time or two but guideline is advertise the property, not the tenant you want in it or dont want, more and more states are making it law, and I wouldnt want to be their test case, HUD does view it as discrimination, if they have sec 8 because a disablity, but you cant ask that, best way to fight a lawsuit is if you do have a "good" sec 8 tenant just dont make it a qualify factor, the housing for returning veterans is hcv section 8, do you want to be the landlord that turned away war hero? PR from hell, he may be on section 8 waiting on disablility, also that section 8 (vash) puts a socialworker inside the home every month to check on living conditions, paying bills etc, more than you can with regular tenant, they have more backup if they lose their job too, their amount to pay is much lower than reg tenant if they get behind and it may affect their va benefits, look for veterans and meet your sec8 that way, they wont have entire family moving in, sw checks, again rule of thumb only advertise the unit not the tenant

Your room at usc was probably licensed and zoned as such, building a duplex would be zoned as such and expect single familys per unit or family units, many students sub rent or co rent but many zoning prohibits if pressed, check zoning about non families occupying same unit longer than 30 days, may need a tenant such as usc or a non profit to be master tenant and responsible, then subs are guests, when you say homeless are you looking for a government fund to pay rents? different rules besides zoning there added some links  

http://hrcsf.org/sro-issues/

https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/sro/sro-laws-and-regulations/

first when you buy any property with a tenant in place make sure you get the security deposit they gave previous landlord, they will be wanting it back, if they can not get anything back will have no reason not to trash place or cause you more expenses, that being said offer immediate refund if a walk through at a certain date empty. pictures, check off list, some fees will be disputable if not in original lease, well worth writing off, some state require you to keep existing tenants unless owner occupied. If you are going to rent out anyway offer them new lease what is reason for evicting, dont take PM word on everything checks laws in state, if they draw out or play hard ball you could lose more than the fees owed now. Some leases have an auto renew clause, you may have to honor their original till you get them to sign new or give you official notice that vacating, just get them to put that in writing, what state is it in?

One big mistake landlords make is over pricing or not targeting your market, look at rentals for homes in area, not just neighborhood, you wont get much more for 5br then 3 because demand is slower in rentals of that size. If property sits vacant can you absorb loss or would it make sense to drop 100 and get occupied, ie how much are you losing to get more. Is it rented furnished?, then get furnishing out of picture, take pictures to appeal to tenant. Would you consider short term, check with local realtors who might have clients building or corporate relos. Nix the 3 times bit in ad and other stuff save it for application, in this range it is insulting, save that for starter rentals, maybe offer yard maintenance or club included things that would appeal to a professional also cooling says other, no central air? that and all appliances a must have in range, market room sizes or amenities