All Forum Posts by: Josh Dillingham

I agree that you didn't do anything wrong and shouldn't be worried about. as long as you purchased the property with intent to occupy you are fine. unforseen circumstances arose that caused you to move. is it an FHA loan? I know there are clauses in FHA loans that allow for this.

sounds like a no brainer to me. even if you could refi, spending $6k up front with a $200 monthly reduction in mortgage it would take you nearly 2 1/2 years to break even on the refi and on top of that you would still be negative cash flow once you consider repairs capex, ect. all that being said it sounds like you are still in a good position considering you could sell and have a nice pay day to reinvest. don't think twice, sell. and when it comes looking for another air bnb just remember you could be going through this all over again in a couple years when the new city you buy in shuts down air bnb as well. make sure the next place you buy will cash flow as a long term rental as well as a short term rental that way you won't find yourself in this bind again.

@Breandan Garland just read through this post then realized it was brought back from the dead after 4 years. would be interested to hear what you decided to so and where you are with your investing 4 years later! I live in Brattleboro, Vermont not too far from you, and took a similar path to what you were discussing. bought a 3-unit property 2 years ago with a 3.5% down FHA loan. it's been great for learning how to be a landlord and learning how to do home repairs and renovations at my own pace.

I agree with @Thomas S., things are only likely to get worse from here.  At this point any proposed resolution is likely to fail (billing him directly for repairs, filling the tank yourself then adding it to his rent) because the bottom line is he doesn't have the money.  Not to mention that if he can't fill his oil tank it's only a matter of time before he has a minor unexpected expense that leaves him short on rent money, then you'll be on the hook for much larger losses.  stop the bleeding now and consider yourself that much more prepared to avoid this situation in the future.

Originally posted by @Joe Splitrock:

The tenant they interviewed says her house is infested with rats, mice and cockroaches. In a single family home, pest control is usually a tenants responsibility. Or she could withhold a couple hundred bucks from rent to pay an exterminator. A judge in Minneapolis isn't going to evict her if it was the landlords responsibility. The lady also claims to have fallen down the stairs and that there is no railing, but the photo directly below shows a railing.

I don't like slumlords, but let's all agree there may be more to this story. Like who knows how many of these people are even paying rent at this point.

this article diffentely slants towards the whole "big bad landlord" angle, I like where it says "a landlord once tried to evict her for not paying rent." instead of saying "she has been evicted in the past for not paying rent."  That being said, the fact that the city has issued over 1000 citations on his 42 properties tells me he's not exactly Landlord of the year.

@Anthony Gayden Good question, seems a lot cheaper than appealing all the way to the supreme court...

Originally posted by @Shawn Clark:

Originally posted by @Josh Dillingham:

@Shawn Clark I'm not sure. looking at it again, it's actually 4.375%  It's a small local bank and my credit score is over 800, but that's a big difference if the going rate for investment properties is actually 5.125% right now.  They definitely are aware it is a rental property.

 Did you pay any points to get the lower rate? That's a gem of a bank if you can get that for a rental property.

 I had to pay 1 point just for the loan itself. I could have paid 1 additional point and got the rate down to 4.25%

@Patrick Ng 25% down is standard for a 30 year fixed investment property of 1-4 units as far as I know. If you were going to house hack you could get an FHA for as little as 3.5% down. You could ask the seller if they would be willing to carry a note on the property for a certain percentage which could lower your up front out of pocket cost. for instance if they were willing to carry 10% over a 15 years at 6% interest and would give them a monthly paycheck, and give you a little extra cash in hand.

Anybody looking for rental properties (or tenants) in Minneapolis? there might be a portfolio coming on the market...

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/12/22/lack-of-affordable-housing-has-tenants-fighting-to-stay

@Shawn Clark I'm not sure. looking at it again, it's actually 4.375%  It's a small local bank and my credit score is over 800, but that's a big difference if the going rate for investment properties is actually 5.125% right now.  They definitely are aware it is a rental property.