All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

This business is not that tough. It's not like all of the applicants can see everything you are doing, and are just waiting to pounce at the first perceived slight.  As long as you aren't discriminating, always do what's best for you.

You aren't renting them a car, you're renting them your house. If you want to be sure how they will treat your house, go see how they are treating their present house.  Sorry, no shortcuts here.  It's the ONLY way to be absolutely sure you don't get this mess.  Sorry to those of you who think this is intrusive, invasion of privacy, or some other lame excuse for not doing the work required to protect yourself.  It works 100% of the time.  I don't rent to applicants if I cannot perform this check, period.

Its's kind of difficult to buy a good multi-family without people in them (one would have to question why it's empty).  I do it all of the time. In this case, it should be easy since there is only 1 tenant to assess.  What I would do is, if it is known to the tenant that the the building is for sale (so you don't ruffle any feathers...although I do this no matter what as part of my due diligence on the subject property), go interview the tenant about the state of the property, the neighborhood, the landlord...what they like, what they don't like, what changes they would like to see, ect.  Not only will you get good boots on the ground insight about your investment, but if they are toxic tenants, you'll know very quickly by the way they handle the interview.  Also, it tends to create instant good will that you care enough to ask their opinion. 

In  my state (PA), you can file for non-payment eviction, and if you win, you have 180 days in which to file for the put-out (final possession) for that judgement.  If you can get this far,  it gives you the leverage you need to get them to act while extending whatever amount of grace (time) that you feel is warranted for their plight. I'm not sure if this is an option for you.

Did you file the eviction based only on the nonpayment of rent, or on all of the above breaches?  If it was just for the rent, then, at least in my state, he would have the right to catch up and void the eviction (at least the first time...if he becomes "habitual", then it becomes up to me if he is allowed to stay if he pays).  If the eviction was filed for all of the breaches, you should be able to accept the money without voiding the eviction.

Daria- Yes, each tenant understands that they will be sharing common areas (hallways, bath, stairs, kitchen) with strangers.  I try to create a household dynamic of likable individuals that should be able to get along quite nicely, and it does appear to work well.  In the beginning of a new tenancy, both the newbie and the existing tenants are trusting me to not put them in an uncomfortable or unsafe environment.

Sorry, Jazmine- I keep track of all of my miles the old fashioned way- manually, as the day progresses.  I enter the locations into a text screen on my phone, and later, transfer them into a little ledger book.  At the end of the month, I transfer the per-property miles onto a spreadsheet for my end of year taxes ( I used to do it all at the end of the year- what a nightmare)  If challenged, my daily log will always line up with "hard" evidence like bank deposit receipts and home depot slips.

My nephew (Denver, CO) just did his first turnkey deal in Quad Cities, Iowa with the Jason Hartman properties organization. Everything went perfectly (he bought it pre-rehab) and it was tenanted immediately.  Everything was as promised and as scheduled.  House value of 85k  3/2 no garage.

Daria, I can't quite make out your first question.  As far as rent and leases, typically they are written up as week-to-week leases, and people can either pay that way, or pay for the full month up front.  When they pay monthly, it's 4x the weekly rent.  When they pay weekly, I get an extra payment every 3 mos (I like that!)

Hi Brad- I can give you my experience here in PA.  There are 3 types of zoning here, "regular rental" (just as it sounds), "regulated rental" (max 5 occupants, in rooms- typically for student type housing), and "rooming house".  Here in Allentown/Bethlehem, they do not like to re-zone something as "rooming house", as that is where they typically have the most trouble given the quality of tenants it attracts.  Also, there are regulations for parking spaces needed, and other hurdles that makes it almost impossible to buy a big old house and turn it into a rooming house (I thought about doing it for the increased cash flow until I dug into the subject a little).  People do it illegally all the time, until someone rats them out and they get shut down,  Also, I wouldn't want to have an insurance claim (especially a fire or some large liability issue) for fear that the claim would be denied once the true usage of the property was discovered by the ins. co.

  I can tell you from experience, that if you find the right setup, the cash flow is amazing.  I found an old, large half a twin (side-by-side) that had been legally converted to a 2 bdrm apt on the 1st floor, and a 5 room "regulated rental" on the 2nd and 3rd floors.  Once I upgraded the interior, and rooms, and started to attract a better quality of tenant than the previous owner, things ran smoother, people stayed longer (6 mos-1 yr), and it became a cash cow vs it's normal use as a duplex.  Hope that helps.