All Forum Posts by: Adrian Mata

Damn, that's crazy. I want to go to IL now.

So a friend of mine has a rental property. There's only about one month left on the tenant's lease. He and the property management company have received calls from potential landlords for the tenant already giving the tenant a good reference.

The last rent check never came though. My friend inquires with his property manager and they respond, "They haven't paid us."

"What do you mean they haven't paid?"

"We can't make them pay."

"That's why I hire you."

"They're probably just going to give us the security deposit. It happens all the time on the last month of a lease."

Is this a problem or am I nitpicking? Is there any way to solve a problem like this?

I'm assuming go start the eviction process like anyone else but I'm curious to see responses.

Just as an update, it wasn't zoned properly. I called the city's department that was responsible for zoning and they said that because the building is so old that it was never zoned approriately. To be more specific, it is zoned as a commercial building but it doesn't have the adequate parking to deserve its zoning classification.

What are my options?

I could pay close to $2000 to go to some board to get it rezoned. There is no guarantee that the board would grant me the authorization. I'm out the money if they do or if they choose to decline my request. I do not have to be the owner to go through this process.

I decided not to go through with it. It's not worth it to me.

[b]It's a 4 unit. 2 of the units are apartments while the other two are commercial units. They're renting out 3 of the 4 units as apartments and the last one is for storage. I saw it online and figured it would be a good experience to take a look at it.

I met the realtor there. The property manager showed up next. She walked us around the property.

It's a brick building built in 1920. Is that too old?

The storage unit had A LOT of flies in it. She said that those would be taken care of easily though with a bomb. There was a ton of stuff everywhere from the tenants. I guess it is a storage area though. Inside the storage area, the ceiling needs to be finished. It looked like the pipes and everything was ok but the tiles need to be put in. The floors in the storage area need to be completed as well.

The other two units were ok just messy because of tenants. It's definitely a project. I couldn't see the last unit because the tenant wasn't there I guess.

I figure, I go in and rehab the storage unit and I could turn that into another unit or an office space. I'm not sure.

The realtor told me that it is zoned for commercial use and I'd have to get that rezoned. He didn't seem like he really knew anything about that though.

Sale Price: $50,000
Unit 1: $500
Unit 2: $435
Unit 3: $300

Monthly gross would be $1235

Taxes: $863 every 6 months so $1726 per year

Things I need to do and questions...

Check with a title company to see if there are liens on it. Right?
Find out the cost of utilites.
Go through with a contractor and see if I'm missing something.
Rehab the storage room and the bathroom. Probably put carpet and a ceiling in it. I have no idea how much that would cost. The manager told me that she knows contractors that she could recommend.
Is it a bad idea to go with someone she recommended?
The tenant renting for $435 has been there 4 years but the other tenants are newer. Do I just ask for deposit slips or a bank statement? Would things change since 2 out of the 3 tenants are within the last year?

I'm not a professional but to answer your question....from the rent of your tenants.

Ideally, your mortgage, taxes, and other monthly expenses would be less than your mortgage so the rest would therefore be profit.

Is it possible to be stuck in a situation as you described? Yes, absolutely. That's why you have to make sure you do your research about the property so that all the numbers fit.

As you continue to put money into getting more properties you'll start to produce more and more extra cash. This is cash that you can eat, drink, and be merry with or reinvest into more properties.

Check out things like the 2% and 50% rule. They seem like great guidelines to help.

Hi everyone.

I'm living in Indianapolis temporarily and I met a realtor yesterday at a wine tasting. After discussing my interest, she sent me a bunch of pictures of houses that are SOOOO cheap. I'm talking $20k duplexes and even as low at $6k. She said that they rent out for $500 each unit but I know I'd have to verify that. I'm just thinking that isn't that just a steal? I could buy them all cash and half the monthly revenue would be mine using the 50% rule. Right?

It's at least worth checking out right? It just seems too good to be true to me. If a house is $10k and gets $1k per month in rent, I'd pay myself back super quickly. I just feel like there's a catch. I'd appreciate any info or insight.

Thanks guys.

Hi, I'm Adrian. I've lurked on this site for a while just researching different forms of real estate. I really enjoy the community feel here. From what I've researched, landlording seems like something I'd love to try. My first goal is to get a multi-family home and live in one of the units to start. From there I want to collect more multi-family homes and someday hopefully get into apartment complexes.

I am in my 20s and still trying to figure out my career as far as a job goes. I was working in Iraq as a contractor for three years and just got back in February. I'm looking around for a job these days but also am interested in getting a better feel for real estate.

I've already learned a ton from biggerpockets and hope someday to become a big contributor.