All Forum Posts by: Dave Versch

Check with your current mortgage company about the "due on sale clause". Some banks have them, some don't. Those that do sometimes don't enforce them, but I wouldn't take that chance personally.

This could not be further from the truth. You should use an LLC, but managing the property yourself puts you more personally at risk than having a property manager. The more "passive" your ownership (you don't get involved in the day-to-day business), the more likely your LLC protection is to hold up in court.

With regard to insurance, try Foremost. They do landlord insurance all the time (I've used them), and they know what they're talking about. If you go through an agent that isn't familiar with landlord policies, you'll end up paying a lot for something that doesn't offer the protection you need. The most important part of landlord insurance is liability protection. Another coverage particular to landlord policies is "loss of income". These facts might not even occur to someone who sells regular homeowner policies.

I'm developing a program that might be useful to you. It's not entirely completed yet, but you can download a pre-release from the second URL in my signature.

I'm also looking for input regarding additional features. Feel free to PM me.

Hi Albert,

With regard to the HOA dues, just raise the rent to include them (and then some, if you're really 100-150 under market).
As for the boyfriend, tell your tenant he has to be on the lease, and on the contract with Section 8. If they balk at this, it could be because the guy has already warn out his welcome with Section 8 (been reported for trashing a past apartment, etc.). If that's the case, you don't want the guy there at all, whether or not he's on the lease. Put a condition in the new lease that keeps him from staying overnight. Inform her that if she breaks this (or any) condition of the lease you will evict her and report her to Section 8. If she won't sign the lease, get another tenant. If she signs the lease and then breaks it, evict her and report her to Section 8 as promised.

My criteria for being rich are as follows:

1) I no longer have to work unless I want to
2) My retirement is secure. I've saved enough and/or made sure that I will have enough "passive" income so that my family and I can live comfortably for the rest of our lives.

It's very difficult to gauge those two things without a crystal ball, so like Ralph says, it's a lot easier knowing when you're NOT rich. I can safely say that by my own standards, I am not rich.

Of course, everything is relative. There are those who would consider themselves rich if they could always pay their bills on time and didn't have to work three jobs to make ends meet.

Found out something else interesting yesterday from the local gas company. It seems that whether or not a tenant pays his gas bill on time, the gas company MUST turn on their gas in the winter so they don't freeze to death. So what a lot of people do up there is just not pay their bill, leave the gas totally turned off from May till September, then have the gas company turn it back on for the fall and winter, at no cost to them. That's actually pretty good for the landlord (me, in this case), since you don't run the risk of your pipes bursting (assuming the units isn't vacant).

But for some reason it still pisses me off, y'know? Because like a moron, I work my *** off every day so that I can pay my gas, electricity, mortgage, taxes, etc, etc. And I know that in some way, somehow, I'm paying for this deadbeat's gas bill anyway.