All Forum Posts by: Emilio Garibaldi Jr

I have 1 rental property currently which i am refinancing to take $40,000 from to have cash on hand. My problem is i have a car payment that i make from a divorce for $300 monthly. I owe roughly $10,000 with a 7.99 interest rate on the car and if i continue to make payments on it will have it paid off in less than 3 years. I am not sure if it is a smart decision to use part of the $40,000 to pay off that car and just put the payments into the new mortagage for the next 10 or 15 years or just continue to make the car payment and use that total amount of money im getting for the down payment for my next 1 or 2 investments. What i'm trying to ask is does it make sense to trade off 2-3 years of payments for 10-15 years of lower payments just to get rid of the bill or just use the entire money for my investments?.

Thank you in advance

-Emilio

@Dane C Allen Thank you for responding.  The interest rate on the car is 7.99. And yes i would be investing in more real estate. I just dont know if it is worth using 10,000 of that money to pay the car off.

I have 1 rental property currently which i am refinancing to take $40,000 from to have cash on hand. My problem is i have a car payment that i make from a divorce for $300 monthly. I owe roughly $10,000 on the car and if i continue to make payments on it will have it paid off in less than 3 years. I am not sure if it is a smart decision to use part of the $40,000 to pay off that car and just put the payments into the new mortagage for the next 10 or 15 years or just continue to make the car payment and use that total amount of money im getting for the down payment for my next 1 or 2 investments. What i'm trying to ask is does it make sense to trade off 2-3 years of payments for 10-15 years of lower payments just to get rid of the bill or just use the entire money for my investments?.   

Thank you in advance

-Emilio

That is a good point @Joseph M. I knew i needed to eventually do one just didn't know when would be a good time. AC filter is a good strategy thank you for that.

Hello, everyone,

I used the suggestion of @Peter M. and a few others that some of you had. I explained to her in a concerned and genuine tone that the lawn could not be let go and it was written in the lease that it would be taken care of by them. I understood that he no longer was living there and she no longer had access to a riding mower. I explained that i use to have a law service that cut the lawn twice a month for $60, and that if she would like to use that service. I also gave her the option of paying for half the service for one month, just to get the yard cleared then if she would be able to handle it from there. I also explained that if the yard continued on without being cut i would be fined by the county and would have to charge her those fees. I mentioned that this was a partnership and i want to see her succeed in keeping the property stellar because i knew thats how she wanted her and her kids to live in a beautiful home and a well kept lawn for them to play on. (I tried to easy the tension of what could have been a rough situation). She agreed and said that it would stretch her a bit to also add lawn service to her bill, also she stated she was speaking with a co worker who could either bring their riding mower over and she would work out a deal with them. I said that the grass would have to be cut by the weekend and i would need to be notified otherwise we would have to go with one of the other options. As it is my first rental i am still learning the ropes and as @Chris Szepessy stated she has always paid the rent on time without issue now for over 6 months and it woudl really hurt to lose a good paying tenant, so i wanted to come to an even ground which i knew i should have done from the begining and will do from now on is include lawn service with the property ad include that in the rent. I really hope that she follows through this week i will keep everyone posted on that. I am also trying to rememeber that this is a business and i need to be more firm on what was written on the lease regardless because it will come back to haunt me later if i am too easy on it. I am working on getting the funding for a duplex now and i need to get a grasp on certain things to make them easier for me in the long run. Including lawn care in my leases from now on i think is the way to go, especially here in Florida in the rainy season. 

Thank you for all your suggestions.

-Emilio

I thank you all for the feedback.  I will take all of your input and make my decision tonight on how i will go forward with this. This is my first rental and it use to be my home, I am trying to rememeber that this is a business and to not have emotional connection to it, but it still is my asset and i don't want to see it go down the drain. I am glad I chose to confide in the biggerpockets community, you guys have helped me and gave me some things to reevaluate on how i rent to tenants.

Thank you once again

-Emilio

Yes, It is on the lease that they were suppose to cut the grass. He is no longer on the lease and the children are young. The lot requires a riding lawnmower that she no longer has.  

So say i speak to her and she says she is unable to cut the grass and unable to afford the lawncare which in my part of town runs between 50-80 a month should i send her a violation as @Peter M. and @Colleen F. has stated?.  I'm just trying to understand what my next move should be and what my answer would be to her rebuddle of not having the funds to afford it.

Thank you

-Emilio

This is my first rental property and trying to learn the ropes. I would appreciate any feedback.

The property is rented for 1200 a month. Husband, wife and 3 kids.  They are getting divorced and husband has moved out. In the lease, they were responisble for certain items such as the maintaining of the lawn, the husband use to cut the grass with the riding lawnmower because the propery is close to an acre. Lawn has not been cut in over a month and this is rainy season in Florida. I am thinking that the property might be too much for the wife to handle by herself. My question is how should i approach this.

1. Eat the cost of lawn service myself.

2. Explain to tenant lawn is in the lease as being taken care of by them (which i believe she might not be able to afford lawn service).

3. Have the lawn cut just this once and tell her to up keep it from here on out. 

4. Give her some type of ultimatum.  

As i said this is my first rental and i am learning as i go. I want to approach this the right way but am conflicted on how.  I would greatly appreciate some thoughts on this issue.  

Thank you in advance.

-Emilio