All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Let’s say you had a potential tenant apply to rent one of your properties. Great income at 4.7 times the monthly rent, stable career track with consistent promotions every couple of years, liquid savings equal to 18 months of rent, good 5 year rental history with favorable feedback from all prior landlords indicating all rent payments were received timely and zero damage or any other issues occurred at prior rentals.

However, the individual has a credit score of about 550 with debt that includes $10k+ in credit cards which is all past due, $30k in student loans, $30k car loan, $30k in other debt, and unpaid collections from three different businesses originating 4 years ago.

Would you rent to this individual considering they have demonstrated they consistently pay rent on time, take care of the properties they rent, and have good income & career history, or would the credit score steer you away from this individual?

I have decided to downsize from the house I currently live in which is worth $600k, to a house that is worth $350k. After selling my current house, I expect to receive enough in proceeds from the sale to pay for the new house in cash.

I’m trying to decide if I should buy the new place with cash and be totally debt free so I can commit most of my future income to purchasing rental properties, or I could put a 20% down payment on the new house on a 30 year mortgage and then have enough remaining cash for 20% down payments on three additional rental properties.

I’m tempted by the peace of mind of owning all of my personal assets free and clear with zero debt, however the math would clearly say leveraging multiple properties at sub 3% interest rates would leave me with a higher net worth in the future (albeit I expect higher risk as well).

Hi, newbie investor here. I just purchased my first real estate property which is a 1,395 sqft townhouse for $206k, and I'm determining how best to insure it.

I included $1M of Business Liability insurance and $10k for personal property which I expect would cover most of the appliances. I'm only responsible for insuring the interior of the unit since it is a townhome, and the insurance company asked how much I'd like to have covered for Building Property insurance. They indicated that on average people insure anywhere from $100 to $200 per square foot, which would be between $139,500 and $279,000. 

The difference in annual premiums is significant between these two options. I don't want to over insure and overpay, however I also want to ensure I have an adequate level of insurance. Any advice or insight is much appreciated! 

I'm in the market for my first rental property and although I was focused on finding a single family home, a competitively priced townhome came on the market in a highly desirable area with a reasonable monthly HOA fee ($118). I thought this could be a good way to get my feet wet in real estate, so I'm in the process of submitting an offer.

The HOA for the community has advised me that I need approval from their board in order to rent the unit out, and there is a 25% rental cap in the community. The HOA informed me they are currently at a 19% rental percentage, and they said I cannot request the rental approval until after I've already purchased the townhome and provided them with a copy of a finalized lease agreement. This seems unreasonable to expect me to purchase a rental property before knowing whether I'm able to rent it out, however I'm new to this so perhaps this is the norm.

I'm curious as to any input or advice the BP community has on this, and I've included the language from the HOA bylaws below.

“Units may not be leased for a term less than 6 months. No more than 25% of units (13) may be leased at one time. Owners must have approval of the Board to lease due to the leasing restrictions.”

I’ve decided to purchase my first rental property and I’m targeting a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom single family house in a high growth, desirable area near me which has good schools. The market is booming and very tight in this area so there haven’t been many options, however a home that has 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom just came on the market today.

I’m sure this varies by area, but generally how much of an impact does a 3 bedroom home having 1 bath instead of 2 baths typically have on rental rates and the ability to fill the unit? This house is in great condition, in a nice neighborhood close to downtown, and priced competitively. Having 1 bath is not ideal, but I’m worried if I pass this one up I may not find another option of this quality at this price.