All Forum Posts by: Eric Carr

If he is not on the lease, he doesn't live there. Have solid criteria for screening and accepting tenants, and all adults living in the house need to be screened and on the lease. If you have other applicants with less variables, consider moving on

Friends and family will often push limits - most of the time they can. Make a plan and set a deadline and make sure he understands that he is responsible for that outcome, but there are no extensions. 

Be prepared to take action

They absolutely should. We do without having to be asked. 

I would be suspicious that if they aren't offering it, they might be hiding something. They could also be lazy, but get those records or change management - life is too short for bad partners

In LA people pay several thousands to rent a house. Anywhere from $4k - $50K+ a month. 

People will pay because they can, they need a place to live, and because they will pay the same amount for all other rentals homes in the area.

don't waste your time with school if it's not for you. never stop learning. think your plan through. 

you must know what it is you want and make that your obsession

 Good luck brother. Technically they are responsible for rent until you find another tenant, but if they don't pay, you aren't going to evict them and I doubt you will sue them for damages - cost and time likely not  worth it. Offer a prorate once you have tenants in place, will hopefully keep some peace and out wont be out money. Start marketing now!

You should do a little research about the local laws - I doubt there is a grace period for new tenants, but here's how my very good guess is on how it's going down

You can offer to let them out of the lease AFTER you find a new tenant. You stopped marketing the place and stopped taking applications because a lease was signed. Time is money, so now you have to start the process over and might be without tenant income for another month, may be two, because of the broken lease. Not your liability. 

You can use the deposit and first months to cover losses, which the lease signers should be responsible for, and prorate a refund for any amount left once the place is occupied. 

It's either that, or refund half, or all, and start marketing. If it were me, I would not refund it all back, especially not 5 days before move in. I am happy to work with people, but this isn't your mistake 

Do it. Not only will you take in rent money from the rented rooms, but you will also receive the tax benefits of the rented portions of the house - all maintenance, repairs, insurance, property tax, interest, and depreciation are part of the added bonus to the rent money, that you will receive on the rented portions of the house. To make it simple, and your CPA can help with this, but since you occupy 1/4 of the house, you will essentially receive 3/4 of the tax benefits above. Homeowners have been doing this since before the internet. 

What makes a property an investment property in the governments eyes, is the fact that you are providing housing in some way and are collecting rent, to put it very simply. Doesn't matter if it's owner occupied or what your mortgage terms are. 

Don't call the city, just rent the place.  This could turn you into a bigger scale investor if you are not buying properties for purely rentals already. You will get a taste of it and you will have that extra cash.

College isn't for everyone and I will argue anyone that for a large part, it also doesn't prepare people for survival. Go to college to get educated, go to college to become a layer or doctor or a CAP. If you want to learn something useful, that will pay your bills and make you a good life - go do something

I was a C - F student in grade school. Still managed to find a way to graduate high school early, went to community colleges in the late 90's because schools held the knowledge - while supporting myself as a teen. They don't hold the knowledge anymore. You will learn more from someone who is doing what you want to do and by doing it yourself, than you will in school. Podcasts, forums, reading books, a mentor, it's all out there and nearly for free - just pick up the tools and start using them. 

But have a plan. Which aspects of real estate are you interested in? Being an agent? Wholesaling? Flipping? Buy and hold? Have a plan first, even if you need to take a short time away from school to figure out. You can always go back. Now is the time to figure out what you want out of life - don't continue down a path that might ultimately waste your time and money. You are obviously aware of something, you are asking the question, but what do you want out of RE?

Not to mention a possible Super Bowl in 2021