All Forum Posts by: Erik Nosich

Welcome to bigger pockets and to anchorage! I grew up in Eagle River and it is definitely a high demand area. My wife and I I currently own 4 properties in the anchorage area, and want to continue expanding. I am ANG, and am currently TDY in Kirtland. If you have any questions about the area, issues, etc, let me know. I am pretty knowledgeable and if I can't answer, I know some folks that can.

There are a lot of "carrot" techniques here, I prefer the stick for problem tenants. If rent is not paid on the 4th, on the fifth, they get a ten day notice to quit. If they pay in full within the ten days (we don't accept partial payments because any amount of money resets the ten day period) then they are good. We have a tenant that in all other aspects is great, but is always late. My wife (against my better judgement) renewed his lease, but we went month to month and we stated that If he gets two notice to quits, he will be evicted regardless. Lay down the law and don't break your rules, and they wont take advantage of you. I used to be nice but it has bitten me too many times. It's a business run it like such.

Kassandra T, your contact is hidden, how do I pm you?

Kassandra T, I would be late if I was buying and selling. I'm buy and hold so that does not really apply to me.

Ronald Laurion , agreed. I spoke to my mentor and he filled me in on what happened to get us in the position we are at now. 1) low oil prices causing loss in jobs, so people leave Alaska. 2) low oil prices making the valley a viable option to live, so big explosion of housing out there, creating a lower demand in anchorage. 3)for many years in the past, we have enjoyed a 2-3% empty rate until recently. Weidner properties, who owned a double digit percentage of rental properties in anchorage, dropped his prices 10% to fill his units recently. This created an empty rate from 5% to around 7% for everyone else.

Great question, I think that very question is on many people's minds now. I'm invested in the Anchorage market right now. I recently purchased a 4 plex. We had to lower our asking price by 10% to get it filled due to the housing glut right now. My thought is that if you estimate the rents 10-15% lower than what you are being told rents can be, you should be ok if you factor that into the numbers. I bought this place very well. I was able to buy it because when I found it, I put it under contract immediately. The other folks I was competing with had to think about it or sleep on it or whatever. The saying "buy when everybody's selling, and sell when everybody's buying" comes to mind. The other thing I do is update my units. Most rental places in anchorage are still stuck in the 70's. That makes a big difference. I also think the prices for the places are still too high for what the market is doing right now. They should dip eventually. When they do, I'm going to be buying again.

Most decent sized cities have a ReStore that is run by habitat for humanity. Used building materials for cheap. You can score some, paint them up, put some handles on them and call them good

I think the website paylease has metering. I think you are referring to show 20 when they talk about the company that individually Meters water.

I can't easily add them to the lease due to their claims about living elsewhere. I need proof that they broke the current lease. I may have found the solution. Due to the feud between them and the other renters, we offered to pay for a small moving truck to move them to one of our other properties. It has more square footage and is 3 bedrooms. It also happens to be where we are currently house hacking, and has cameras set up. Solves more than one problem. This way, if the adult son and daughter in law do move in, its already 3 bedrooms in 1100 square feet, no two beds in 600. I just hope they take the deal.

Hey all, I have a situation that I need some advice on. I have an older couple (late 50's) that are themselves, great tenants. Always pay on time, great communication, and keep the place clean. They have an adult son and daughter in law that are there all the time. In September, I confronted them about it, they admitted the son and his wife were living there, and I gave them a few choices, and they decided the son and daughter would move out. They were gone one month and moved back in (I am told). They don't know I spoke to neighbor and the neighbor stated to me that the mother said they had a housesitting job for that month and so they moved back in when that ended. We confronted them today, and the mother stated that her son was in an accident 5 years ago and his doctor said he had to stay with someone to watch him, and he couldn't be alone. The renter further stated that he comes to the house every weekday, stays from 8-8 and often stays the night. She said that they have a lease for a place in the next town over, and she would provide a copy of that. There was no bedding or extra clothing that could be easily seen while we were there. It should be mentioned that this is a duplex and there seems to be a bit of bad blood between the renters and the other renter is my source for this info. The mother and father are the only ones on the lease. The question I have is what constitutes "living" at a location? What recourse, if any, do I have? Any advice would help. Thank you in advance for your help!