All Forum Posts by: Esther Thomas

Hi There,

  I have a revocable living trust (California) and I just purchased an investment property (Oregon). I'm looking to transfer the deed into living trust. I had thought that I could have the escrow company prepare this, but according to them "

Unfortunately the state of Oregon is very strict on Escrow companies preparing deeds outside of escrow."

So I guess my first question is, does this now need to be done by an attorney? Is there document prep companies I can use instead? Looking for the most economical option to get this prepared. I believe the title company will do the recording for free if I get the documents prepared. Not sure what is all involved. Some help, recommendations, pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for the reply. Could an easement be an option. If my neighbors don't care about that land boarding our properties, I'm wondering if that could be an option, just to ensure that they or no other future neighbors are going to request we readjust the property line or move the fence. 

I didn't think getting property surveyed was a common thing to do when purchasing property. Thanks for the recommendation. 

Hi Everyone,

  I recently found out my property line was not the actual fence line.  A new neighbor moved in next door and got their property surveyed for future landscape work. Come to find out almost along one entire side of the property, the existing fence line on our side (which has probably been there since the homes were built) is about 5 feet onto the neighbors property. Neighbors don't seem to have an issue with it. We don't either but I'm worried when we have to sell our property what the ramifications are going to be for us.

I was told this is what title insurance is for but I really don't know how that will impact us moving forward. Right now we do have some hardscape that is done by the fence so if the current or future neighbors ask for the fence line to be moved, I suppose title insurance will cover the cost of moving the fence and maybe the cost of redoing that portion of the hardscape? 

More than the logistics of what needs to be moved, I feel like I bought a piece of property based on specific criteria, lot size, etc etc and now I feel like I found out I got short changed. 

Any suggestions of what I should do if anything at this point to protect myself moving forward. Thanks!

Hi Everyone,

 This is not a question related to investment properties but just about real estate in general. I have a home and I want to transfer the deed to my living trust. Does anyone know if this will impact my title insurance that was part of my original home purchase? If I have to make a claim on something later through my title insurance I don't want it to be null and void because the deed was transferred to the living trust. My title insurance company doesn't really seem to know and I need to file a claim to get more info. I was wondering if anyone here knows more about this. Thanks in advance! 

Hi All, for those landlords who pay for the utilities of their units, do you put in explicit "no nos" into the lease itself. There are a couple of units where the landlord pays the utilities (aka my parents) but when I walked by the property last week I noticed they have window air conditioning units. I think it's something the tenants put in themselves, and might also be the reason the utility bills have gone sky high. I suppose rent could be increased to account for the higher utility bills, but in general is there a general clause in a lease that you normally put in to disallow things such as the window air conditioner or other modifications to the unit. If someone has a solid lease agreement to cover all the caveats that they're willing to share, I'd love to see what sort of things people call out in their lease to avoid headaches such as this. Thanks so much!

Thanks for the quick response. So for the pets that are already there, I think it might be okay, but they just got two chickens too! I think those need to go, and some sort of addendum or notice that no new or replacements pets are to be added without consent from the landlord and may incur additional monthly fees? 

Hi Everyone, I need help, I don't know where to begin with my questions so I'll start with my top  pressing scenarios I need to help resolve. Thanks in advance and feedback is much appreciated! 

Scenario 1: Roommate not on Lease - 

A rental unit where the guy on the lease semi recently acquired a roommate (roommate has a young daughter). The roommate is not on the lease at all. Original lease agreement clearly states no subleasing. Does having a roommate, is that considered subleasing? He collects her rent and pays it together. Besides holding her liable for damages, what other benefit or other reason should I have her officially on the lease as well? If she's on the lease and doesn't pay her half, is he not responsible for the roommates portion? How does it work with two separate adults on a lease for one unit as far as accountability? That was a lot of questions in one :)

Scenario 2: Utilities  - 

2 studios in a 4plex do not have their own electric/gas meter. The electric/gas is paid by the landlord and covers the 2 studios + common area (laundry + pool). Lately the electric/gas bill has gone up 3Xs. Is there a way to write into the lease that electric/gas is to be split 3 ways? Anyone else in this situation and if so how do you go about handling the situation for utilities when there is no separate meter?

Scenario 3: Junk in common area - 

One tenant who has been a tenant for 20+ years, has overrun the 4plex with all his crap, including a hot tub! 1. How do I stop the proliferation of junk in the common area (does this get written into the lease) and any tactful way to get him to remove the stuff he has such as the hot tub!

Other random questions, do any landlords here charge extra for pets? Somehow folks have cats and are not suppose to have pets. I don't know if verbally at some point my parents said cats were okay, but can a monthly pet fee be charged, is that common?

I'm seeking help and wisdom of the landlords on this forum. Thanks again!

Yes a PM would be an option. The headaches are not isolated to the tenants but the age of the building and the need for various, potentially big repairs is the daunting part. Also the building itself is close to 100 year old and may need some major TLC. 

A follow up question, if one eventually occupies part of an investment property (one side of a duplex for example) any other big ramifications besides just having to wait it out before occupying the property. As she won't be collecting rent for her portion that she occupies, assuming it would just be a zero NOI for her portion?

Hi Everyone. My mom has a 4plex and I'm trying to run some scenarios on how to help her out. It might be too much (big maintenance headache) for her to manage in which case she would sell it.

If she sells the 4plex and buys 1 or more other investment properties, if the total is less than what she makes from selling the 4plex I'm assuming she'll have to pay capital gains on the difference?

Can she eventually take residence in one of the investment properties, if so does anyone know the rules around that, how soon can she take residence, does it first need to be occupied by a tenant, etc. 

Thanks so much.