All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Bill S. Thank you so much for replying, and offering your expertise. We will be moving forward with many of your suggestions. My husband and I are very interested in attending the Denver landlord meet-up that you lead. Hopefully we can thank you in person soon!
@Nathan Gesner Thank you, we are working on getting the estoppels today! We're still mulling over raising the rent marginally (to get us through the holiday) or significantly so that we can screen our own tenants. Either way, I totally agree that we require a security deposit from the current tenants! I'm floored by the lack of organization that we are stepping into, and I am just happy to have BP for support!
@Jill F. I totally agree, we now plan to offer month-to-month thanks to all of the advice we've received here. We don't know exactly what kind of renters we're dealing with so we want the quickest out if needed.

@Marcia Maynard thank you for your take on the situation! I did a little more research and I think (I will be checking with our attorney to confirm) that the one page agreement that the owners shared with us will hold up as an estoppel agreement for the three units in Colorado.

We've read Brandon Turner's books and recently purchased the Colorado forms package from BP so we are prepared with rock-solid agreements moving forward! It's just a matter of getting started on the right foot with the new tenants.

I really appreciate your win them over strategy because I've been a renter my entire life, and this is a strategy that has worked on me in the past. 

@Rick T. Thank you! I totally agree with you if we were experienced because we really want to screen and select our own tenants. I've known people who retaliate, and that is our biggest fear. Thanks for offering your perspective.

@Irina Belkofer We are not requesting the information that we need from the sellers in writing before closing. Thank you for bringing our attention to the potential security deposit situation!

@Account Closed Your perspective offers a really nice balance of consideration for us as investors and for the current residents! We are working on a plan for moving forward, and will be keeping your advice in mind!

Hi BP Community!

This is my first forum post so I hope I'm doing this correctly.

My husband and I are closing on our first investment property on October 5th, a multifamily property with 4 units, one of which we will be living in.

The other 3 units are currently rented by people who have varying levels of relationships with the sellers, the rents are all way under market, and none of them have leases OR security deposits. We've been told that none of them have given notice, but because of the relationship with the sellers I'm concerned we may not be getting all of the information.

Given the timing, if we were to ask them all to leave they wouldn't vacate until Nov 1. Bringing us into the slow season for finding new tenants. 

We have the following two options, and would love your advice:

1. Keep tenants and raise rent marginally (+$25-$50 per month) while asking them to sign a 6-month lease, bringing us to Spring.

2. Plan to bring rent up to market pricing (+$200 per month) and ask them to sign a 1-year lease

Both risk us losing tenants that are currently in place, however if we are able to increase to market rents by Feb 1 with new quality tenants we could recoup the cost for the vacant months.

Again, we would love to hear your advice on pros, cons, and other options we may not be thinking of!

Thanks!!!

Hi Quinton!

I'm brand new to the BP community and your question caught my eye! My husband and I actually JUST went under contract for our first investment property (4-unit building), and we also plan on house hacking. When J (my better half) first brought up the idea of investment properties to me I shot it right down. He explained everything he possibly could about what investing and house hacking would mean for us, he showed me the numbers (I even ran them myself), and he bought me the books! I was still super skeptical, not because the number didn't add up, not because I don't believe we're capable, and not because I was too busy.

I was deathly afraid of being someone who profited off of other people by over charging for housing. I didn't want to be part of the "system" that profits from eviction, and I didn't want to judge/value potential residents based on their earned income. Many of my perceptions and experiences of real estate investors and landlords have been awful. How could I possibly stay true to the social justice (based on my social work experience) that I believe in deeply and choose this path of earning income? I finally realized that by becoming an investor I would have the power to be a better landlord than those who treated me and my family poorly. I started seeing the opportunities for social justice action within property management. My perceptions shifted to possibilities for the future, and I realized I could create positive change through owning properties.

You mentioned that your girlfriend is studying social work, and I wonder if she might be struggling with determining if this fits into her identity in the social work space? I share this part of my story with you because there are so many reasons why she could be disinterested. I would encourage you to take her to her favorite coffee shop or dinner spot, ask her why she seems disinterested, and then listen.

BEST OF LUCK!!!