All Forum Posts by: Jerry Bredesen

What would you do to improve the curb appeal of this little brick house? The current tenants are great and I'm not looking to sell anytime soon, but I'd really like to do something to improve the appearance. It's just such a plain, boring exterior. 

Agree with Guevara Mike, but have you considered just removing both kitchen walls? You're not dealing with a lot of square footage, so the open concept will make it feel much larger. Then you'll be free to design a kitchen that makes sense for the space. 

BTW - punch a few small holes and look inside the bulkheads before you destroy them. Builders often use kitchen bulkheads to hide pipes and wires. 

Start the process today. There is NO chance you'll collect any back rent from this tenant, so there's no reason to give her any more free rent days than the law requires. 

Just did a quick survey of this year's tax bills. I have no properties in Milwaukee county, but all of mine are down a bit this year. Which part of your tax bill went up? City or County? 

@Lael Johnson - Sorry, but it's been forever since I even thought about a VA loan. I'm sure the rules today are totally different. Back when I was using them you could get 0% down with no points and no PMI - and the loan was assumable. As I recall, you could only have one at a time and it had to be owner-occupied. We would buy a place, move in and gradually improve it over a few years, then either sell to someone who wanted to assume the mortgage, or refinance with a conventional loan. Once that loan was paid off or in someone else's name, you were eligible to get another VA with the same sweet terms.

I applaud your efforts to find a way to acquire assets, and thank you for your service. I started with owner-occupied VA loans too, but the rules were a bit looser back then. But personally, I would NEVER rent to friends or family. What happens if your relative loses a job, gets sick, or simply can't pay the rent? Are you willing to evict them, or even have them served? Think about how would that play out at Thanksgiving dinner. It's a business, and you have to be willing/able to do what needs to be done at times.

So I spoke with my insurance agent today, and she had to make a few calls to come up with an answer.  Keep in mind this is just one agent's opinion, so your mileage may vary. 

Basically, the insurance industry considers any form of lead to be hazmat. Standard landlord policies and umbrellas don't provide any hazmat coverage, and it's apparently not possible to add it unless you move to a commercial policy (very expensive). So as a landlord, all you really can do is disclose the potential hazard to your tenants as soon as you become aware of it. 

NOTHING is more important than tenant screening. Establish your requirements, write them down, and then stick to them. Do the background checks and find a way to independently verify every detail. You will do well if you remember Nick Patterson's rule #2 above.

"Maybe I could move the items into storage. But how would I collect storage fees given that they left no forwarding address???"

You need to give up on the idea of ever collecting storage fees. That's not going to happen. Just do whatever you have to do to comply with the law, and do it as cheaply as possible. 

You also need to talk with a lawyer familiar with handling evictions, and you need to do it yesterday. It's obvious you don't understand the process or the potential pitfalls, and you absolutely have to know this stuff if you're going to be in the business. A few hundred bucks for expert advise would be money well spent. It could cost you thousands if you screw it up.

With all the news about lead in public water supplies, is anyone else concerned it may soon become the landlord's problem to deal with? I'm starting to wonder what happens if they find lead in the water coming into one (or all) of my properties. Would my landlord policy or umbrella cover me if I get sued for poisoning somebody's child? Guess I'll be calling the agent in the morning.