All Forum Posts by: Frank S.

That's a sad story.  I'm sorry you are going through this. 

Search the forums, I had raised this question before. You can proceed with the eviction, but the Sheriff will not remove anyone when it's cold.  This person will likely stay until March. 

You need to do it by the book,  so you please hire an attorney. I'm sure your tenant will get one.  

Frank 

Don't do it

Check financial sites like Boggleheads, Dr. of Credit,  and Nerdwallet. There are more. 

Accounts

First Advantage Bank,  Consumer's Credit Union, Netspend, Mango Cards, Insight Cards, etc. It will take you time to set them up.  Also, note that there are ways to fake the required debit card transactions and direct deposits, I use cash app and ACHs. You will need your wife's SSN to maximize the number of accounts. 

Then,  look at the "bank bonus section". I pulled $4.5k from that system last year.  It helped pay for a nice vacation. The associated tax hit hurts, but is a nice problem to have. 

Best wishes, 

Frank

First, don't hire a teacher, guru, pay for ridiculous seminars, or marketing.

You are new and this is your first or second post,  it seems. So,  get a few good books,  look at many, many properties,  and give yourself six months before buying anything. Get a hold of four real estate agents and pick one. Develop networks. 

Define your goals, aim to become an expert in your area, and more importantly define your "why"? What's motivating you to do this? Is it only money?  That's not strong enough, btw.

Meanwhile,  put your money in high apy savings accounts (Google it). I have liquid cash reserves at 4.5% apy. 

Then,  evaluate your market and decide if buy and hold make sense. Flips may work for you depending on your background and knowledge.  

Good luck, 

Frank

I would assume you are you saying 25% or 30% of income in C or B areas? Then, do the reverse math at current market price, property taxes, maintenance, renovation cost, etc., and see what a building "should" cost. Then, evaluate the risk and define an "affordable" ROI. It's funny how easy is to blame the landlord for charging more after spending more.

Without improvements, many areas will remain stagnant and deteriorate.

What's affordable is not easy to define. It is a very valid question.  Is it what people would like to pay for a 2/1, what they can afford,  or what it actually costs to provide it with a decent return on the risk taken? 

If 35% to 50% of income vs. rent is not "affordable",  there are a few options,  they could make more money, reduce expenses,  get roommates,  or move.  

What role do you expect landlords should have? Negative returns? 

The price

 Was this a big bank? I had a similar story.  However,  the comps were not there, I over did it.  Ask your knowledgeable agent for feedback on comps.

Contesting the appraiser opinion of value will get you nowhere. You are better off meeting him in person and walking him through the rehab during the walkthrough. Give him pictures of before and after.  Once the report is in,  you are trying to prove him wrong.  Good luck with that. 

If you are absolutely sure he is wrong. Get a different lender. At 70% LTV, the difference can add up. If you want to try to contest it, give it a shot. It's your right.

Good luck, 

Frank

I give my tenants a clean and safe place to live in exchange of paying rent.   My rents are above market value because my places are clean and well maintained,  not because of festivus cards. That's enough. 

Tenants are not customers, they are employees (Landlord on Autopilot). You need to train them to fit your business. 

I thought about doing something like that, but I couldn't find a logical reason to justify it.

Frank

That's bad luck.  Why would they be liable? 

It seems you had several and different issues.  This time,  request a complete inspection of the sewer. 

Good luck, 

Frank

Check Matthew Olszak's information on this.  He is very knowledgeable on this topic. 

It's a very dangerous proposition to impose rent control.  Tenants will ultimately pay for this as quality diminishes and price increases as the offer and demand spread is compressed.

It's my personal opinion that this bill was simply a way to get votes.  Once you read it, and it's hard to find the final version, you will see that it is very disorganized without much substance.  I think it will die, but this stupid idea gained momentum. 

Communities identies should be protected by retaining families and the fabric of our society shouldn't focus only on profits. However,  this is not the proper solution to accomplish this goal.

See, 

https://www.nmhc.org/news/articles/the-high-cost-o...

And, 

https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/rent-control...

Frank