All Forum Posts by: Fred Cannon

@Tyler Eastman. I use Venmo or Zelle for e deposits and I have one tenant who likes to do a counter deposit at my bank because he works there. I don’t accept pay by mail for several reasons I would never do a drive by to collect rent. If I did I would hire a thug for that. I do have a friend that owns several mobile homes and he has a biker buddy that does a drive by and is very successful at getting paid on time.

@Shivam Kashan. How much of your payment goes to mortgage pay down. I know folks don't consider that cash flow but it is a forced savings. How much will it cost you to sell the condo and how much will it cost you to buy a new property, especially if you are financing. I would suggest keeping this unit and each time you get a tenant offer to sell to them. I own five condo's and I don't think the HOA fees are all that bad in you have good management and they have enough money in reserve If you didn't have a mortgage then your cash flow would be great. You are stuck in the middle between the bank and the HOA. You probably pay the bank more that you pay the HOA. I make @ 12% on my condo investments I make less on my SFH because of all the maintenance cost, higher insurance cost, and higher taxes. Plus I get a gym, pool, tennis court, etc, to use when I want with the condo's. I can get plenty of exercise with my SFH's like climbing ladder, pushing mower, digging up and replacing plants, etc. condo's are way less maintenance is my point. Being a landlord for a few SFH is a full time job. Being a landlord for a few condo's is much easier.

@Timothy Duggan put up a fence on the inside of the old fence. That way you have a new fence and the neighbor can keep the old fence or go to the expensive of removing it.

@Christian Cruz. Most people say no but I say yes. I have five condo's in my holdings and I promise you the HOA fees are a blessing. All of the outside of the complex is taken care where as with a SFH or even a duplex that is a major time consumer and money pit. Lawn care and landscaping is not something a tenant wants to do and if allowed to do will generally do a poor job. My guess is that proper lawn care and landscape maintenance will cost you $2500 to $3500 a year. If I pay $300 a month for HOA that is only $3600 a year. Less insurance cost with a condo ( usually by half). Amenities like pools, gyms, tennis courts, etc come with condo's and attract young professionals and retirees. If you rehab a condo right their is not much maintenance inside. And also less rehab cost. Nice tile, nice paint job, done!! Cash flow I think is no different looking at overall expenses. Just make sure the condo you buy is well maintained and has a high amount of money in reserves so you don't get killed with assessments.

@Ola Dantis. Your monthly will be around 1800 per month plus taxes and insurance.

Can you afford that is the biggest question. Maybe the $500 cash flow from you present home turned into rental would cover taxes and

Insurance. If your current house payment is 1800 then you get two houses for the same monthly payout. And someone else is paying for one of those. The big negative is the loss of deduction but like you say it’s like putting money into saving but it still takes three years to break even. It’s a coon toss, not all that bad when you look at the 5 year plan. How dies your family feel about all the moving

@Martin Silverstrim. I am from an older generation and have seen a couple of bubbles burst. The thought of risking my primary resident to an investment would require rewiring my brain. Even though you think you are doing great in the money department and can handle the risk I would do some more analyzing to be sure. I am a firm believer in no risk no gain but all risk and living in the street if it goes south is what happens if you loose your house. Also consider what is your goal, what is your timeline. My goal was to own 10 properties at retirement. I am not willing to give up my job with great benefits to be a full time landlord with no benefits and I don't want to manage more than 10 properties in retirement. So for me life is about being stress free and having a comfort level not about owning 100 or more doors or apartment buildings etc. To each their own I get 10k COC a month in rent, my doors are paid for, and I live the life of a person that is truly blessed It took me 70 years to get here but I still got a few years left.

@Quentin Mitchell I always raise the rent. It it is a good tenant only 3%. It it is a slow pay tenant 5% because I usually skip the late fee if they are dependable in the late pay. I they are always a hassle but pay, 10% but hope they move. Ha. But never no rent increase. It you do that you set expectations that the rent will always be the same. I have found that the next renter will be willing to pay more.

@Charlie Moore. I am thinking of going with a new strategy. A cleaning fee and pest treatment at move in. That way it is not a deposit or part of a deposit. It never fails that the move out is only surface cleaning and then it’s a hassle to claim part of the deposit. The deposit I think should be for damages A good cleaning is minimum $150 and a pest treatment minimum $75. Then the deposit would be what ever you deemed appropriate. That is what I plan to do with my next vacancy.

@James Wise. Yes it can be. It happened to me as a much younger an inexperience home owner. I had bought a home using my assumable VA loan. Lived there for about 4 years and had to move due to job relocation. I put out a FSBO sign and sold within 1 day. Guy came by saw my sign and as I was out in the yard he stopped and chatted me up. Once he found out the loan was a VA he offered me 3K to assume the loan. Being that I didn't put any money down and the property hadn't really increase in value it seemed a good deal to me. Well this guy moved into my home ( I say my because I am still the principal mortgage holder) lives there for 18 months and never pays a dollar Of course the VA finally forecloses and sends me notice. I never had a clue and even if I did not sure anything could have been done. So for the next 7 years I had to suffer through that. I am much smarter now and have around 2 million equity in rental properties that have no mortgage. In the 2009 RE bust I was able to buy foreclosures and short sales and paid cash for homes worth around 150K for 25-40K. Those properties are worth 200-300K now as bring me a nice income. When it comes to slimy I think the banks are right there with the slimy investor. However, for the most part we only have ourselves to blame for getting the slime bucket dumped on us. I never blamed the POS that assumed my loan. I blamed myself for being ignorant.

@Cameron Davis. Maybe the best approach is to go thru a title company They should be able to complete the transaction in a lawful manner. I would not attempt to do this without some sort of legal and profession

Guidance. The laws and the IRS are to intimidating for me.