All Forum Posts by: Gary L Wallman

Thank you to everyone that has shared their thoughts in the question of the week so far! As the Community Engagement Specialist for BiggerPockets, I love to see how diverse real estate can be. Being so different, we all have different motivations for our "Why". Let's talk about yours! What is it now, has it always been that way, or did your mindset shift? What do you think caused that shift? How are your action working to reinforce your why?

Share your stories and make some connections!

The fun of doing something I'm good at and enjoy.

The fun of success.

The fun of financial security.

The great joy of being able to donate money to my favorite causes i.e. kids and animals. Love St. Jude's, Shriner's Hospital for kids, Ronald McDonald House, Humane Society and Food Bank.

Gary

3 Votes

Originally posted by @Joel Betances:

My tenant is about to hit the end of my 1 year lease. Great tenant that has paid on time until she lost her job 6 months into the lease.

I gave her 2 months to recover from her financial loss. She was able to get help from the rental assistant program that paid 6 months of her rent.

However now that the lease is about to end, the tenant is saying she will apply for unemployment and for another 6 months of rental assistance.

I am concerned about this because what took her so long to apply for unemployment and will unemployment pay her enough to cover the rent.

Her current rent is 1050 but market rent went up to about $1200.

Should I renew her lease or should I give her the 60 day notice to vacate, fix the unit up and rent it at market rate.

Thank you for all your responses.

Joel,

Great tenant? NOT! 6 whole months of paying on time. You can't be serious. Drop her like a hot potato.

I just don't understand how anyone can provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital to provide a home for someone else and think this is a great tenant. Sorry.

Respectfully,

Gary

2 Votes

Originally posted by @Jill F.:

I just listed an apartment on Friday. It's in a "D" neighborhood. It's my first turnover in over 3 years (39 months) in these buildings (2 side-by-side quads). I had **13** solid, completed applications (not just vague inquiries).

This is a clean, very basic apartment...

https://www.zillow.com/homedet...

I feel really bad for people looking now around here... I had 2 people with long term jobs submit applications both saying their buildings were recently sold and they'll be homeless if they can't find anything in a month or so. both said they've submitted many, many applications and heard crickets. It's been a while but I sure didn't have this kind of response when I last rented one of these apartments. In addition to actual applications I had many, many inquiries from people that sound so desperate . It's really heartbreaking.

Jill,

Not trying to sound heartless and I agree with all your points. You may find the reason you are overwhelmed with applications is your rental is simply priced to low.

I'm in the Dayton, Ohio suburbs and clean 1 beds in c or d areas are bringing about $650. per month PLUS utilities. Your listing at $610. including heat seems quite low to me, especially with the predicted colder than usual winter expected.

Unusually high demand is quite often an indication of below market pricing. IMO

Respectfully,

Gary

2 Votes

Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:

Originally posted by @Gary L Wallman:

Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:

Originally posted by @Gary L Wallman:

@Chris Utter

Nonsense. If a tenant is so lame that they can't figure out how to remit the rent, you don't want them in your home. Imagine if you had 140 rentals, as I do. You'd spend your life picking up checks. Next tenant please!!

Gary this is off topic.. but it reminds me of a client of mine i sold a big 2k acre ranch to in Northern CA. He lived in Alameda CA which is a small island next to Oakland and pretty expensive these days.. he invited me to lunch so he could give me the keys to the gates so i could ride my quads on his ranch and fish in his lake.. Anyway it was rent collection day.. It turned out he owned about 200 doors in Alameda all free and clear and he collected every payment by going door to door we spent 3 hours before lunch driving up to these homes the rent was pegged to the front doors NO rent he would then put a 3 day notice.. I had not thought about that in years.. But it was his only job and he paid cash for his ranch which was a ton of dough in 1990.. :) I suspect even then his cash flow was well over 100k a month on all those free and clear houses.. not to mention today it would be a portfolio worth probably 100 million or more.

Jay,

Thank goodness they were all near to each other. LOL

I guess if it were my only job I could handle it, but why would I want to?

Gary

a lot of them are older victorians turned into MF so one stop 3 to 5 checks all stuck to the front door LOL

Jay,

That's good. Only 1/5 to 1/3 as big a pain in the butt. LOL

Gary

1 Vote

Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:

Originally posted by @Gary L Wallman:

@Chris Utter

Jay,

Thank goodness they were all near to each other. LOL

I guess if it were my only job I could handle it, but why would I want to?

Gary

0 Votes

@Chris Utter

0 Votes

Send a copy of your receipt for the repair items into the water company with a note describing the leak. They will almost always credit your account back to its average monthly usage. I received many refunds doing this. One was over 900 bucks.

Gary

3 Votes

Hard pass. Spread is way to low. Wear and tear on STR's is out of sight. Too many unforeseen expenses the greatest of which are the HOA fees. They rocket to the stratosphere like an Elon Musk space ship in no time.

Gary

1 Vote

Originally posted by @Jerome Morelos:

@Gary L Wallman How much did you spend on your kitchen remodel? I would say this property is a C area

Jerome,

Under 15k all in. Though I wouldn't go that high in a C+ area.

BTW I see a lot of BP folks advocating just replacing the cabinet doors. IMO this is lunacy. Doors are nearly as expensive as whole cabinets. Additionally, installing them properly (especially if you want to update with hidden hinges) takes skill and time. Next, you have to paint the boxes to match. It is likely as expensive as demoing and rehanging completely new boxes and will not look nearly as nice.

Remember, kitchens and bathrooms are what sells/rents houses.

Gary

1 Vote

Originally posted by @Jerome Morelos:

Hello BP! I'm in contract with my first property and wanted some suggestions on the kitchen. Is it a good idea to keep the cabinets/countertop and just repaint? or Should I just replace the whole thing? It looks like some type of open-shelving. Any suggestions?

Note: I plan on turning this property into a rental when I move out.

Jerome,

Regardless of the class of rental, that kitchen would never fly in any of my rentals. Truthfully, IMO, it is horrible. It needs everything including cabinets, counter tops, sink and flooring. The appliances look ok if they are in good working condition.

I would use Lowes white shaker style cabinets. Granite counter tops and mosaic backsplash if an A or B rental, laminate counter tops and porcelain backsplash if C or D. LVP flooring in either instance.

Increased rental demand should be the immediate result. Make sure fit and finishes look professional. No 30 inch over the counter microwaves in 36 inch spaces.

My remodel of a kitchen in an B+ to A area. Some would say original was acceptable. Not to me, which is why my rentals are in high demand and rent for more money in a much shorter time.