All Forum Posts by: George C.

Jenny,

Sorry for your loss.

Ditto what others have said about walking away. I'm sure Dad's lawyer is looking out for*his* best interest (him getting paid). I've seen this scenario over and over again in my family and others after a passing, the family takes the items left behind, the bank gets to take over/back the house or condo that is underwater.

Who was the beneficiary of the life policy? If it's a named person(s), other than the estate, it belongs to that person(s) and not to the estate (as far as I know). If it belongs to a person, the estate has no business with it in the estates accounts paying bills for the estate....or especially paying Dad's lawyer. PLEASE CHECK INTO THAT, there are bad lawyers out there.

Ok, so your the executrix, you can quit that gig and walk away from that too. If there is no estate besides bills, anyone else would, too.

I would leave the electric heat, it is after all (I assume) separate and paid by each tenant. Could you then maybe install a cheaper or even used ventless natural gas fireplace in each unit? A fireplace adds instant charm & perceived value and you can tout that as an energy saver.

If the county Clerk / Recorder's records are online, you can look up the owner to see if any lis pendens (notice of intent to sue for foreclosure) have been recorded by the Mortgagee (the bank). You'll also get an idea of what they paid for it, how much the mortgage was, when it started, etc... This would work in most Judicial foreclosure states because the process is dragged out, in non Judicial states, the people might be thrown out & the property sold off by the time the lis pendens hits the record in a judicial state where a foreclosure can drag on for over five years, from the time of stop paying to the time of sale & set out.

I would think most landlords don't use a r/e agent to find renters, why would a LL want to pay months commission to an agent? Most tenants don't want to pay a commission to find a rental. Look on Craigslist. Trulia & Zillow allow owners to advertise as owners.

I've had calls from agents asking if I would "cooperate" with them if they bought their rental looker around, when I had an advertised rental. I tell them "NO", anyone looking for a unit like mine, in the area, they can't help but trip all over my advertising, no need to pay someone else to bring lookie-loos.

David, Insurance companies love to call their customers to tell them that they are under insured due to the replacement costs to rebuild their homes. I guess most of their customers are flattered that their homes are supposedly worth so much, more likely they don't know it's an insurance company racket. Every business has a racket and insurance is no different. I've gotten the calls from them trying to tell me that they have to up the insurance due to replacement costs... I've told them exactly what it cost me to build the homes then and what it would cost me today, and that I'm still over insured. They always figure the complete house worth with the land and all (as far as I can tell), as if the land & foundation will burn down or blow away in a "covered" incident. It's a rip off to insure at their value no matter how you look at it.

In NJ the last house I built in 2009, a (modular) 2 story colonial 3300 square feet & a 1500 sq foot basement (above ground) for a total 4800 sq feet cost me to build with the land, septic & $25K foundation a total $278K / $84 sq foot as the builder. The 3300 sq foot modular delivered and set on my foundation was $106K / $33 a sq foot, that includes the extras of 9' first floor ceilings, high hat lighting, wood burning fireplace, etc...

If I added a $200K profit for myself if it sold, that would put the cost to the buyer at $478K / $144 sq foot (at 3300 sq foot)

According to the insurance people you spoke to, at the "low" $195 a foot for my house, it would cost $643K to rebuild, so they would have you insure it at that value... a rip off for sure.

Insurance companies, just another group of folks to watch your pockets around...

I include in rent up to a $ that is reasonable, anything over that amount is billed back to the tenants, which is in the lease. I tell them that if you go into the laundry or carwash business or let the toilets run on, you'll be paying the overages. So far so good with that early talk.

Try a facebook, search "people named (last name) in Anytown, state initials". You might find them or a relative who might be able to point you in the right direction.

Larry,

MTM tenancy might work good in warm climates, but in colder climates, empties with heat running are $ suckers. We ended up with an empty in early Dec, it just got rented for March 1st. The collectable tenant is being sued for the rent for three months & cost of heat because of a signed lease. I lease up with them ending in summer or April when everyone is rich with their tax return money. If they leave in winter they owe, no one is looking to move around the Holidays or snow, so I want them on the hook.

My best car deals were from people I or my wife knew who needed to sell a car. These were cars people who got trade in prices from dealers and were complaining about the price offered. That's were I or my wife step in and tell them that we "need" a car and we'd be willing to buy it at that price, most would rather sell it at that price to someone they know than give it to a dealer at such a low price. There are people who will never sell a car to anyone they know to avoid static.

I got some nice vehicles on the cheap this way, 50 cents on the dollar. I could've made money turning around and selling them privately, but I keep vehicles a looooooong time to get more than my monies worth.

Carlton Sheets got me thinking back in the mid eighties when I was 15-16, I bought his tapes, but I already knew the Landlord side of things. I grew up in a two family home that my Father owned, and I was the "go to guy" if anything broke & was the one to collect the rent starting at 10. I knew there was more to LLing than just collecting rents. I did end up doing a no money down deal when I bought that same two family from my Father at 22, so it did come in handy.

The deal; He added me to the deed & we refinanced 80% which he pocketed & we (wife & I) paid him on the side the 20% over 9 years. We refinanced again after two years and he was then off the new mortgage & deed. Win/win, I was a kid with no credit & no real $. It was a $300K home back in 1990, and would've needed a hefty down payment otherwise.

When most people live week to week and are lucky to own just one home, even heavily financed...It's nice to own multiple properties, some paid off, all because of some guy (Carlton Sheets) was peddling some R/E ideas. I feel that I got my monies worth out of that course. I might even still have it packed away.