All Forum Posts by: Gus Pages

Fantastic article!

Hi Cole,

Looks like a good deal! What types of rehab expenses were higher than expected? What did you miss in your initial inspections?

Best of luck!

Hi Randy,

This does sound like everything that could go wrong did, but it also sounds like there are a lot of sound lessons to be learned for future renters and properties. That's a positive.

1) Always get social security number and perform thorough credit, background and criminal checks. It is always money well spent.

2) Always enforce fees and penalties for not obeying the terms of the lease in any fashion. The first time. Once a tenant senses they are dealing with an individual as opposed to an organization, they start taking as many liberties as they can. I have been on both sides of the coin with this. Tenants respect you upholding a contract they signed. Once you let them slide once, they feel as though you have a personal relationship they can leverage.

3) Make sure all of the leases in a given property have the same terms for all tenants, they will talk.

Obviously, it is your property and you have to live with the consequences, but I would not put any effort into trying to garnish his wages or collecting back rent. Concentrate on getting the tenant out, fixing the property and getting a better quality tenant in the unit. Any debt he owes you should be given to a collection agency. No, you won't get all of the money back and they will get a cut, but you can now focus your energy on things that generate new revenue as opposed to wasting your resources (time, energy, money) chasing old money. 

I wish you all the best in your endeavors.

Sorry for your bad tenants. I would suggest stopping by their office unannounced and making comments on any customer facing platforms they may have, such as google reviews, yelp etc. Most important would be contacting a lawyer who can go through your PM agreement/contract and see what the transition process is and if it is possible to hold them liable for any financial damages incurred due to their negligence. Best of luck.

@Nicole (Dunlap) Pendergrass So awesome to see! Same area and size I am looking to invest in. I hope all goes well for you in the future! 

Congrats! 

Congrats! That's a big fish. Best of luck with the execution.

@Derrick Dill is 100% right. Definitely do not move forward without having the tenant out. A bitter, angry tenant with no security deposit to lose is far worse than no income.

Best of luck.

You could offer storage space to your current tenants for additional charge. Not sure of the legalities behind it, but you may be able to offer storage space to anyone. Throw some cages in and see what the market rate is. 

Best of luck!

I would have a frank conversation with my partner about how you are planning on diving the roles and responsibilities, that should usually dictate the rewards of any business partnership. If you are able to be honest about how much work and what levels of responsibility each of you are adopting. Be as specific as possible. I have had good honest business partnerships fall apart because vagueness in the written agreements were justifiably interpreted differently. You don't want to deal with any avoidable resentments down the road.

Best of luck!