All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Lisa P. I had a water heater leak this summer that flooded a bedroom and then last month a roof leak that damaged the same bedroom. The tenant had been looking to move and I didn't want to get stuck with a vacancy with winter right around the corner. I offered a rent discount for this month in exchange for them signing a 6 month lease extension to get me through the winter and into spring. They happily took the deal and at least now I'll have someone who has been a decent tenant for a little longer.

@Aaron Wyssmann At the big box stores are you referring to those foam inserts that go in the gutters, but will stop leaves and other debris from getting in them? If that's what you're referring to I've looked at them and also thought they wouldn't hold in high winds. Glad I didn't purchase them.

@Barshay Graves This summer I purchased a home with uneven floors. Its an older single family home with a crawl space, no basement. Before I made my offer I took a look in the crawl space and noticed several of the floor joists were rotten causing the floors to be uneven. My buddy looked at it and gave me a rough idea what it would cost. I figured that into my offer and ended up getting a great deal on the home. I had the work done and everything is level and should last way longer than I'll own the property. 

Have someone take a look at what is causing the uneven floors. If it's something that needs to be repaired figure that into your offer or ask that the seller fix it. The seller may be motivated enough to have the work taken care of and you'll never have to deal with it.

@Bill Bennet I'm also an investor in that zip code. Welcome to the site. Always happy to see more members from Northeast Wisconsin.

@James W. What ever happened? Did they end up taking your offer and leaving?

@James W. There is also the 5 day pay or quit notice in Wisconsin. In fact if they are on a 1 year lease the must first be given a 5 day notice before they can be served a 14 day notice. 

1. 14-day Notice with No Right to Cure orders you to move even if you fix the problem and must give you at least 14 days. This does not include the day it was served (Wis. Stat. 990.001(4)(a)), but it does include Saturday and Sunday unless the last day is a Sunday. Wis. Stat. 990.001(4)(b) The only way to avoid court is to move out before it expires, or work out another agreement (in writing) with the landlord. Tenants with rental agreements for a set term of one year or less can only be given this notice if they already received a curable 5-day notice for the same violation type (rent or non-rent) within the previous 12 months. Landlords can give a 14 day notice to week-to-week and month-to-month tenants at any time they are behind in rent, without getting a 5-day notice first. Wis. Stats. 704.17(1)(a) & (b) & (2)(b)

@Kelly B. I ran the numbers for renting it year round. I had the monthly rental income for the last 3 years and took an average of those when figuring out the cash flow. The problem is the winter months just don't bring in any money. From November to March/April it was an average of around $100-150 a month, which basically meant it was rented for 1 weekend a month during that time. Between the slow winter months, high HOA fees and special assessments it just didn't come out as I would have liked.

Also I should add that the places I looked at the units were part of the rental program, which I liked, however the resort/lodge took 45-50% of the income. If it weren't for that it would have had a nice cashflow. I've looked on VRBO and there are a number of units in the places I was looking that seem to be booking guests quite well. However, all of those owners are locals.

I'm not a skier, but I've always been intrigued by the ski resort properties. Good luck with your purchase

@TD Smith My wife and I looked at places up there earlier this year. What we found was that at almost every place we looked the "special" assessments were quite high. In excess of $1000-1500 a year. In every case what wiped out what little cash flow there was to begin with.  

I still tried to convince her that even if the place costs us $1000 or so a year that would still be cheaper than owning and maintaining a cabin while giving us a place to go on the weekends a few times a year. She wanted the same kind of returns our other real estate investments are producing and at the end of the day the numbers weren't there to get her on board.

Definitely a beautiful place to visit with lots to do in the summer. Just not the best return on investment compared to other real estate (multi family, commercial, etc)

@Rob Scarborough Only 1 realtor. She owns a number of rental properties and her knowledge helped me a lot when I was first getting started. I have built a great working relationship with her so I don't see the need to work with any more realtors.

@Joshua Frahm  Use the search in the upper right corner and search for something like "Where to find deals" or "best places to find deals". 

You'll have plenty of results come up to give you the information you're looking for. 

Welcome to BP and good luck