All Forum Posts by: Hadiya Coppedge

How do I tell my current tenant that she must move out after she expressed interest in staying?

I operate a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath townhouse as a 3 door MTR with options to rent the entire unit. 

Atm, I have a tenant there with a pending move out of April 1 who asked to stay until 5/27 as they extended their contract. When they asked if their room was available, I told them I had other's interested and for them to let me know if they were able to extend their contract. When I followed up, they informed me they are extending their contract. Their rent does not cover the monthly expenses of the unit. It doesn't even cover the mortgage.  

The problem lies in, I haven't been able to find two other tenants to fill the 2 available bedrooms. I've contacted recruiters, exhausted Finish Finders lead list, and set up my airbnb, but nothing. 

In between hearing from her about extending her contract, a family reached out wanting to rent the entire unit for just under 2x the mortgage. Our talks took about 2 weeks to lead to a deposit between questions, scheduling and every member in the family getting sick. 

For financial purposes, I have to rent the unit to the family to keep me from covering the expenses out of pocket to accommodate the current tenant. 

How do I handle this situation?

My dilemma is, while I didn't verbally agree to extend the contract with the current tenant, I didn't say no either. I informed them others were interested and that I would talk with them a week ago about a potential tenant. I believe my mistake was not being transparent from the beginning once I knew the family was interested? 

What do I say to my current tenant during our conversation about moving out? What do I frame the conversation? What do I include and not include? 

What I don't want to happen is they leave me a bad review on FF. 

Hi! 

I'd love a survey of what other people are doing. 

Does anyone work full time and are in real estate managing their properties? 

I'm in the market to expand my real estate portfolio to 3 SFH or a 2-3 bedroom duplex. I want to use the BRRR method to expand. I've researched quite a bit and decided on the HELOC route.

Here is the caveat, I recently purchased a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath townhouse at market price just a few months ago in March 2022. I'm not sure my house has any equity because it's newly built. 

2 Questions:

1. Does anyone have any experience with HELOC on a newly purchased home?

2. Is HELOC the best route? If not, can you offer an alternative that will fit my situation?

@Jonathan R McLaughlin

You are absolutely right. At the time I wrote the ad, I thought it was implied. I've taken you and @Erin Church's advice and edited my ad to state full occupancy is all three rooms rented. 

@Colleen F. I'm honestly not sure. I did talk to her on the phone and explained the business side of renting. That I would operate in the negative bc her rent (which I discounted because she has to leave early bc the entire unit will be rented) and I would release her from her lease if she wanted. In the end, she decided to stay and I took @Jonathan R McLaughlin's advice and made a deal that makes us both happy. 

Thank you everyone for all your advice and support! 

@Steven Foster Wilson

Thank you for your advice! On my posting it says my unit is exclusively rented to medical professionals so it is implied. In taking @Erin Church's advice, I will make it very clear in stating max occupancy is 3 individuals. 

When I talk with the prospective tenants on the phone, I will restate about max occupancy. 

Thank you so much! 

@Erin Church

Thank you so much for your suggestion. This was the idea/path I was leaning toward of letting her out of her lease.

To answer your questions, no she would not be sharing a bathroom. She is renting the master which has it's own full bathroom. 

Thanks - I will certainly edit my post to indicate full occupancy is three individuals! 

@Charles Carillo 

I did with my first tenant, but I'm not certain I explained the situation in its entirety to the second future tenant that is moving in my goal of filling three rooms. 

What is driving this need for three tenants, is I am working in a tight timeline of the entire unit being rented from August to  November at a little above base mortgage. I want this third room rented as a buffer. 

I feel obligated to the 2nd tenant because I wasn't clear in my communication. I also feel obligated to the third tenant to provide housing. From a business standpoint, renting the third room is the best option. From a tenant satisfaction standpoint, not renting the third room is the best option. 

I'm just unsure which is the best standpoint to view this from. 

Hi Bigger Pockets! 

I'm in need of advice. Should I let my tenants have a say in who moves into my short term rental unit? 

I exclusively rent to travel medical professionals for a short term stay of 3 months. I have two rooms rented and recently just rented out the third room. I contacted my current tenants and informed them of the third rental. I have one tenant who is very unhappy and indicated she does not want a third room mate and only rented my unit because she was under the impression that there would only be her and another room mate. Her future move in date is May 12th. 

Anyone have advice on what I should do?

The two tenants isn't enough give me a positive return. I would be operating at -$192. Do I not rent to the third person, or do I cancel the unhappy tenant? 

Investment Info:

Townhouse buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $266,747
Cash invested: $8,343

3 bedroom 2.5 bath townhouse
1400 sq feet
Small fenced backyard
HOA $145 a month

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I started the purchase on a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath townhouse in my home town of Richmond, Va July of 21. I live in California. Originally I purchased this townhouse to own a piece of real estate close to my family. After listening to Bigger Pockets' Podcast, the name of the guest escapes me, I decided to house hack and rent my rooms to travel medical professionals.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

The seller paid $8K in closing cost because it's a new construction.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional Loan

How did you add value to the deal?

Originally I purchased this townhouse to own a piece of real estate close to my family. After listening to Bigger Pockets' Podcast, the name of the guest escapes me, I decided to house hack and rent my rooms to travel medical professionals. Because I chose not to rent the entire unit, but instead break each room up into it's own unit, I increased my monthly cash flow from $200 per month (entire unit rented) to $700 a month when all units are rented.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The biggest challenge in the month I have been operational is finding more than one source of leads. I've joined a website that list housing exclusively for travel medical professionals. They are a fair amount of leads, but I would like to add another lead source.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

NO