All Forum Posts by: Hank Fields

We deal with this a lot at the properties I manage. Things to consider: 1. How close is she to 3x the rent? 2. Absolutely screen the co-signor. You need to know what his/her financial and rental history is too. 3. Increase the security deposit. If the prospect is nowhere near making the monthly rent, a co-signor is not going to fix that unless the co-signor is going to also help pay the rent.

I like the idea.  It is something my wife and I have considered.  I don't know much about your market, but here in Los Angeles, we've almost given up on the idea to do it because prices are just too crazy right now.  I might revisit the idea in the future, but for now we are looking to invest outside of LA, unless we can miraculously find a great deal here.  If the numbers can work, it might be a great opportunity to own a cash-flowing property after you leave it.  I think that is what you also need to analyze.   What are you going to get in rent after you leave?  This is my problem with buying in the overheated market in Los Angeles at the moment...my mortgage will be cut in half by other tenants, but will I cash flow when I leave?  

It can come directly from the landlord.  The property management company that I work for has a legal team that drafts all of these notices, leases, addendums, disclosures, etc.  You can probably find a decent generic one online somewhere that might suit your needs, but contacting a real estate attorney might not be a bad idea either.  

Post a 3-day notice to pay or quit. That will usually get a response from a delinquent tenant. I post several of these a month. It's not fun but it is necessary when dealing with these types of situations. The eviction process here in Los Angeles is a long and tedious one. This is the first step toward eviction. In the 3 years I have been managing buildings, I luckily have never had to evict anyone but we have asked people to leave and have had them sign a 60-day notice to move because they were not abiding by the terms of their lease. The 60-day notice or some form of it might benefit you or could be an option to

Thanks, Sean!

Thanks, Marco!  

Yes, property management is a tough, and more often than not, underpaid job for quality management.  

See you around!

Hank

Great Podcast. Anyone who has not listened to it should. I put my 4-month old baby down to sleep, and luckily I got through it without interruption. Very insightful.

Thank you Larry!  I love Eugene, OR.  I've been up there many times when I used to travel more for work!  I used to love to run by the trails by the University.

Hi my name is Hank, and I am a new member to Bigger Pockets. I am a property manager in Los Angeles, CA. I manage buildings ranging from 35 units to 100+ units. There is a great wealth of information here. My wife and I are both property managers and investors.

Eric is right, and makes great points.  I am a property manager in Los Angeles, and as he wrote, you should be able to look at current leases to see what tenants are paying.  Or at least the rent roll.  But here in LA, the leases automatically go month-to-month after 1 year.  Sometimes, the uptick in rent is not always on the lease due to that reason.  It is simply a rent increase letter, they accept, and continue paying, with no need to update the lease.  That uptick should be in the rent roll. 

1.1 million for 4k square feet...sounds like LA prices...the prices out here are crazy...The cap rates on purchases here are so out of whack that it doesn't make sense for any "small-time" investor to purchase.  Ex:  There's a 2900 sq. foot duplex around the corner from where I manage that is going for $975K...it's in a nice area where Studio City meets Toluca Lake, but come on...almost a $1 million for Duplex...they are selling for land value for investors to tear down and rebuild or someone with cash because that price just does not make sense for someone who wants to finance a deal...there's a lot of that going on all over Los Angeles.

For what it's worth...I've seen substantial increases in rents in Los Angeles since 2012.  My wife and I used to manage a building in Sherman Oaks.  The 2+2's in that building were renting for $1595 then...when they go vacant now, our management company is pushing for close to $2k month...I've seen rent increases on vacant units at the properties I manage in the past year go from anywhere from as low as 5% in one year to more than 20%...one building where I go to help out, there's a vacant unit that the owner is pushing for an increase in rent of around 15%...there's a myriad of factors involved with these increases, but suffice it to say that rents in Los Angeles are getting very high...