All Forum Posts by: Harriet Baldwin

Some IT managers describe a protocol of "2 step verification" - something you HAVE, and something you KNOW.  

You could do this at 2 stages: when registering an email (the 'we'll activate your account when you respond to/click through from/enter the code in the email we're sending to you' approach) and when verifying the house address - they now "have" the one time verification code and they "know" their login.  You could have them define a PIN number in the initial account setup, so they have to enter the verification code AND their PIN number...

Definitely send the verification code letter only to the physical location.  You could send an additional "someone has listed your property at 123 Main St" letter to whatever mailing address the assessor has as the owner address.  And you could set a listing to "validated" only after the first paying guest stays there and reviews.  

Not sure any system is fraud-proof, aim for fraud resistant and weeding out 99% of the liars :)

Definitely have them ask their local Section 8 case manager.  I am guessing that they are both on the Section 8 case, since they are both on the lease - you might want to double check that before they call.

In my experience, change in household makeup means 2 different recalculations - income (assuming household income would fall when 1 person dies, likely the tenant portion of rent would go down/section 8 portion would go up) and type of unit/number of bedrooms (for a 2 adult household going to 1 adult, likely no change).  I don't know if death being the reason for a change in the household makes any difference...

Section 8 program administration details seem to be quite local, so double checking is the best thing to do!  Sometimes the initial recalculation is a bit premature or incorrect, and after following up the client will get a second, more accurate/permanent figure.

@Account Closed, your're welcome.  

Forgot to mention that our company actually was licensed in CT for a while as a home renovation contractor - made it a lot easier to act as our own GC on mid-size projects.  With enough active construction, that's another tack folks can consider - get your own company licensed and insured, and you are very well covered when you hire folks to do work.  Of course you are in a sense adopting them so it's even more important to check them out before the first job they do for you...

@Account Closed let me see if I can address your curiosity.  I think it boils down to 'do as the local custom does'.

When we were in CT, it had state-wide licenses and we stuck with licensed companies for plumbing, electric and large jobs, but did have an unlicensed handyman we used for minor stuff (also we had a fair amount of insurance...).

In New York state, there aren't state wide licenses.  Some municipalities that don't require a given license also don't have a clear mechanism for issuing said license.  With no state-issued licenses, you'd be getting at least 4 separate licenses in our area.  So licensing seems to be viewed as an unnecessary expense and hassle by all but the larger (10+ employee) operations.

The size of metro area may also be a factor.  Our cost of living is low enough that you can make a nice living as an HVAC contractor with one main helper.  The smaller electric and HVAC contractors that we use are not licensed but they are insured.  Also, it's a small enough area that references work (folks will tell you what they really think of the contractor - and contractors talk to each other as well).

Related topic - pulling permits.  I assume this is the case in most areas, but here you can't pull a permit without workman's comp coverage (or a waiver).  And most contractor's insurance covers them only if they have pulled a permit (if a permit is required for the work).  So if you are paying someone else to do work, err on the side of getting a permit!

If you can get estoppels from the current tenants (confirming terms of their leases), that would be helpful.  We have had some situations where what the seller told us and what the tenants told us did not match.  Definitely the minority of sellers, but never hurts to double check!

If the seller has a written lease that is still in force (hasn't gone month-to-month), that is probably enough.

I would not change the locks unless there is some particular reason to.

Definitely licensed, IF your area requires a license.

I put more stock in "insured" than in "licensed".  Believe it or not, in our area electricians are not required to be licensed (and individual municipalities can choose whether & how to license them).  I'm guessing there are other areas where licensing is similarly balkanized.

(Meanwhile, plumbers do have to be licensed in our city - even though local consensus is that a bad electrician could create a bigger problem faster than a bad plumber...we all guess that there was some past natural gas disaster that lead to the plumbing license requirement.)

Depending on your tax situation, could you prepay enough expenses to offset the (prepaid) income? Or, have you maxed out all tax deductions (IRA and/or Roth IRA contributions, HSA, etc)?

That way you are actually collecting all the rent upfront (and don't have to worry about "oh, I forgot -sorry" nsf when you cash the check on Jan 2nd).

Talk to your accountant or tax professional, they will have structures or ideas to help.

I admit, I don't always return each reference inquiry.  If I pick up the phone, I do answer truthfully and at worst try to stick to actual public info (at best I'll give some actual details/personal opinion).  Used to be if I missed a call (and get a voice mail) and it might be...awkward to discuss the tenant, I would wait until a second incoming call before responding.  

Oddly, most of the folks who call are checking on tenants who I either had to give a pay-or-quit notice to or have actually evicted. I had a former tenant with an anger management issue. Since the new landlord was calling me, I assumed they were checking public records and would clearly see the nature of the person...I was relieved that the landlord called just once and got voice mail. I know, I'm chicken!

The last reference check inquiry was from a landlord I didn't know but it was a really good conversation between the two of us; her response suggested the vast majority of folks do not call her back...(maybe I'm getting better, that was definitely an awkward situation for the tenant).

Big picture (beyond the calculations and financial definitions), buying for cash is most powerful when properties can't be financed (not habitable, too inexpensive for owner/occupant mortgage, etc.).  There are usually fewer cash buyers in a market, so you have fewer competitors.

I have come to believe that in most cases the ideal amount of leverage is as much a function of the risk tolerance of the borrower as it is a product of the financial calculations. In the same market and with identical bank balances, some folks will be happy with a 90% portfolio LTV and others with 80% or 60% or...

The installation of the existing wall ovens looks VERY similar to our own home (except we had original 1955 wall ovens). 

@Greg H. and @Mary lou L. I like the 'reconfigure for a slide in range' idea - although this wasn't a good option in our home.

Four years ago, we found that Sears/Kenmore had the widest variety of sizes available (we needed 24" wide, which isn't exactly standard today).  As long as the new ovens in total are taller than the old ones , it may be easy for a carpenter to reconfigure (even if you end up losing a bit of cabinet space).  Also, most wall ovens aren't exactly 24/30/36" wide, make sure to look at the actual specs for dimensions if you are trying to keep the existing surround or cabinetry.

You can borrow cabinet door/facing material by converting some existing cupboard to an open cubby, or you can change the facing material at the wall oven completely (think 'accent column' as a concept).  We got the necessary material by converting the existing wood doors on cabinets above a pass-through to glass (used stereo cabinet hardware) - as a bonus, this helped make the kitchen a lot more 'open'.