All Forum Posts by: Harriet Baldwin

@Michael Hunt, your question may be as much about personal/family finances as it is about real estate.  You may want to check out some personal finance websites (mr. money mustache is a favorite of mine) for ways to lovingly-but firmly- set financial boundaries with family members.  

I may be off base, but sounds like the money is yours, and you are supporting/donating to other family members?  It's great if you can afford it, but "while I still have enough cash" is a worrisome phrase (and may suggest that your capital isn't quite sufficient for independent flipping, at least not yet). There's a difference between one-time help and long-term enabling, only you will know where your situation falls along that spectrum.

Agree with @Ethan Atkinson and @Patrick Soukup - entering as a lender or $ partner might be a good route if you determine REI is the right thing for you to do now.

@Nicole Wood, I second @Robert White's comments on the Binghampton REIA - it is a bit of a hike for you, but good group of folks. We come from Elmira and there are a few from Corning who come as well.

I just checked realtor.com and there are 8 multi-families on the market in Bath for under $100,000. If you are thinking more single family, there are 33 on realtor.com in Bath for under $100,000. The numbers in Bath may be different than larger markets, but I would think there is plenty of room for you to get started right at home. Once folks in the area know that you are interested in buying, you will likely find that deals come to you that aren't on MLS. The Steuben County tax auction is another source you might want to look at (in 2015 it was held in July - would assume similar for 2016).

 I like your thinking, @Account Closed .  However, real estate is an excluded category for Small Business Lending last I knew. Not sure how property management would fall.

Separately, there may be some local development money available for real estate (more often renovation than acquisition, but every bit helps!).

If there is an economic development office where you (want to) invest, they could give you more details!

Was a story on NPR this morning about the federal push to get permanent housing for Veterans (story here).  Mentioned that the state of Minnesota is offering incentives of $1,000 for each Vet (newly) housed by the end of January.  A DC initiative was also mentioned.

As the story quotes Eric Grumdahl of MN, "we are asking landlords to affirmatively choose to house veterans who, frankly, in this market would be very easy to screen out..." - but if you have appropriate housing, having the incentives certainly helps!

Didn't see another mention on BP, so figured I'd spread the word.  May well be programs in other areas as well.

This happened to me in my own residence.

If you want to go above and beyond, get them a simple oven thermometer (under $10 at the grocery store).  Then they can still use the oven, just have to turn it off manually when it gets up to temp, and experiment a bit with how frequently to turn it back on to keep temp steady.  

No need to go into too much detail if you go this route - a simple "hey, this might help until the new oven arrives" should do it.

@Darrell Morris, unless you left out some details it doesn't sound like there was any damage that would be a basis for legal action on the tenant's part (what did they "lose"?  there was an issue and you dealt with it immediately) - not legal advice!

Also, unless your insurance covers all mechanicals (usually an additional rider) and this was a failure of the fireplace (not the connections to the fireplace), I would be surprised if your insurance applies here.  Even if it did, I am guessing your deductible is higher than $500.  

There are two schools of thought on calling the insurer but I would not call my insurer in this case - see @Yinan Q. for the other school :)    If there were major damage that would likely be covered, I would definitely call my insurer!  But for small items with no actual change in the building, I would not.  Claims on small items can (but may not always) make it more difficult to collect on large items and/or to get the policy renewed; small claims may also put upward pressure on your future premiums.

Some folks like lists, others a white board, others a dayplanner type binder.  Feel free to experiment & stick with what works.  I'm a list person, so lots of Excel ;)

Some things make sense to keep in a property file for each property, others are more 'daily operations' and go in folders by date.  Imo the more you put in folders by date (Jan 2016, Feb 2016 etc), the easier, as long as the transaction info is electronic you can find any receipt easily.  However, when we had a large office in CT our book keeper put every receipt in the property it was related to, and for general expenses did everything by vendor (no date folders except for bank statements).  So, as long as you can find what you need, no worries!  

Edited to say, what @johnthedford said! (simulpost)

not legal advice, and others will chime in, but I would not pay taxes ahead, I would do so as part of closing.  The first property we bought here in Elmira had significant back taxes, which we paid as part of closing (came out of proceeds due seller).  

Deal structure, check with a local attorney who is comfortable doing this.  You could structure as a land contract, or as seller financing...whatever you do, you will want to have everything recorded (either the land contract, or the deed and mortgage).  Others on BP have a lot more will experience, listen to them as to the best structure.  

Personally as a buyer I think I would prefer to structure as the seller loaning me the money to buy the property - a little more straight forward imo.

Makes sense @Ryan Gillette.  Thanks!

Question: does anyone know if there are Fannie/Freddie, FHA or VA rules that require a forced air system to be ducted to all parts of the house? Or is there a standard that allows non-ducted registers for 2nd floor areas?

Older homes in our area often have a functioning forced air furnace with ducts for all 1st floor rooms but gravity registers (basically holes-with-grills through the 1st fl ceiling/2nd fl floor) for the 2nd floor.  I assume these systems were mostly updates of old octopus systems (fully gravity fed).

Local HVAC guys suggest leaving as-is unless someone wants to put AC in - but if we can avoid limiting the (future) borrowers to non-conforming products, that would be good!