All Forum Posts by: Heather Finley

Is it not legal to have someone pay you an assignment fee if they take over your contract?

thanks for everyone's input. very helpful. I told the tenants it won't work and is a liability. Hopefully they're respect that. But some of these comments make me wonder about doing something more.

My original idea to have a gas fireplace _insert_ put in for $2000 is accurate (and on the low side, including labor).
The insert is different than gas logs, and much more fuel efficient. The insert can actually serve as a furnace. Maybe I can find a used one somewhere.

Thanks!

Heather

Hello.

I posted before...newbie landlady. I have a single family house I'm renting to 3 college students. The house has a wood burning fireplace with a separate flue from the gas forced hot air furnace.
My original idea was to convert it to gas, but money is tight and I'd rather not spend 2K for that project.

I asked my insurance rep, and he discouraged me from using the fireplace as it is, given the college student factor. He said my policy does include coverage for fire damage, and also said to be sure it's inspected and cleaned regularly. So my insurance doesn't prohibit it, but the rep discouraged use.

My tenants have been asking me if they can use it.
The previous owners say it works fine. I would like to offer the fireplace to the tenants, but am curious about the opinions of veteran landlords.

Thanks.

Heather

great article.
thanks so much :D

thanks for your input.

Yes, I was thinking of doing a like kind exchange, not moving into it right away, but eventually. That's a great reminder though...

I tried to view the article listed, but the url came back as unable to display.
Please let me know when the article is up and running, or if you're able to cut and paste into the post, that would be most informative.

Thank you!

thanks

Thanks so much for your suggestions.
I've never heard of that party wall agreement and will ask the city officials about options.

I appreciate your thoughts.
Heather

Hello.

I'm new and noticed a couple people had "under investigation" listed next to their user name.
What does this mean?

Thank you.

Ah yes, I have been a landlady for 2 months now :lol:
I intended to do a lease option, but my numbers didn't work well enough to draw potential tenant buyers to the property. So I thought I would rent it out for a year, which would buy me time to investigate the possibility of building on the land (which I described in another post) and then selling at the end of my tenants' lease.

This is an SFR that I was thinking of selling to a family who plans to live in it.
I have never lived in the property and bought it because it was in a pretty good location, and I had about 50K+ equity from the get go.

I didn't realize flips were not allowed to be used for 1031's.
How long must you own a house before you can use the gains for 1031?

One idea I have is to continue exchanging property until I get a cash flow situation that works very well (the current one does not) or until I can trade into a house that I would want to move into...live there a couple years, then take advantage of the 250 tax free gain.

I think I answered many of the questions listed above.
Any additional thoughts/ideas/suggestions/clarifications are welcome.

And by the way...this forum is VERY helpful.
Thanks to those of you who are experienced and willing to show us newbies the ropes!

Heather

Has anyone ever tied up a property with a purchase contract and a short time period (7-21 days), as long as the seller will allow,
and then auctioned the house (with a reserve) via the internet or locally?

If so, I'd love to hear the step by step process...including good online sites and how to include an assignment fee to the auction.

or the pro's and con's of why you have chosen or not chosen to use that strategy.

Many thanks!

Heather