All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I'm sorry.  I should have clarified.  The rest came the next day.  Typically "Oh, well.  I get paid every other week so it may be tough to get it to you right on the first."  Every time I hear that it causes me to lose a few more brain cells.  Then it's the, "Well, I can't control how long it takes the post office to deliver it."  We live 5 minutes from this house.  Envelope postmarked on the 5th.  We really are nice people.  I guess we just rented to one of those people that's always the victim.  When I spoke with her I reminded her what the lease says about late rent and told her that was the expectation moving forward and that I'd waive the late fee.  At this point I'm more concerned that we have a leak in a bathroom we just totally redid.  Thanks.

In hindsight, I should have met the plumber there to make sure.  We never got a bill for what would have been that call.  We had just had them do a huge job (part of it was that pipe), so we just assumed they didn't charge us.  Lesson learned on that part, for sure.

Hey BP,

So.  Just a short back story.  Second month of lease, the rent was 2 days late.  My wife texts, they say the rent is on the way.  Next day I get only $700 of what was supposed to be $1700.  Tenant explains you can only get a money order for $1,000 and they mailed them together so it should be there the next day.  I'm still not sure why she didn't just put it in the same envelope, but whatever.  After this, she texts my wife to ask if after a year it's month to month.  Basically she's mad that we asked her where her late rent was.  My wife and her have a brief exchange and she states how "patient" she was with us about a leaking pipe that we had called a plumber several weeks back to fix.  She stated that it continued to leak.  Her wording was odd so we couldn't really tell if it was currently leaking or not.  Texted her today to clarify if it was still leaking.  No response.  What do we do?

As always.  Thanks for the help.

Hey BP,

A friend of mine wants to invest some money with me. He's looking at about $25k and looking for 8.5%. No time frame or terms have been nailed down yet. Anyway, the idea to start will be that I buy a house for right around $75k. I put in $50k from a HELOC and he puts in the $25k. He'd be in first lien position. He sent me an email today and asked a couple questions I kind of know the answer to, but just wanted to see if somebody could spell it out for me in a way that both HE & I will understand. I do currently have some traditional financing in the works at a much better rate, but, and correct me if I'm wrong, that may dry up at some point and I think it's a good idea to start building relationships with folks like this. Basically, could you just how the money works. I'm assuming he'd bring a check made out to the title company to the closing. Also, how does the recording of the agreement go or what's involved in that. I know title companies do it all the time, I'm just looking for a simple explanation, I guess. As always, thanks in advance for the invaluable advice.

Tenant signed a lease beginning this month.  We had the electric in our names until today.  New tenants told us they switched it into their names, energy company said that the tenant never called.  Now the tenants don't have any power and the electric company says they can't turn it on until Wednesday.  What should I do?  Thanks, BP.

Hello Drew,

Welcome. That's great. You sound like me at that point in my life. I bought my first duplex at 21. First off, if by turnkey you mean rent ready (I assume), I'd stick with Brandon's (Turner) advice since it seems you're looking to do the BRRRR strategy. I would buy something like a light rehab. Patch, paint, carpet, maybe some new cabinets or something like that. See if there's a local REIA in your area and get to know those folks. The membership fee will more than pay for itself. I'm not a big fan of waiting. When I was your age, I got my grandpa to co-sign a mortgage with me. It was basically him who got the financing. It sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders and I'm sure you have someone in your family who agrees. I'd say go for the duplex now. Who knows, you could find a tri or a quad in your price range, too. My duplex had a 1 br unit and a 3 br unit. I lived in the 1 br and rented out the top 2 floors. It only had one furnace and the upstairs tenant paid the heat for the whole place. I owned this house for about 15 years and it served me very well. I hope this helps and best of luck to you. But definitely buy something where you can do some work and force some appreciation right off the bat. The world needs more young people like yourself.

Hey, BP.  I've got a friend of mine who is maxed out in the stock market (as much as he really wants to put in) and he recently approached me about investing with me.  I explained to him briefly about how private lending works.  We have a lunch meeting tomorrow.  He has about $25k he wants to put to work.  While that's not really enough for me to buy a house with, I am in the process of starting another business that $25k would work great for.  I'd like to build a good relationship with him and eventually convince him to move some of that stock market money into my hands.  Would a promissory note work for something like this?  Do I have to get it recorded like you would a mortgage.  He doesn't seemed concerned about having the money secured; however, I just want to make him feel as comfortable as possible and dot all my i's and cross all my t's.  I think this guy is a great person and he's proven to me time and again that he has a wonderful heart.  He's a genuine guy and I just want to do right by him.  As always, thanks for the help.

Okay.  Here's where we're at with this.  We had some back and forth today and finally settled on $1200.  A few hours later he sends me a text saying writing a bad check over $1,000 is a felony.  The police said it's not because the check was good but the payment was stopped.  It's not the same thing.  I told him that and he says now he'll move forward.  I'm guessing he wants to take it to court.  There's no signed contract and the texts show he has no idea what his actual numbers are.  My attorney told me it would cost him $750 to file the lien (if there was any chance he actually "won").  Also, I plan to hold this house for a VERY LONG time.  It would behoove him to take the $1200.  Am I wrong.  Anything I'm missing here?  As always, thanks BP.

My bad.  He said initially he was just going to tear out the tiles around the tub. But then, he said to leave the tiles up there it would cause damage to the tub when tearing them down later. Which I could've easily done before he started.

Okay.  So, I called my attorney and he said to come to an agreement on the work that's been done and agree on a price for the work that's been done.  He took out the old tub (and left it in the front yard with a sign that said "FREE SCRAP FU@#ING TAKE ME"), put in the new tub, not connected, just sitting there, replaced drains going from vanity, toilet and tub down into basement all the way to the clean out on the basement floor.  The tup is porcelain coated steel, so about $150.  Some PVC drain pipe, (not sure where he's getting $1k for parts).  Also demoed the tile in the bath (which we didn't agree to).  Anybody have any general ballpark ideas on a figure?  Again, I am in no way trying to screw this guy over.  I'm a fair person and believe in the golden rule.  Thanks for the help, BP.