All Forum Posts by: Jack B.

As I stated I had been cutting her a break by renting $400 below market....Not that I was cutting her a break by raising the rent $400

Here it is again:

They gave 20 days notice after I raised their rent $400 a month to market rate. I was cutting them a break until I saw all the damage they had done...

As in...I raised their rent to market when I saw they were not taking care of the place. Not egregious enough to evict, but enough not to lose money on them.

Since we are on the topic of misinterpretation, I think you misunderstand the residential landlord tenant lease provided by the AG's office. The lease template is written by attorneys. They provide a lease agreement that is to the letter of WA state law, and even cites RCW's. It states therein that:

Resident is responsible for

rent lost by Owner while performing repairs and/or cleaning because of Residents failure to comply with the foregoing. The Inventory and Inspection Checklist will

be used to determine the refund of security deposit at the end of this tenancy.

Furthermore, as I said I have pictures of the carpet before and no damage. Now I have lot's of pictures of a carpet that looks like it was used as a plate. 

I hear what you're saying about court, but if it costs me 3K to replace the carpet and only a few bucks for small claims court fees and a few bucks for a process server, it's worth it. Also, I can apparently just send them to collections without a legal claim in court. They have to dispute it with the credit agency or via court if they don't agree.

I actually crunched the numbers due to lack of many responses when I posted this and looked at what the costs were for three paths I could take.

The numbers say I'm better off fixing these up and holding until I move. As do the risks. Why? Factoring in fees for realtors, excise tax, 10-31 broker, closing costs, AND the fact that I will likely have to spruce the roof and paint up to sell in a timely manner anyways, AND the transaction costs of buying replacement properties with loans here (vs. cash) and then risking tenants trashing those places which would leave me with even more repair work, etc. you see where I'm going with this...

Plus, if I sell and repurchase now and the market tanks, I'm in a bad spot. Not only that, the properties I want to buy don't cash flow anymore, so I'm gambling on equity. Only reason I have cash flow in my market was due to the timing and buying strategy.

Right now I have cash flow AND equity gains. If the market turns, I can quickly sell and still make a huge profit as it's going down. But that's only because I bought at the bottom. Plus I'd still be making money off the rents. If I repurchase here now and the market tanks, I can't sell and I can't make money from rents...

A numbers and risk analysis I did showed me that keeping them is the safest and most profitable option.

As I had just stated, I can. It is allowed per the lease which has the state law on the matter written into it. 

No, they are not breaking a lease, they are on a month to month. They gave 20 days notice after I raised their rent $400 a month to market rate. I was cutting them a break until I saw all the damage they had done...

I'm more wondering if I can pursue damages for the lost months rent not only for the fact that it will take time to turn, but also, nobody would rent this place in this condition, and I can't exactly replace it while she is living there, nor would I; I'd end up replacing it twice in a month...

Carpet is so trashed that it may need to be replaced. They will shampoo as required by the lease before leaving for Texas (they even said so), but judging by the type and amount of stains on what was spotless carpet before, I feel it's more likely it will need to be replaced. 

Damage deposit will of course not cover that. I have a lease, with the address of the bank for the deposit and a condition inventory from when they moved in AND pictures of before and here pretty soon, after. So I think I'm airtight legally.

Since the tenant is moving out of state, I suspect that if she doesn't send payment for the bill related to the damages I will send her, filing a case in small claims court will likely make me the default winner, not because I have all the documentation, but because she isn't going to be able to afford to fly here to defend herself. 

Since I will be getting her new address in Texas where she is moving to, I can have a process server deliver the notice to her if it goes that far. Of course even if I win a judgement I doubt I will get any money from her, but at this point, she isn't going to get away with it without a huge ding to her credit and background.

Also, I wonder if I can pursue the lost rent for the month it takes to turn. Lease says I can, and it's the lease provided by the state attorney generals office for landlords in WA. As of now I've been unable to rent the place to a new tenant because of the condition of the place.

 Is it best to sell some of my houses next year and reinvest via 1031 exchange into a more expensive property in an effort to avoid capex and as a side benefit, increase appreciation potential? Or perhaps reinvest in a cash flow rather than equity market so I don't have to worry about the market tanking? During an up market, the appreciation gains will be better here on a more expensive property, and although I don't expect the market to turn for a few years to come, it is a risk once I buy, as the market could turn, whereas right now even if it turned I could sell and still reap huge profits. But if I hold I'll have to pay out capex. I could as I said, mitigate the risk or market turns by buying cash flow properties in say, Florida, where I plan on moving in 5 years anyways. So I can either buy here for more appreciation or there NOW for cash flow, instead of waiting the 5 years and slowly accelerate my plan relocation.

Although I was planning on selling in 5 years and moving to Florida, I'm coming up on major cap ex for two roofs, paint, furnace, etc. I'm not even sure I can avoid some of the capex to sell, as the roofs may need to be replaced to get financing. I'll post pictures of one of them below. The other one is in much better condition so if this one passes muster the other one will likely too.

I've had the properties 4-6 years and I've heard it said that it's best to sell within 3-7 years to avoid the capex and reinvest the money from one house into two, etc. Of course when I sell and repurchase I'm hitting transaction costs, which I will hit twice since I planned on selling all of these houses in a few years and reinvesting elsewhere. But if I need to avoid capex, I'll get hit with transaction costs twice, once now and once again later, which will basically be more than the capex probably.

Front of house worth about 270K

Back has a section with some moss I could remove....

Another back section with less moss

No, not moving here from out of state, my point was that your asertion that the utilities follow them is not true. Utilities are usually city specific and most of my tenants are moving into my rentals from other local cities and moving out tp other local cities, except the tenant in question who is moving out of state.

 Any liberal state will really look like this...The more liberal the worse it usually is. 

I think it's a good idea to use multiple agents. This way you can get in when they are busy with vacation or not available for a day or two. Ideally you'd get your own license. 

Personally I've had two realtors to date, and am looking for a new one. They get two comfortable with me after a while and they lose their touch, thinking they can just unlock the door and collect a check on a property I did all the leg work on...

Frankly I think your realtor is less important than having multiple realtors. At the end of the day, the most important function they serve for me is unlocking the door so I can take a look. 

 Right, except that only works if they are moving within the same town. Garbage, water, electricity, etc. are not state or national services...Almost all my tenants move to another town or come from another town in the area. The one in question above is moving to Texas...

As far as leaving crap behind making it harder for them to get future housing, this is also a logical fallacy. Usually when they move out they've already secured a place to live and have been given a reference...

I do agree on the move out inspection though...

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