All Forum Posts by: James Mc Ree

Absolutely, go to college and get a worthwhile degree, especially if you have a free ride!!!!

Why? Real estate investment involves having money to make money. You will earn much more with a college degree than without and you will understand the world better. You will need to save that initial income to buy your first properties, get your mortgages, etc.

You don't need a college degree to swing a hammer, but that psychology class could come in handy negotiating with a difficult tenant. The accounting class will help you keep your books in order and understand your taxes. The marketing class will help you keep your STRs and LTRs leased.

Be careful to avoid analysis paralysis. In depth knowledge of a city's economy is not necessary if you are buying a single SFR. Some knowledge is helpful for sure, but you don't need to become an economist. Location and paying attention to Nathan's points above about the immediate area are more important. Consider sourcing a local REI group for that info.

I recommend evaluating your local area first since that is what you are most familiar with and most accessible. The local property will give you practical management experience.

You might do better buying a REIT if you are planning to buy single properties far from home.

Do you get a benefit for allowing the tenant to have the dog, such as a pet fee? If not, all I see is risk with no reward. I charge a scaled pet fee based on the size of the dog with a premium for high risk dogs. It would be a very expensive pet in one of my rentals - so much so that the tenant would decide it wasn't worth it or go somewhere else. I also require the tenant to have renters insurance with liability coverage for me and them.

More information is needed for the root causes of your plumbing issues to lay blame. It is likely your tenants are responsible for causing fixture clogs. It is very unlikely your tenants are responsible for a sewer lateral failure. They fail over time.

Your lease will say what your tenants are responsible for ordinary use plumbing issues. They are almost certainly responsible for issues caused by abnormal use or abuse, such as a kid sinking his battleship into the toilet. You will probably need support from your plumber to make your tenant responsible.

Would I sell because of this? No, but I don't know the root causes. You have to disclose all of this when you sell, so you will end up paying your plumber or discounting to your buyer.

Your answer will most likely lie in your lease. Others' experiences might not matter as much as their leases are different. What options does your lease give you?

Most mortgages say the lender has the right to buy homeowner's insurance for you if you don't prove you have it. Does your lease allow you to buy renter's insurance and charge the tenant?

My leases say I can charge my tenants anytime I do something or pay for something they are responsible for. I haven't had a renter's insurance issue, but have done this for maintenance items. You might be able to go this route if your lease says something to that effect.

Without lease support, you can write them a letter informing them they are in violation of the terms of their lease due to the lack of proof of insurance. Tell them they have until [Date] to show you proof of insurance or move out of the property. You can add that you will buy the insurance for them and charge them if they remain in the property after [Date]. Alternatively, you can tell them you will charge their security deposit for it, but that becomes a charge against your security for the property.

You should consider whether you really want them out of the property with regards to the above paragraph. You can drop the move-out part and just go with the buy-for part if you don't want to push them out. Otherwise, you can go the other way if you want them out. If it were me with my tenants, I would go with the buy-for option and just charge them.

Next time, update your lease and don't let them have the keys until they show you proof of insurance.

There are 2 big categories of answers to your question: Friendly/cooperative neighbor and not. The former is easy to work with and may let you do what you want if they agree with replacing the fence. The latter might not let you do anything and is more likely if they don't like your tenants.

I see 3 scenarios:

The fence is on your property. You can do whatever you want.

The fence is on their property. You can't do anything without their permission.

The fence is right on the property line. You can't do anything without their permission and should rebuild it a few inches towards your property so it is entirely on your property and you avoid this problem in the future.

If it were me, I would talk with my neighbor, "Hey, what do you think of this fence?" The conversation may lead to some form of "Would you mind if I replace it?" and "Will you help?" Keeping it friendly and low intensity is more likely to be successful.

I recently offered to completely replace my neighbor's fence next to my rental and they said "No". The fence is their fence on their property. It is a 1950-built cyclone fence in poor condition. They love the nostalgia of it and wouldn't consider replacing such an important and historical thing.

There is no script that will lead you to success in this, but friendly and collaborative will help. I suggest you put money into the deal with labor.

Dimensional variances are usually the easiest to get, but that doesn't mean they are easy. Negligible changes called "diminimus" are the easiest, but they are along the lines of 1 foot out of a 50 foot setback. Basically, the more you ask for relief as a percentage of the total, the harder it will be.

You will need to show a hardship that you did not create. That would be your house on the property line. You would then want to propose the minimum relief you need that creates the least variance. That is often a matter of opinion and will depend on the attitude of your municipality.

Most municipalities do not require neighborhood approval, but will offer the public opportunities to provide input which will be considered. It's usually best to talk with your neighbors about your plans and get their support as one of the variance tests is that the requested relief does not cause a public health issue or alter the essential character of the neighborhood.

Try googling "tests for a variance in [your state]" and talk with your local zoning department. You will probably want to engage an engineer to provide an engineered plan for the lots and attorney who frequently presents variance cases. The engineer should be able to advise on the best lot line outcome, especially if there are physical circumstances to consider, such as wetlands.

You do not need separate checking accounts for each property if the ownership is the same. I operate 14 properties from the same checking account. Separate accounts per property incurs a lot of overhead, such as minimum balances or fees for missing the minimum.

I use separate accounts for each tenant's security deposits. Look for safe accounts that pay good interest or dividends to grow your security. Since this is the tenant's money, I want the bank calculating and holding everything versus storing balances in my spreadsheet. ("Oh no, my spreadsheet is lost, hacked...")

You wrote you are paying out of pocket for the 2nd property's expenses. Be sure that is the LLC's pocket if that property is in the LLC so you are not comingling.

Of course it is a red flag! Talk with the HOA. Considering it is already 2025 and they don't have a budget, you might also have an incompetent HOA to deal with.

Contact the HOA yourself. See if they will give you an estimate of the assessment for the property. They might refuse since you are not the owner. In that case, get the seller to call. Ideally, you want something in writing, but that is probably unlikely since no one will want to stand behind a not-yet-final number. You should be able to get something like the assessment will not exceed X.

As to the negotiation with the Seller, what are you willing to accept for the assessment? You could agree with the Seller that you will accept up to $10,000 in the special assessment and the seller covers the remainder. Is that still a good deal for you? What if it is $30k? Check your model to see what works and how much you are willing to accept.