All Forum Posts by: James Mc Ree

You will very likely need to address your current house's septic flow to get a subdivision as your city is very unlikely to approve the subdivision with your septic emptying onto what will become somebody else's property.

Jim.

Be stingy.  You aren't stealing.  You are making a deal.  You only have a deal if the seller agrees.  The seller won't agree if the offer isn't acceptable.

Post pictures, numbers and plans here if you want a quick BP analysis.

Jim.

I would make my offer conditional on an unoccupied property if you don't want the tenants.  You don't want to start of your new property experience with an eviction.  Let the current landlord who picked them handle that.

Jim.

I would let them move in with a due date for the remaining $70.  It's a small amount.

You have to compare it to the cost of another month or two of vacancy and the risk you assess of them not being able to pay the rent in the future and you have to evict them.  I've let tenants move in a little short like that and it worked out fine.

Jim.

The "Housing Choice Voucher Program" is the standard section 8 rental program.

It's hard to see why you would want to lend to someone who doesn't otherwise qualify for a loan.  Don't do it!  Your hard-earned money is screaming, "No, Judy!!!  Don't send us away.  We will never see you again!!!!"

Jim.

Flipping seems like something you could do in a year.  You need to think about if you want to own a rental in another state and how you will manage it after you move out of Enid.  I would vote flipping if you are comfortable with it - you are only tethered to the location for the duration of the flip and your friend could help with the sale if the process ran long without feeling overly burdened (hopefully).

Jim.

You could post a note on the door asking the owner to call you.

Jim.

Be sure to include taxes and fees.  I don't see them listed.  You might also have marketing expenses with turnover, in addition to vacancy.

Jim.

Welcome, Dan! Montgomery and surrounding counties are good areas to invest in southeastern Pennsylvania. I am in Chester County and invest primarily in SFR buy-and-holds in Delaware County. Feel free to contact me if you would like to chat.

Jim.

The buyer behavior described by the OP does not seem surprising at all.  The buyer seems to be exploring how much of a deal can be had.  I've done it with all of my purchases.  This is a negotiation.  The buyer is really asking, "What will you agree to?"

An inspection contingency allows the buyer to exit the deal if material defects are found.  Those two words are important: "material" and "defects".  As a poster noted above, "defects" are things that are broken versus just worn.  A leaky roof is broken.  An old sound roof is not broken.  It would be hard to argue that nonexistent features are defects (ie. house w/o gutters).  You can say "No" to these requests and be on relatively solid legal ground so long as the thing works as expected.

"Material" is a gray area, but generally means that a reasonable person would find this defect to be important.  That gives a wide latitude for interpretation, especially for a buyer looking to get out of a deal.  A door that doesn't open is probably a material defect (safety issue, if nothing else).  A door lacking a screen might not be material.

The real question is, "How much, if at all, will you as a seller yield on your price for these items?"  "Not at all" is a perfectly acceptable answer.  It might just mean your buyer exercises the contingency and exits the deal.  You have to decide what the negotiation is worth to you.

Jim.