All Forum Posts by: James M Smith

Hello All!  I am newer to the forums and relatively new to being a landlord.  I just purchased a home from another investor and it has a problem tenant in it.  Not destructive, dangerous, etc but chronically late and always someone else's fault.  Anyway, they have been pressuring me to provide a renewal rate at which I have said I would provide it at 90 days from renewal to provide ample time to make a decision.... They seemed appalled that I couldn't give them an answer 5 months in advance.  So, What kind of time frame do you experienced folks use for renewal rent amount increase?  Is 90 days reasonable, generous, or too short of notice for a rate increase/renewal notice?

I know some areas are very strict about this so I will say I am in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas metroplex which to my knowledge doesn't have any requirements for timeliness of renewal notifications (just 30 days if you are terminating the lease). 

Thanks in advance,

James

First deal out of the gate is straight into 7 unit commercial!  I FREAKIN LOVE IT! I have started in SFRs (3 rentals now, 20+ flips between me and my partner) We are looking into apartments now because the cashflow possibilities and forced appreciation are so attractive.  Thanks for sharing your story!

Ah, well... just realized this post is over two years old... 

According to every foundation contractor I have talked to Steel is the way to go as long as your soil is deeper then 20 feet to bedrock.  If your under that then Concrete is cheaper and will do 99.999% as well, from what I have been told.  The benefit to steel is that they can go to about 70 feet.  In my area, DFW, we just got a bid for 12 piers (perimeter) for $5,400 steel or about $3,600 concrete.  If you are planning to hold the property for an extended period of time I would go with steel (assuming you have enough soil depth) to ensure you don't have further sheetrock/door/leveling costs.  The concrete will likely do a great job but in my instance $1,800 is pretty cheap insurance to prevent additional sheetrock, texture, painting costs.  

Ok I am going to say upfront that this deal has a few moving pieces and perhaps half the purpose of this post is just to organize my thoughts.  I would love to hear your opinions on this deal.

4/2/2 - Off Market Arlington, Tx: Purchase 128k, ARV 169k, Repairs 5k

1. Requesting roof to be repaired/replaced before closing
2. Some foundation work is needed (and accompanying sheetrock)
3. Has a current tenant, good payer, with lease till Sept and she expressed an interest in renewing the 2 yr lease.  
4. This is an interest only private money funded deal at 100% @ 3.5% for 18 months with an option for the investor to extend for another 18 months  (I know we are lucky to have this lender and they have asked I not share their info :)
5. Investor Money - COC ROI 88.72% with a cashflow of $288.33 (Operating expenses of $668 making sure to budget for vacancy/repairs/cap expenses)
6. If the Investor doesn't renew in 18months and we have to seek traditional financing then we would either sale, since lease would be up at that point, or refi.  
   1. Refi money - COC ROI 24.72% with a cashflow of 107.33 same Op Exp.

I am crazy for even second guessing this deal, right?  Basically none of my money in it... I just don't like the tight cashflow situation with a traditional loan option.

I look forward to getting the input from the group.  Please let me know if you feel like I have left out a critical piece, I tried to distill it down to the pertinent info out of respect for your time.

Thanks,
James