All Forum Posts by: Janelle Carlson

Thanks everyone for the input! We currently live in a condo so we don't have a way to convert anything into an ADU. We have started looking into single family homes in the area with an ability to build an ADU as well to see if that is a better option than buying a multi unit.

Lot to think about and consider, but we appreciate everyone's advice! Thanks again!

@Will Barnard Thanks! That's great advice. If we move forward on this or something similar we will be asking for it to be delivered vacant.  

Hi @Chace Fraser

Thank you for the ideas. I am currently in the process of tapping into every resource I have that specializes in LA tenant laws. I know there are a lot of knowledgeable people on BP so I wanted to tap into this resource and get everyone's perspective/experience as well. 

I have been in contact with other realtors in my office including my broker about this, but still wanted to see what other active investors are coming across so I know what to avoid and be aware of as an investor and to better serve my clients.

My investors and developers most of the time negotiate to have the property delivered vacant in order to not even have to deal with troublesome tenants. LA also had a very recent rent control law that went into effect last month and wanted to get the communities perspective with this specific situation. Most of my developers use cash for keys, but that can get very pricy here as the tenant population is fairly educated with the laws in their favor. I also do not have the budget for a cash for keys situation so I need all the info I can get before house hacking my very own deal. 

@Lee Ripma

Thanks for the reply Lee! 

The city is in Los Angeles close to USC. Vermont Harbor - South LA. We are also looking into Hollywood, Sherman Oaks, or any other city around LA that would work. An SFR room renting house hack wouldn't be an ideal situation for us as we have dogs and would prefer our own unit.

What resources would you recommend for rent control and Tenant Landlord laws? 

Also, just for the general month to month situation, would you be able to not renew the lease and have him move or would it most likely require an eviction?

Hi BP! 

My husband and I have been considering moving from the suburbs into an LA Duplex 2+1 and a 1+1 for house hacking. There is a Section 8 Tenant in place in the one bedroom with under-market rents. We would like to renovate and move into that 1 bed unit and renting out the already renovated 2-bed unit (we don't need the extra bedroom). 

With the current Los Angeles laws in place, would we be able to not renew the lease with proper notice and have him move? I would put it in the purchase contract for property to be delivered vacant as well, and after inspections, part of our deposit could go hard to entice the seller if he is worried about the loss of rent if we don't close. 

If we end up having to get the tenant out would we be able to get him out without actually evicting him? I know that the process could take months here, and we would be banking on the rental income. Thanks in advance!

It usually depends on the details of the rental. We manage an SFR in Southern California that requires 30 minutes a month usually less. They are going on two years of renting and have been relatively great tenants.

For our out of state rentals, they require more managing as we are working with the PM companies to get them leased up. Usually, in a new market, you will spend more time getting them up and running. I would say 4 hours per week on the managing of our team and going over prepared statements from the PM company. Once the vacant units are filled it will be more of 1-2 hours per week.

My contractor will go to lowes for the materials so I can either order it online for him to pick up at the pro desk, or I just pay for the materials through him. We have established trust so I don't mind paying for the materials upfront for him to do the work.

The goal for us is to have passive income that allows us to work from anywhere and have a retirement plan since my husband and I both work as Real Estate Agents and self-employed. Receiving income from an investment of time and money at a previous point in time is what I would consider being passive. 

Thank you @Kaleb Provence and @Andrew Postell ! We will definitely check these things out. 

Hi Obadiah!

Keep us updated if you find someone who has successfully done this method or if you do it yourself. I was under the impression that the issue was the entity holding Title, not if there was a mortgage on the property or not. From my understanding, the entity holding title has to hold title for 6 months before refinancing it. If you found a bank who doesn't mind how long title has been held, thats great! Dig in deeper to their rules so you don't get burned in the long run.

I tried doing the delayed financing hack that was discussed in episode #301 and the guidelines apparently changed for the HUD. You can no longer at rehab costs to the HUD statement so definitely look into that before trying it yourself.

Hi Francisco,

My husband and I are both self employed and it has been very difficult trying to find lending for our refinances even though we have been self employed for 2 years almost 3. You may be able to find a commercial bank that will lend one of their products to you, but check to see what their minimum loan amount is. We are investing in a town where homes go for anywhere around $50,000-$100,000, but most commercial lenders we have talked to have a minimum loan amount of $75,000. This means we can only buy homes at around $100,000 because they lend 75% of the purchase price which would put us at their loan minimum of $75,000. 

Before doing anything, I would talk to most, if not, all the lenders in the area you are looking to invest in and ask them what their loan minimums are, what their seasoning period is, and how much they lend of the purchase price/appraisal (LTV).

I hope this helps!

Thank you all for the great advice! We're right at the market value price with the quality of our units as there are some pretty trashy units on the market right now for $100 less. We will probably do another price drop on the units we haven't gotten any interest on. We may have a new lease being signed on one of the units which is good news. 

It's weird, just found out that another property manager is leaving the company (that's 2 in the last 6 months out of the four). Would it be prudent to change property managers for the buildings that are 100% vacant, or just wether out the winter and see what happens until after the holiday season? 

Could be multiple factors, but everyone is right about the price as that is something I can really control now. 

We have a special first months rent 1/2 off but we might throw in a free tv as well... Found some great tv sales on BestBuy now. 200 for a 32 smart TV! Cheaper than vacancy...