All Forum Posts by: Jan H.

Not sure about PA, but in CA you can't. I would think that PA must be similar due to both states are pretty liberal and tenant friendly.

Please note that (depending if it's in your lease), changing the locks violates the lease and cause for eviction, hence you would not need to give a 30-day notice. In CA only a 3-day notice is required when a tenant breaks a lease. My lease clearly explains that locks can not be changed without prior written approval of the landlord. I think late fees can't even be claimed in eviction court, only in small claims.

If the damaged caused by rodents and you have a rodent/pest control clause in your lease clearly making the tenants responsible,it's theirs.

Otherwise it would be the landlord's duty.

I started to include this clause into all my leases after my first roach problem...

@Marcia Maynard, thank you for taking the time and responding, appreciate it!

Yes, I do have clauses in the rental agreement , and yes it's my mistake not enforcing them. I must add, that I only recently discovered the dogs and unauthorized tenants. Usually do my inspections in every 3-4 months.

So, you're saying that the tenants on the new lease would also be responsible for the original condition of the property? 

I was planning on screen the added tenants as I would do with any new lease.

No doubt that the market is softer in most areas. The Bay Area is one exception I think where the 'Valley Boom' is alive. One of my friends who is an engineer at Apple told me he was going to clear $400k this year (he is not a senior manage, not even middle...). How can ordinary workers live in Cupertino, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, etc??? Rents are ridiculously high and buying is crazy...

No one had a crystal ball and no one can predict the market. To me, the RE market is similar to the stock market: crowd behavior. Stock prices most often have nothing to do with the company's performance (for the most part), but have everything to do with the perceptions of the investors and where they think the company will be in a year or two.

I too, think that a correction is coming..

I wonder if anyone out there has started to sell their RE assets and just sit on cash, waiting for lower prices?

Hello BP community, 

This is going to be a long-winded post, so please bare with me...:)

A 24-month lease is coming up for renewal for one of our properties and before I agree to renew with the tenant(s) I wanted to check if someone has been in a similar situation as this case may be a bit complex...

I leased my property to an elderly couple, a sister of the wife. Unfortunately, last year both elderly females (sisters) passed away and the only person been left on the lease is the widowed husband. They have been really good tenants and paid rent on time, looked after the property, etc.

He would like to stay in the property and renew the lease, however, there are other family members staying on the property too now who were not on the lease originally. Please note that this is a 2-unit property, so there is plenty of space.

Question 1: Can I add more people on the same lease that was signed almost 2-years ago and just extend the original lease? I am planning to screen the family members who would go on the extension and the rent will be increased by a certain amount.

Question 2: Can the new tenants be responsible for the condition of the property currently if they sign the lease extension and get added to the original lease? Of course, I will clarify that they agree to abide to the same T&Cs as per the original lease.

Here is a twist: We just discovered that they did not pay the garbage bill since they moved in and the past due charge was placed on the tax bill. The gentleman verbally promised me that he would pay this by beginning of next month. We also learned that they also owe these charges for 2015, which they agreed to pay asap. They also have 2 dogs now without permission.

I was thinking of giving him a 15-day Notice to cure Violations or Move Out notice to just protect myself (in the past I was generous enough to try helping tenants that backfired on me). 

I understand that I only have to provide a 3-day notice by law, but being hopeful, I must believe that they will pay all past-due amounts within 2 weeks, remove the dogs and we can continue talking about the lease extension.

Question 3: Can I serve a 15-day notice instead of the 3-day Notice?

If someone has any experience with such a matter or advice, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!

Buyers market is when there is a lot of inventory and lack of demand. Generally, buyers have many properties to chose from and buyers dictate the terms of the transaction as they have more leverage and negotiating ability over sellers.

Sellers market is the opposite, when demand is high; inventory is low and buyers are bidding on properties to get them. Sellers usually get higher than asking price for their properties and often do not have make concessions to the buyer.

Does this make sense?

Hi All, wanted to ask for some advice before I proceed with collecting. I obtained a judgement through small claims ($5k) against a couple who stopped paying rent and damaged my property. My question is what the simplest way (if there is any) to go after them. I know that they do not have much (they own a car for sure), but I do not want them to get away with this so easy. Does the judgement show up on their credit by default, or do I have to do anything else? Did anyone have some experience collecting? Is it worth going back to court and have them declare everything they own, their jobs, bank accounts, etc?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

@David C.- no kidding...This market crazyness reminds me of 2004-2006 when everyone "have to get in and ride the appreciation train"....including myself. I learned my lesson for sure. Even in the far east side of the Bay Area where we live, I see the same pattern: emotional crazyness which is a deadly combo. People say that this time it's different because the loan guidelines are stricter and people can't get into negam loans etc. I think it is no different at all....it will be coming down crashing again. Stock market is crazy, housing market is crazy....people will learn for sure. I am actually considering selling all my rentals in the Central Valley and just wait...what are you guys' thoughts?

My concern would be the 'high crime area'...

My personal rule is not to buy anything in war zones. Very risky I think, even if the neighborhood goes through some improvements. Low income tenant prospects just add more red flags. Unless you can really get the property for pennies on the dollar, I would not touch it for buy and hold.

The only way would be to buy it cheap, improve the occupancy rate and CAP rate and flip it. At the end of the day, too much money on the line....at least for me personally.

An LLC may not make sense for rental....depends on cash flow. I had an LLC holding 1 rental in CA, and even though I have a decent cash flow (no mortgage), it did not really make sense holding one rental in an LLC. I see it more beneficial if your cash flow is $15k+ annually and/or if it's an apartment complex. Not sure about other states but in CA every LLC is subject to an $800 annual minimum tax. I have a pretty good umbrella coverage so and LLC is not really beneficial for me.

On the other hand, I see using an LLC for flipping could be much beneficial for a few reasons:

1. Your profit is likely to be higher and the expense of an LLC becomes less significant.

2. Your exposure on a flip may be much greater, hence your asset protection is more important.

I created my own LLC, it cost me around $200-$300. It's not hard, anyone can do it and our great friend Google can help figuring out how to do it in a particular state...:)