All Forum Posts by: JD Martin

 Unfortunately, I suspect we know what's going to happen to them especially if there is any downturn on the lower economic rungs because of tariff wars or similar. Personally I'm glad I'm not in any syndications right now, but that doesn't mean that us sfh dealers don't need to keep our eyes open too. We will probably hold the line on any increases this year just to lower our likelihood of turnover until we see how some of these policies are going to unfold.

 No, you can jet and cut even with clay tiles as long as your plumber knows what s/he's doing. With clay you risk busting the tiles, or even dislodging one that has to then be excavated anyway. With cast iron it's safer and can last longer. Root intrusion is rare with plastic pipe because that means a crack that's going to admit soil as well and eventually bust completely, so if you have roots in PVC you might as well plan to excavate. With cast the roots can sneak in around the bells and with clay tiles they just stack together so every joint is a potential entry point. 

Nobody is going to build "starter" homes unless there are incentives that help absorb your fixed costs - developing lots, utility connections, grading & surveying, etc. The price to build is not linear so the bigger the house that can be built the greater the profit per SF. Everyone complains that there's no affordable housing anywhere, but that's just not true. Affordable housing is rentals; it's townhouses and condos; it's manufactured housing. Stick built homes on city lots are going to be expensive. 

Also, it depends on what area of the country you're talking about. If I wanted to spend an hour doing it, I could probably put together a list of at least 50 cities where you can still buy housing for $100/sf or less. Of course they're not going to be in Charleston or Clearwater or San Antonio; they're going to be mostly in midwestern areas that are dying for any population growth. That's what Americans used to do - they moved to affordable areas. Today's Americans want to live on Sunset Strip and pay Main Street USA prices. Everyone wants to live in the fancy areas with great climates and arts and nightlife and low cost of living and everything else, and it's just not reality. 

 Curious - why did "high" rates cause a big jump in inventory where you are? It's the complete opposite where I am - no one will sell their existing homes because they won't give up their ultra-low rates. The only inventory is new construction. Nationally, the levels of pre-existing home sales are back at 1995 levels mostly because of the interest rate conundrum, so I'm interested to know what's happening in your area that high rates are causing more people to sell?

This would be a waste of everyone's time and money. Incompetence is generally not litigable. What makes you an expert that the unit is in a great location & condition and the market is hot, relative to the property manager? That's the first question you'd have to answer. Just because something didn't rent doesn't mean there's anything actionable. Now if you could prove they were purposely steering qualified candidates to other units, or failing to market the unit at all, those would possibly be acts of fraud or gross negligence, which can be litigated. 

Of course, you should switch companies if you are unhappy with their services. 

 My lender/financier. Because if I can't get funded in that market the rest of it won't matter. 

 I have. If they're not crazy big, meaning they haven't busted the pipe completely and are huge, you can run a jet with a cutter through the line and clear them out. *Eventually* they will come back, which might be in 2 years or 10 depending on how aggressive the tree and bushes are that are nearby. Otherwise, yes you have to either excavate and repair and replace or run a pipe burst through the line, which is usually as expensive as excavating. 

Jetting and cutting usually works best on conjunction with removing the tree/trees causing the problem, which is not always possible depending on location. 

 Yes, you are correct. Those kinds of posts belong in the Classifieds but the sheer number of threads here mean they often get missed. If someone reports them a moderator is more likely to notice it and act but within the forums those kinds of threads aren't supposed to be there. 

PS: If you notice one feel free to send me a message on it. I tend to hang out in the Tax forum fairly regularly so I may be one of the first ones to see such a thread or post. 

A good tenant boils down to essentially three things:

1. Pays the rent, in full, on time, every time.

2. Properly maintains/doesn't damage the property.

3. Doesn't cause trouble for you/neighbors/city/police.

That's pretty much the sum of it. All of the tools that you use to try to figure out if a potential tenant will be a "good" tenant revolves around trying to answer those 3 questions. Most tools give you a glimpse of past performance. Credit checks tell you some sense of how they handle their money. Previous landlord references on how they treated their previous property. Background checks on how well they avoid trouble. Some tools give you a glimpse of predicted future performance. A written job offer detailing pay. A recent marriage or birth of a child or adoption of a pet. ETC. 

Ultimately it's less of a science than an art, but people rarely truly change so what they did is probably what they'll do. If they like to rob houses, they're probably not going to become a model citizen just because they rented your house. If they pay all their bills and maintain a job it's unlikely they'll turn into an unemployed bum once they move in. ETC.