All Forum Posts by: James DeRoest

Good grief, that stuff is normal!

Ok, in the last year, hmmm, AC bill for one property was $800, plumbing in one property $2600, sewer pipes replaced a couple of months ago $2500, new AC in one house $4000, I think we spent close to $2k on other AC units being repaired over last summer, hmmm, what else? And one tree brought down for $2500.

Why are you replacing water heaters? Most of the time they are repairable for a fraction of the cost (and hassle). A dead water heater is one that leaks. If it doesn't leak, then it gets repaired onsite.

Used Auction.com once. Not a bad experience at all. Went horribly wrong as we won the property.

We bought the house sight unseen. I had deliberatly not told the wife about this house until we were long out of our state visiting family. Once we were a good 300 miles frome home I told her about it. And the auction was closing the following morning at 11am. We'd be safe.

In the morning, just for kicks and giggles, we put in a bid. The opening was already $8k, and it was $2.5k increments. Ha, we'll never buy it for $10.5k so we all figured we'd be safe from winning. 

At 1105am a very nice man from Auction.com phoned us to say we'd won at $10.5k. $15k below reserve. He explained that any property given to them (this was 3-4 years ago) was a last desperate chance by the bank to offload it and they'd more or less accept anything.

We closed 3 weeks later, and actually went to see it.

Essentially, there was some rot in the front room that had put people off buying it. We sorted that out over a week and for about $800 in materials. We then put another $4k into the house to up date it, and it now brings $700pm! Total bill to get rented (purchase+fees+repairs) was just short of $20k. Property is now valued in the $50k region.

The mistake was possibly not getting a new roof when the inspection said that it was in poor condition.

A roof either works or it doesn't. 

However, what many new people in landlording do not seem to grasp, especially reading this forum is - look for yourself and understand the property yourself.

Why does the roof need replacing? Don't take someone elses word for it, go see for yourself. The biggest mistake I made 10 years ago was listening to people who I assumed had my best interest at heart. They didn't. They never did. Not even the property managers.

I have a great roofing guy ($4.5k is about what we are quoted) and he won't replace a roof if repairs can be made (by me). 

The biggest issue I find on a roof are old nails starting to work lose. Take a can of black jack and seal them up. Do it on a warm day so the cement can seal up properly and you can enjoy the sun. Then put a note in your diary to come check them in a year. 

So before you lay out $4.5k - find out why you are needing to lay out $4.5k.

If you never understand your property, or how things work, you will be on every suckers list for the contractors in the area.

I spend a lot of money with my lawyer each year, and I get some very good advice from him. 

And some of that advice, I won't post on a forum.

If you would like to spend a paid 2 hours with your lawyer discussing ways of protecting assets, and then post all that advice you got on a forum for everyone else, free of charge, knock yourself out!

I'm the client of a lawyer.

Should you be concerned - yes-no-maybe. Choose whichever one suits you.

The problem is that you can be sued for anything and held liable for anything. That's how law works. If your wife falls off her bike you can sue the company that supplied the road signs, you won't get very far though, but there is nothing stopping you trying.

So if something bad did happen, in order of richest people involved, where do you stand? If you have nothing and the property is mortgaged, then you're fine.

But if you are worth something, then you become a bigger target and the risk to yourself dramatically increases.

Personally speaking, I'd be giving notice that the lease won't be renewed regardless of the person stopping smoking (I simply won't believe them). Handily smokers are not protected classes in Fair Housing.

Again, personally speaking, if some idiot wants to light cigarettes near an oxygen tank they can blow themselves up somewhere else and in someone elses property.

Title companies write titles.

Lawyers write contracts.

What you do with them is your business.

Gun shop owners don't get arrested for selling the gun that was used in an armed robbery.

It doesn't matter what the negotiation is about, negotiating about the outcome of the sale of the property is taking place, and that's what the commissions will be looking at.

And I wouldn't get too happy about any position Texas is taking right now, because when Florida acts (which it will), Texas will follow (and vice versa). Florida and Texas tend to run together on many things.

There you are - the word "negotiating".

Once you negotiate anything (or at least in the many states mentioned in previous threads), you are brokering a deal.

All the state statutues I'm reading, although they are defining "commission" they are also defining any sort of reward in the function of a sale of a property as being covered under brokering.

We have a continuing discussion about this and I believe the rules for 2014 changed as well, so you really need to seek proper advice.

However, the discussion we've had goes along the lines of whether we made a repair or replaced something, as to whether we can take the deduction. If it goes into the base, then it'll get depreciated over x years.

If you put the full $50k remodel cost into your tax return, then be assured of your audit. The rules have changed and got tighter because of a lot of remodelling/rehabers trying to claim every last cent in their tax return at the moment.

You really need proper advice on this.