All Forum Posts by: Jeff Metzger

As it pertains to the sewer issue, the landlord needs to investigate the cause of the issue.  Most roto rooter type companies will give you a report and let you know what they found in the drain line that caused the back up.  The back up is usually a result of the actions of the people living in the house, there are certain circumstances(roots, broken drain lines, etc...) that cant be avoided but from my experience, the occupants are usually involved.

I've had 3 sewer back ups in the last year and every one was from tenants flushing things down the toilet that are not meant to be flushed.  My lease not includes a clause about what is not supposed to be flushed down the toilet and if the back up is a result of negligence the tenants are responsible for the service provider fees/ my time to manage the issue and the clean up if necessary.

If you can get that info from the plumber who cleared the line then you may have some leverage back on the tenants 

Utilities are Metered Jointly and the current landlord pays for water,sewer,electric 

BP Community,

I'm looking into purchasing a 4-Plex, Before this i have only delt in single family

The numbers make sense and the location i believe is a safe one with potential for growth.  From discussion with the listing agent there are 2 current 1 yr leases and 2 current 3 yr leases with 2+ years remaining.

My questions are what are some things to consider about a 4-plex that i may not have encountered with SFR?

How does the process of switching over leases from the current landlord to myself work?

Thanks Scott, I appreciate the advice

The property would be a Single family home in the 300K range. Do you think going through the process of starting an LLC for this property now(as a learning experience) would benefit me in the future as i hope to move into larger scale "commercial" properties at some point in my career?

From reading forum posts there is a lot of controversy on this topic and strong opinions on both sides of the argument, can you give a few examples of how starting an LLC for a SFR rental property may be a disadvantage?

Can you elaborate a little more on starting and LLC as the management company and how that would work? also would that be beneficial for a small 2 property operation?

I appreciate the advice, just trying to gather as much information as i can to make the most informed decision

Hi Kathy,

Interesting that i found this topic, i speak about this with my parents fairly often.  I am a CSU grad and rented properties all throughout my time at the university.  After college i became very interested in real estate investing and purchased my first property in Fort Collins earlier this year.  Now that i am more aware of the market and investment opportunities i look back a wonder how my family could afford to NOT purchasing a property in Fort Collins especially considering that Myself, my 2 brother and 2 cousins all attended CSU around the same time period.  The money we spent on rent could have easily paid a mortgage, especially back in 09 when i started college and property was dirt cheap compared to now. 

The you+2 law has changed thing a bit and i have geared toward 3 person occupancy properties for my immediate future purchase options.  Things are more expensive now, but i feel there is still money to made, especially long term as it seems that about a 1000 people day(probably exaggerated) move to Fort Collins.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me, i hope i can be of some help

Good afternoon BP Members,

I am in the process of acquiring my second buy and hold long term rental investment property. I am still undecided on whether or not to start an LLC at this point. For my first property, the tenants are friends of mine and I was less experienced so i never even considered it. I am aware that i can not get financing through a new LLC with no track record, this necessitates that the financing be in my name and thus property ownership as well. Then there is the challenge that of the due on sale clause in most mortgages that will not allow transfer of the property into the LLC. I have been told by an investor i know that even though the property will not be owned by the LLC that it can still still be ran by the LLC. I'm not sure entirely how this would work. I like this idea due to the fact that the rental seems more official and may look better in the eyes of tenants. The lease agreement would be between the LLC and the tenants, however i would act as the landlord and not use a property manager.

Has anyone had experience with using an LLC in this fashion? Also, the process of starting an LLC on the Colorado secretary of state website seem simple but does anyone have any advice on the process? Are there any benefits of using a lawyer to form the LLC considering the scale of my current holdings(just 2 properties)?

I still plan on getting an umbrella insurance policy for both properties for protection there and i figure any Possible LLC liability protection is good idea as well

Good evening fellow members,

Just joined last week and hadn't had a chance to post yet.  I'm new to real estate investing and currently have only one property in my portfolio.  The property is a Single Family house that is currently rented to friends while i keep a room in the house.  Rent covers the mortgage and a decent profit is left over.  All profits from the property are being saved for future renovations or other investments.  I'm looking to purchase another property in the near future.  My main challenge is the markets I'm familiar with having such high property values.  I am from and currently live in Breckenridge, CO a resort town where a single family residence will run well over 500K.  My secondary market is Fort Collins, CO a town that is in somewhat of a real estate boom and inventory is very limited.  I have a reasonable amount of capital but i don't want to put all of it towards a single investment.  has any one else faced a similar situation? and what suggestions do you have for investing in such tough markets?