All Forum Posts by: Jerah Yassine

Thanks! I'm getting quotes between $500 - $600 for the single family homes, so I was very surprised how much more it was. 

I inherited a 5-unit property from my dad who passed away in January. I need to get the property appraised for the estate using the IRS value as of date of death. I received a quote for the appraisal for $2,000. Does this seem reasonable? The property is located in South Lake Tahoe, CA, since I know costs for these kinds of things can vary by market. I'm having a bit of sticker shock, and this is all new to me, so I don't know what's the "expected" price.

Thanks! ~Jerah

 That's true and thank you for the honest feedback. I appreciate it.

I'm looking for feedback on raising the rent on my deceased father's roommate in his second home.

My dad passed in January and had a second home in Colorado Springs. He had a roommate. The roommate had full access to the house except for 1 bedroom that my dad kept for himself (he kept the door locked). The roommate paid all utilities. My dad was charging the roommate $800 per month and the roommate basically paid my dad rent at anytime during the month, and I haven't been able to find any written lease.

Since January, we've been keeping the status quo on this home while we focus on other aspects of his estate. The roommate pays me $800 per month, usually around the 25th of the month, and has been covering all the utilities. I think my dad's room is still locked with his stuff in it (my brother is in Colorado Springs and I can't remember if he emptied out the room yet or not).

What I'd like to do is clean out my dad's room so that I can give the roommate full access to the house, get a formal lease agreement (probably month to month, since we're not sure if we're keeping or selling), a deposit, and raise the rent closer to market. The Zillow rent estimate is $1,900, and I'm thinking of setting the rent at $1,500.

Since the majority of my dad's estate is in CA, I have a CA based lawyer and I'm not sure what the laws are in CO. They are researching it for me, but wanted to ask for feedback here as well.

Can I legally raise his rent from $800 to $1,500? I'd give him 60 days notice, if he doesn't want to sign the lease or pay the increase, he can move out.

How much of a deposit can I ask for?

Are there any issues with this or things you see that I should consider?

Thanks so much! I've gotten great feedback from her already and really appreciate your time for even reading this and considering replying :)

Thanks! This answers my questions. 

Can someone point me to a resources that can let me know how long I need to keep specific records related to rental properties? For example, a tenant lease after they move out, insurance policies, purchase/sale paperwork, etc (not an exhaustive list in the slightest).

I have suddenly become a landlord. My dad passed in January and had several rental properties (you can read my intro post for more info on them), and not only did I get the properties, but all the paperwork that goes along with them (including paperwork for property he sold). Right now it is likely that we will keep at least some (maybe all?) of the property. My dad has a lot of paperwork and as I'm sorting through it I'm just not sure what's stuff I need to keep and stuff I can toss cause he literally kept everything. I've found is taxes dating back to 1970 just to give you an idea of how much paperwork my dad saved. Thanks!

 Thank you Kyle! At some point we will be looking for a handman in the area, so I might reach out to you to see who you can recommend. My brother is a GC in CO so he'll be handling that aspect.

Thank you for your condolences. It really is a heavy burden. I'm seeing a therapist and trying to take it slow with all of this. I'm seeing friend's from middle school and HS while I'm in Tahoe taking care of my dad's stuff.

I'm an accountant by profession so I have a handle on some of the things I need and we have hired an estate attorney (who is also familiar with 1031 exchanges and CA rental property laws).

Luckily he was getting paper statements for all of his bills so I am familiar with all the bills (and taxes) that need to get transferred. Only on property had a mortgage.

He was doing the kitchen remodel himself and again it's a good thing he saved paper, cause we were able to find all his documentation on the layout, etc. My brother is a GC in CO and wants to finish the remodel himself (my brother is currently re-wiring the lighting layout cause he didn't like the way my dad had it).

Some are paying cash, some Zelle, and some by check. He know all of the tenants, some of whom had lived there for 15+ yrs (I can't find a few of the leases they've been there that long). I've met some of the tenants before my dad died, and we've delivered the change of ownership notices to all of them already. When my brother or I are there they often come out to talk about our dad and what a great man he was.

The roommate doesn't know me, but is an employee of my brother's GC company in CO. I believe they want to stay. They pay all the utilities, so as long as they keep paying the rent my dad set (in the short term), I'm ok with it staying as it is.

I have a CPA to help with the taxes for the 1031.

Regarding if I want to be an out of state landlord, that is the question. What's hard about that question is there's so much else to process that it's hard to be clear about how I feel about any of it. I know that I do want to have rental properties and my preference is to hire a management company. And everyone I know who's been in my situation has advised me to wait 6m-1yr to make a decision. In the meantime, I guess that means I get to be an out of state landlord and see how it goes. Right now we working on some maintenance issues that my dad knew about, but hadn't resolved before he died. So I guess we're getting a "free sample" of what it takes to do that.

Hi! I'm Jerah. I live in the DFW area and suddenly have an investment portfolio. 

My dad passed away suddenly on January 26, and I am the successor trustee for his estate that included:

- His primary residents in South Lake Tahoe (which was in the middle of a kitchen remodel)

- A multi-unit property in South Lake Tahoe

- His secondary residence (with a rent paying roommate) in the Colorado Springs area

- A just completed 1031 exchange multi-unit property in the Colorado Springs area that still needs work to be rentable (the 180 days on the exchanged ended January 24, and he didn't spend all the money)

I was named success trustee of his living trust, and my job is to deal with all of this and decided how to divide/share my dad's stuff with my brother.

He managed all of his properties himself, including maintenance. While he did share some of what he was doing with them, how he managed them, and what his plans were for them, this is all very, very new to me and I have no clue with the bleep I'm doing. So in addition to the grief of losing my father, I'm trying to navigate the world of being a landlord. I'm hoping that I can find resources here to help me figure it all out and decide what the best steps are for my dad's assets.