All Forum Posts by: Jim Bryant

So I think I understand Pre-foreclosures pretty well.  The mortgage is not being paid and the bank is going to foreclose.  The homeowner can avoid this through selling it for an amount that the bank is willing to accept.  Super.

The only issue is how do I make a move on the property.  It seems as if I have to contact the homeowner directly.  Any info on how to find contact information for the home owner?  Do you usually use official sources such as court documents, or go through the white pages?  

Finally, what's your strategy, do you send a letter, call them?  Do you make an offer or do you ask them what they think would be fair?   Also, does the pre-foreclosure process allow for any inspections of the property and such, like a contingency in conventional purchasing?

I hope everyone in the Illinois Valley is doing well these days.  So far, the quarantine has not effect my tenants' ability to pay rent.  I was even able to fill a vacancy.  Has anybody noticed significant shifts in prices these days around the area?  I was of the opinion that prices were a bit inflated pre-COVID-19, particularly in DePue (60k for a 2bd/1bth.....puuuleeeze!).  

So update on the business, everything is going well.  Country Financial was good and generous on the insurance and I was able to make house 2 look pretty good.  After a month or so I've found a renter who makes decent money and has an acceptable background, hopefully that will work out.  

Still haven't found any good multi-family type housing.  There is that one in Dalzell that no one wants to touch.  My wife took a look at it a year ago and said it didn't look bad.  I just don't want to shell out 70k at this point, I'd rather concentrate on getting number 5 paid off.  

The Dalzell house is a three-unit and, fully-rented, could be my best earner, but three units means three times trouble trying to get it filled and people in multi-units tend to be more transient and less long term.  Do any of you guys have experience with mutli-units?

So the dumb renter whose dumb kids set fire to my rent house appear to be still living in the fire damaged house!  I have already informed them that we are going to cancel the lease and that I will refund them their money (she paid in advance) when they turn over the keys (and clear their stuff out of the house), but it looks like they are back.  They were in a hotel during their search for a home, or at least I thought.  

They are paying rent (at a reduced rate), but my insurance-funded contractor cannot begin work because of their dog and crap in the house.

What do you guys think of this situation?  I imagine I could evict them, as I told them before we are voiding the lease as the house isn't  habitable (so I thought). 

Sorry to hear that Tony, there's plenty more where that came from anyway.  I wasn't  able to find a satisfactory (and cheap enough!) multifamily while I was looking, which is why I scooped up the single family in Ladd, 850 a month and a renter who doesn't want to move is a deal I couldn't pass up. 

Evan, I'm envious of your good renters.  I get too antsy and end up with crappy renters sometimes.  A couple of my houses have pretty good one, but my second house, I got a real cutie.  She made enough money and paid the rent in advance, but was a real slob!  She got some sort of settlement and went all hillbilly hollywood on the house.  She bought a big expensive fridge, an inflatable pool and of course, all sorts of lawn ornaments.  Problem of course, she didn't really cut the grass and there was plastic from the pool packaging all over the backyard!

Anyway, luckily, I guess, her kid started a fire and burned up the top floor.  So it looks like I'll get the house spruced up a bit and get rid of her.  Although I have to refund her rent of course.  

Anyway keep in touch guys, us landlords have to stick together!  I'll let you know when I come back to Illinois, we'll be living in Florida for the next couple years, we can get together and talk some shop.

Hey, so how's everyone doing these days?  I bought the 5th house in Ladd and that's going pretty well.  We're using "Pay my Rent" to collect the rents while we live far away and so far has been successful.  There was a fire at my 2nd house, because of my renter's goofy kids.  No one was hurt, but there was damage.  My insurance company is going to come take a look and we'll see how it turns out.  

So far so good though.  4th house is nearly paid off (I'm really conservative on leverage)!

Hmmm public adjuster, interesting, I haven't heard of that.  I might have to look into it. 

So one of my goofy renters' goofy kids was playing with a lighter and basically burnt up her room and a good portion of the upstairs.  

She has renters insurance and of course I have insurance.  This just happened, I wanted to see if anyone has the same experience and how it panned out.   

I'm probably not going to extend the lease, as she's pretty messy and apparently doesn't watch her children that well!

Well, I hear you guys and it's good info.  However, this tenant has paid for the year and was on time before she coughed up 10 months of rent.  So she isn't someone I would want to get out of the lease.  I just want to nudge her in the directly of not being a drama queen since, I will be leaving the local area and won't personally (and for free) be able to check out whatever she has a bee in her bonnet about at that point.

Just wanted to give some info to my fellow Illinois Valley Landlords.  Good rental data can be hard to come by, so let me give you what I have.  I work mostly in DePue, so I think I have some decent info:

2bd/1 bath, 1 story, 2 car garage, no basement in Oakbrook subdivision- Currently getting 550, will probably bump to 600 next tenant

3bd/1.5 bath, 2 story, street parking, full unfurnished basement downtown- Recently priced to 600, seems to draw lower quality clientele though

3bd/2 bath, 2 story, 1 car garage (larger than the other two), full basement, near the lake-rented for 650 and have been able to maintain a family for the last couple of years in it, feel like I could get more

4bd/2 bath, 2 story, 1 car garage 2.5k square feet, full basement, just rented after only a week of advertising on facebook and craigslist, with a number of well qualified (for this area) applicants, 800 dollar rent, originally I wanted to go for 900, but the wife wasn't optimistic and I chickened.  I'm sure I could have gotten it.

The other piece of info is that at least one landlord here is charging 500 for a 2bd/1 bath apartment, which looked nice, but of course was small.

A house I am currently buying in Ladd, which is 2bd (although being used as 3bd from an extra room in the basement)/ 2 bath near the school is renting for 850, not sure if that is the standard but seems like quite the jump in rents from DePue to Ladd.  

Anyway, I hope that info is useful to you guys.