All Forum Posts by: Jim Hern

As I understand it HSF has requirements for the Vet to stay in their program. If they don’t meet those, they get removed by HSF. Then HSF would try to place someone else in my unit, but only if I approve of them and their sublease. HSF is on the hook to fulfill lease obligations no matter whether they have someone in my unit or not. In this particular case, the Vet has been accepted into their program for a year of housing assistance. They allow me to do background checks just like I normally would. But they apparently do their own before accepting someone into their program. They did an inspection of my unit before accepting it...gave me the inspection criteria first. Easy for me to pass - just rehabbed it. Except for the fact that they are slow to process things (which has been a little maddening), I cannot find a downside to this where there is anymore risk to me than I normally encounter with my rentals.

I thought I’d do a followup. Turns out that HSF signs my lease as the tenant and sublets to the Vet who also signs. Looks favorable to all concerned. It’s an interesting program. HSF looks well funded. We will see!

Thanks. As I researched it, it sounds great for the tenant and the landlord. Which makes me cautious since often things are not as good as advertised. I am going to see if I can get some type of written guarantee from HSF... Have you ever seen a program like this? Have any of our South Florida members encountered this program? It looks like they focus on Broward Co and the Ft Lauderdale area.

Hi Folks...advice please. I've advertised to rent out half of a duplex and someone viewed it who was very interested and indicated they were eligible for subsidized housing for veterans under this program:

http://hopesouthflorida.org/what-we-do/rapid-re-housing/

I was provided with a letter from the Hope South Florida organization to this person which indicated the following:

”During the period in which you are a part of our program, HOPE South Florida will send a monthly check of 100% of your rent directly to the landlord in addition to paying all move-in fees (first, last, and security deposit). In turn, you will be required to provide 30% of monthly gross adjusted household income (based on current HUD standards) towards your monthly rent to HOPE South Florida. You will also be required to participate in case management services provided through the HOPE4Vets program…”

This is a new one on me and I have never received a rental application from someone with subsidized housing.  I'm apparently going to get to meet with a representative of the Hope South Florida organization later this week.

Any idea how this would be setup so that rent payments to me are in fact guaranteed? Do you have any advice? What pitfalls should I look for?

Thanks in advance.

Thanks to you both! I will followup as suggested. If anyone else has a suggestion for a broker to try (or a comment on the type of rates I'm experiencing), I'd greatly appreciate it.

Advice please.... I bought a duplex that needed a new flat roof (it was fine but was 18 years old), electrical panel changeout, and hurricane protection. I was able to get a homeowners policy for $5500 for a year with the requirement that I change out the panels. I did that, and changed the flat roof and added hurricane protection. Told the insurance company then requoted me and now my rate is $5000 for a year. My broker shopped for other insurance companies and found one other who quoted similar coverage for $4500. Mind you - in recent years I've bought other similar rental properties in similar condition/locations and did the upgrades....and my annual insurance rate for those (similar coverage) is more like $2500 per year. My insurance broker tells me that insurance markets have tightened a lot very recently. So I went to another insurance broker....couldn't even get a quote from him because he said the other roof on the duplex (a pitched shingle roof) was 18 years old and they only write policies for houses with a shingle roof less than 15 years old! My roof inspection indicated the pitched shingle roof has 10+years of life left. Advice?

Thanks so much for your responses...

I am working on having the seller agree to fix the problem....and my plan is to put something into a contract amendment (before my inspection period ends) which elaborates on this. But I do like to anticipate outcomes and in creating the amendment, I want to insert some language which indicates what will happen if the seller doesn't get the fix done by closing. I suppose the basic options are as follows....and would appreciate any other feedback.

Option 1 - I simply take the property as-is (as yet I do not know if the lender will agree to this condition....but, even if the lender didn't care, this condition concerns me for when I resell it if I do nothing AND if I try to fix it, there will be a cost for me to try AND - as mentioned above by Dave, I know in other cases if the encroachment is old enough, you can actually loose the encroached-upon land [there is case law in Florida on this - I think I saw 7 years as a timeframe beyond which you could loose rights to the land])

Option 2 - I walk from the deal (don't want to do this....but I'm having trouble gaging how significant a blemish this is)

Option 3 - I extend the closing until the seller fixes it (unlikely that seller would agree...I probably wouldn't if I was the seller)

Option 4 - The seller agrees to fix it after closing and escrows money to guarantee he follows though

Option 5 - The seller and I agree on a monetary amount and close.  In this case - the encroachment affects about 3.5% of the property...so that could be a basis to calculate an amount for this (or as a basis for the escrowed amount).

Now - I also know the seller has title insurance and may actually have a valid claim IF he didn't know about the encroachment when he purchased (the survey showing the encroachment was generated when he did a refi on the property...but I'm unfamiliar how that process works and how long it takes.

Hi folks! I'm under contract on a downtown multifamily property where (after I signed the contract) the seller produced a survey showing the neighbor has a fence and shed encroaching into the back of the property by up to three feet. This condition has probably existed for many years and I bet neither the fence or shed are permitted installations. I also learned the neighbor with the fence/shed disagrees with the thought that he encroaches. I understand this encroachment is likely to be mentioned on the title insurance and, assuming my lender decides to lend for this deal, will probably ask me to sign off that I'm ok with this encroachment. I'm trying to decide how I should address this with the seller (if at all) and if in fact the encroachment could create issues for me down the road. While the encroachment doesn't really affect my current intended use of the property I do worry about liability issues and what the next buyer could think. Also, I wonder if there is commonly a value to be assigned to an encroachment like this. I'm nearing the end of my inspection period. Suggestions? Advice? Thanks in advance.

Help please...I recently looked at two duplexes - both zoned R1D. However,  I see one has a Use Code "0800 multifamily < 10 units" and the other has a Use Code "0100 single family."  What is a Use Code and who determines that - City or County?  And if I want to buy the duplex with a

Use Code "0100 single family" and then rent it to two families - how do I ensure that I don't get in trouble? Do I (and can I) convert it to Use Code "0800 multifamily < 10 units"?

Thanks in advance!