All Forum Posts by: Jim Walters

Now that BiggerPockets is offering more goodies with the Pro Membership, it is well worth it!

Manoj Narayanan are you still looking in this area to invest? Trotwood is a tricky area. It has good areas to buy rentals and areas that you want to avoid. An investor I work with does very well buying properties there. In the area she buys, rents are good and her turnover is low.

I have a little different take. If you priced in a refrigerator with the rent, and kept it that way, I would supply the replacement. If I was the tenant signing the lease and you stated a refrigerator is included at this rent price, and I reply, no reason for you to get one right now, I have one. Then mine breaks, I would call and say we need that refrigerator after all. As for you moving out the old, I would only do that if I bought one at Lowe’s and they took the old one for free. FYI If you buy a used one, the new tax law is going to allow you to write that all off in 2018 instead of depreciating over 5 years.

Definitely not being a jerk to ask. This type of communication happens all the time in real estate deals. You have a legitimate concern. Your not threatening the deal. Your just asking for fairness. I have a friend I helped mentor buying properties. It’s a case were the student became the teacher. She always asks for some type of compensation if a deal is delayed by the other party. And she almost always gets it without fail. Everyone is saying don’t blow a deal over $400. When you ask the other party to pay this, they may agree using the same principle of not blowing up a deal over $400. If you do enough deals, and you always let these small things go, they add up. If you do 10 deals that are like this and you don’t say anything out fear of being a jerk, you are now down $4000. One rule I use is were I put myself in the other persons situation and decide if I would accept the request. Being cheap, I would definitely push back, but I would not jeopardize the deal over $400 either. People say $400 is not a lot of money in this deal. I call BS. Very successful people in real estate are shrewd. And none of them would be afraid to ask for the other party to pick up an expense THEY caused.

I bought a property in 2009, getting a FHA loan. I recently received notification my loan met the requirements for my FHA mortgage insurance to be removed. So I called and I met the requirements and the FHA MIP is gone. So my quick question is, is my loan still considered FHA? This is important because you can only have one FHA loan out at a time, and I would like to use this type of loan to buy a four unit were I live in one of the units. Thanks in advance for your help!

Rents are very good in the area. My parents rent a 2 bedroom apartment in Brownsburg for $1200 a month. Brownsburg is a very nice town. Avon is also nice. It was grown tremendously in the last 25 years. Both areas have great schools and are great places for families. Both areas also, with the exception of the financial crisis, have consistently increasing property values.

People I know with similar problems, bought some cheap small orange cones to block off the area or driveway. It's a inconvenience for you, to have to move them every time you come to or leave your property, but it may solve your problem.

The amount you were charged is outrageous. I have worked for tax firms and CPA firms. In your current situation, I would ask for a itemized receipt. CPA's do charge $150 to $250 an hour. However, a lot of tax work done at a CPA office is done by a preparer, not a CPA, who makes a lot less, $15 to $40 per hour. With your taxes, if you went to a tax preparation firm, they charge by forms needed to file for taxes and not a hourly rate, your tax bill would be a lot cheaper.

Tesla burns through billions of dollars. The only thing that has allowed them to stay in business is they keep selling more stock. Elon Musk brings up an idea, stock jumps and the company sells another billion dollars in stock. This game won't work forever. So a lifetime warranty may not be for all that long.

Without having more details, the best answers may be hard to provide. Did she pay the late fee the prior 2 months? There is a lot of good information on BP about late fees, the main point of all of them is you should never be shy about charging a late fee. Also, how long does the lease you inherited have left? Depending on the answer to that, will determine your options. If the current lease runs out in the next couple months, there is obvious options you have. One is to give her the required notice the current lease will not be renewed. Another is to update the late fees. Once a renter has to pay a late fee, such as the $30 you mentioned, they seem to take longer to finally pay the rent. What has worked in the past is a late fee that is progressive. The late fee maybe $25 plus $3.00 per day it is late. Discounts for paying rent by the 1st, is also something that has worked in the past. When the current lease expires, you could increase rent, and tie it in with a discount. If you increased rent by $50, you could give a $25 discount for paying rent by the 1st of the month. This, along with a progressive late fee, and a consistent rule that late fees will not be waived, may help solve the problem.