All Forum Posts by: Sam Masiello

I use a company named Ecospace Property Management.  They currently manage properties for me in Thornton and Aurora, so if your property is in Aurora as well, I am sure they can help you.  Let them know that I sent you.  Forum rules won't let me post email addresses or phone numbers here.  Drop me a direct message and I can give you specific contact details.

--Sam

I was able to get a key to the condo yesterday from a family member of the tenant.  It looks like the family moved most everything out already.  There were a few things left behind, but thankfully nothing of consequence.  The family confirmed that what was left behind can be discarded.  I have that in writing.

What could have ended up being a nightmare scenario ended up being not so bad outside of the nephew's willfull ignorance raising my frustration level.  I've changed the locks and retaken possession of the property.  

@Ralph R. @Gail K. Thank you very much for the replies, however neither of those will work since the tenant is in jail.  He is incapable of paying the rent and has effectively abandoned the property.  I may have gotten it worked out as I was able to get the contact information for some other members of his family through his estranged wife.  I called them today and am hoping to have a key to the unit by the end of the day with any luck.  

I have a couple who has been renting one of my investment properties for the past few years.  They've been excellent tenants; always paid the rent on time, kept the place in good condition, etc.  

A couple of weeks ago they apparently had some kind of violent falling out.  She left.  He was subsequently arrested, but not before he changed the locks (in violation of the lease) in response to the wife leaving.  

I have been in communication with his nephew for the past couple of weeks who has been keeping me abreast of the situation with his uncle, but over the past week has gone radio silent on me and my patience has run out on waiting for news on my tenant.  The nephew has been ignoring my repeated requests to obtain a copy of the key so that I can at least get into the unit and of course the estranged wife doesn't have one.  

Any advice as to how to go about next steps?  I can't serve him a Notice to Quit if he is in jail, nor can I serve any other eviction paperwork.  Any advice on how to take control of my property again short of breaking in?  What about the personal belongings inside?  My guess based on what I've heard about the altercation from the wife is that he won't be getting out anytime soon.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts/advice.

--Sam

 Randy, do you have any information on this?  How would one get started on becoming an affiliate?  Do you have a link?

--Sam

 Under the Resources menu in the top navigation.  I don't believe that you need to be a Pro/Plus member to access.

I wish I did have another unit for them that is in their price range.  Truth be told, this particular unit is pretty far from where I live and I want to focus on properties closer to home.  The fact that I can walk away with $55k from my first property doesn't hurt either.

You are right and what you said has gone through my head before.  I just want to make sure I am handling the situation in the most appropriate way with respect to how I present it to them.  At the end of the day, I am not apologetic about it, but I don't want them to feel as if it is personal, because it isn't. 

I always advise the same from any tenants who apply to any of my properties.  I'd much rather have an open and honest discussion with them up front about it and have them look me in the eye and tell me how they've turned their life around than have them not say anything and have me find it on the background check.  

I generally try to believe in the goodness of people and actually one of my best tenants right now is one that has a record.  He was honest with me up front, I believed his story of how he's changed. and he has been in one of my units for about a year and a half and not once been late with the rent.  

I am at the stage that i want to sell the investment property that I bought as my first one a few years ago.  I am feeling pretty sentimental about it, but the problem that I have is that I still have tenants in there.  I've looked at many occupied properties before from a buyer's perspective, but this is the first time I am selling one myself and am looking for a little guidance as to how to proceed delicately as the tenants are pretty loyal to me as a landlord and I am assuming aren't going to take news of the potential sale well due to the uncertainty of a new landlord and whether or not they will continue to honor the existing lease.

They currently have about 5 months left on their existing lease and although I would love to wait until their lease is up before selling, at the same time I don't want to sell the place in the late fall/early winter.  

Any advice (or additional qualifying questions) appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

Similar to what some others have said, I also use SmartMove.  BP has their own landing page on the site as well:

https://biggerpockets.mysmartmove.com/#

I used to do the data collection and data entry for the background/criminal/credit check myself.  This was both time consuming and I had someone bounce the $35 check for the application fee.  I asked myself "Why am I doing this?" and switched to MySmartMove.  Less paperwork and if the tenant provides bad payment information, I don't have to deal with it.