All Forum Posts by: Joanne Tsai

@Rahel Ketema I’m not a newbie, but to be frank, the two worst experiences I had with contractors, they were referred to me by my realtors….. similar stories, in the beginning they would show up and they would stop showing up. And I would yell at them and they would show up one day a week…..

lucky for me, long and painful, but they did eventually finish the job. If your realtor finds them enough clients and has some influence over them, maybe ask your realtor to have a talk with them, but don’t get your hopes up……

@Peter Walther

Interesting, in VA it seems to be paid twice a year, one in first quarter and another in third quarter. In 2021, I saw the escrow account paid out twice and it summed up to be the property taxes in 2021.

But we got the 2020 bill in Jan 2021. It seems no one paid the 2020 property taxes (though we prepaid the 4 months taxes at closing)

Hi BPers:

I have a situation here, and this is not the first time it happened... 

We purchased a property in Aug 2020, closed on Aug 31st to be exact. We prepaid the property taxes for the remainder of the year (Sep-Dec) when closing. Recently I logged onto our bank account, and discovered the $ going into escrow is a lot higher than before. After speaking to the escrow company, it turned out, the escrow paid the state the property taxes for entire 2020 because they've received the bill. 

It seems to me that 1) the previous owner didn't pay her taxes. 2) the title company didn't find that out and also didn't pay the 4 months of prepaid property taxes on our behalf. 

who is at fault here? is this something covered by title insurance? any advice will be super appreciated. 

Property is in VA.

Thanks!

@Jeffrey Long

We love Patti too! She is great and so knowledgeable! @Patti Robertson

@Alex Monaco

Like everyone else said, it depends on your goals, the location of your property, and your mindset.

REI is not passive even with a PM, they still have to run through a lot of things by you, like when something costs more than $200 breaks. I'm not interested in getting phone calls at night or during my day job, hence PM. How much is your time worth to you?

@Brent Barnes

I have a new born and a four year old and I just returned to a quite demanding job. I can relate to what you are saying. Don't beat yourself up for being not motivated or drained. After all we are all human. Pat yourself on the back when you actually get some energy to either read a REI book or learn something from the podcast or youtube. This is a marathon, pace yourself and don't judge yourself. It's important to come back to it and pick yourself up, but recognize there will always be bad days. (And it's absolutely ok!)

Hi all, 

this question may be a little odd, but would appreciate everyone's input. 

Is there a downside of having all your rental properties under one insurance company? We are not familiar in this area when it comes to property insurance. Let's say if for some reason, your tenants sue you, would the premium on all of your properties go up? is it possible?

Thanks!
 

@Shanice Waller

I don’t think it reflects on your PM’s future customer service to the tenants by any means.

Like @Joe Splitrock was saying, we bought a house without a fridge and I asked my PM whether we should provide one before putting on the rental market. He told me “no, it’s not uncommon people want to bring their own fridge, then do you put your fridge in the garage then”? And the house was rented in 5 days without a fridge.

Go on Zillow and see what comparable rentals provide in the neighborhood. Or say you can provide one if it’s needed with “x” more.

@Michael Haynes

The stuff with Rich Dad is this.... yes, the collapse is coming because of the amount of money we are printing, and he has a lot of assets that he has to protect, but has he actually told you where else to invest? He also said Bitcoin right now is too high and he bought it at $9000. At this point, if he is advising anyone to sell their assets to put the money in the bank, then wait till one loses all that purchasing power. It's all relative, a lot of people are rushing into the RE market, because to them, it's less of a bubble than the stock market. We are experiencing an asset bubble, where almost all assets are inflated. Amazon share was $1700/share pre-covid, and now it's more than doubled in a year. Is it a bubble like AMC or Gamestop? would it go down to $1700 when the bubble bursts? I align more with what Ray Dalio's saying; some price surge is dangerous, but not all stocks are bubbles evne though right now a lot of them are.

That's why I don't believe in everything Nick is saying. He has been warning the housing crash in 2021 since early this year. There are a few months left, and we shall see. when the market cools down, it's not equivalent of "crash". I am a trained statistician, the first thing I look at is how sound the data one is using, to use CPI to indicate inflation, that's quite misleading (and that's what he uses). His clip on NYC and Black Rock is also not very accurate (I am not familiar with Tampa market, so I can't comment). While he does compile the data for his viewers, one can always pick and choose what data he uses to narrate the stories, and that's what he is doing. Again, I am not saying everything he said is wrong, but I've seen enough red flags that would lead me think twice. and yes, GOD BLESS AMERICA!