All Forum Posts by: Joe P.

Recently bought my first rental property in Pennsylvania and sent the tenant a non renewal notice.  About 5 days after she vacated I discovered fleas in the apartment.  She had a cat which was permitted on the lease.  About 2 weeks after discovering the fleas I had a pest control company spray.  He made a note on my invoice that he did in fact find fleas and they appeared to have been there at least a couple months based on how many were present.  I deducted the treatment from her security deposit and also sent her a copy of the invoice as proof of the flea problem.  She of course is not happy about it and says she never had any fleas and she is blaming it on stray cats living under the front porch.  What would you do in this situation?  Am I wrong to withhold the treatment cost from her deposit?  Neither I nor the pest control guy believe an infestation like this could have happened in such a short period of time.   

Any other "knock down" cabinet companies you know of in PA?  I'm in Harrisburg and looking for a standard 36" wide sink base cabinet that isn't particle board like all the ones at Lowes and Home Depot.

Just bought my first rental property and I plan to live in one of the units.  I sent a notice of non renewal to the tenant and told her just to leave the keys in the mailbox.  I planned to just inspect the unit when she is gone but she says she will not leave the keys in the mailbox and she is requesting I do a walk through with her and sign move out papers.  Is that required?  I don't even have any move out paperwork to sign.

Thanks @David Krulac!  What are some positive things about these companies that cause you to choose them over other mortgage lenders?

This year I will have 2 years of self employment income taxes that will hopefully qualify me for a mortgage.  I'd like to buy a 1-4 unity property, rent out the other units/bedrooms and repeat the process every year or two.  I'm looking for a suitable mortgage lender who can help me achieve my goals.  Any recommendations are appreciated.  

Great thank you @Eamonn McElroy!  So sounds like I can delay paying the taxes on the paper gain but I will end up paying more in the long run due to interest.

I flip vacant land properties and by all means I am classified as a "real estate dealer".  I notice in IRS Publication 537 that real estate dealers are forbidden from using the installment method and must realize all the gain in the year of the installment sale however it references some special rules in 26 U.S. Code § 453 (l).  As I dug deeper I found 26 U.S. Code § 453 (l) (2) (B) (ii) (II) which states "any residential lot, but only if the taxpayer (or any related person) is not to make any improvements with respect to such lot."  

Does this allow me to use the installment method if I am selling a vacant lot that will remain a vacant lot until the loan is paid in full?

@Wayne Brooks Ok so we'll call it wholesaling.  My intention with this post was to get opinions on whether or not whatever it is that I'm doing is less of a grey area that assigning contracts.  So according to the the responses I'm getting here in addition to the endless back and forth arguments on the forums and according to the variety of yes, no, maybe, it depends, and everything in between answers you will get from real estate attorneys it is still a grey area.

Although Investopedia defines wholesaling as "Real estate wholesaling occurs when a party (the "wholeseller") contracts with a home seller, markets the home to potential buyers, and then assigns the contract to one of them. The wholesaler makes a profit, which is the difference between the contracted price with the seller and the amount paid by the buyer. The goal in real estate wholesaling is to sell the home before the contract with the original homeowner closes."

So according to that definition I'm not wholesaling since I'm not assigning any contracts.

Well I have read all of the endless arguments on wholesaling so its official.......grey area