All Forum Posts by: John Clark

I recently purchased a multifamily property with my business partner. We want to renovate each unit one at a time, and we just notified a tenant that we will not be extending their month-to-month lease so we can get started on the renovations.

The tenant is a single mother with two children and the unit she lives in is covered in rat droppings and is falling apart. We sent her a 30 day notice this morning and she said “I will not move out”.

How should we handle this? We want to avoid going through a lengthy legal battle if possible.

Evict. You are the owner, not her. Also, unit covered in rat droppings? Two children? Call the board of health.

2 Votes

Worcester, Massachusetts

Quote from @Don Konipol:

The assault on free enterprise by socialists continues - under the guise of “consumer protection”.

True. I must admit though that telling a consumer that he’s liable for the debt after you’ve sent him and the IRS a write off 1099 — triggering income tax for the consumer — has always struck me as grossly unfair.

This bill is a baby and bath water situation.

2 Votes

Los Angeles County, California

1. Do NOT be hungry to make your first deal. The object is not to make deals. The object is to make money. Either the numbers work or they don’t. Run away from anyone saying you need to do deals for the experience.

2. Run away from sub-to and other creative financing. You do not have the experience for that. You do not have the financial wherewithal for that. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar.
Maybe - MAYBE - straight seller financing.

3. NEVER waive inspection contingencies. Always have thorough inspections by your own inspector, never the seller’s inspector.

4. Have a good lawyer you can trust on standby. Heed his advice. The lawyer and the inspector are the nucleus of your team. Then comes a good general contractor.

5. Never buy in an area that practices rent control.

6. Try house hacking first. You might find that you don’t like being a landlord.

7. Forget wholesale. You need to have a stable of buyers and know their hard numbers for expectations before you can sign contracts. Don’t get stuck.

0 Votes

Sacramento, California

Seller’s agent is out of his mind thinking that you and your inspector are stupid enough to fall for his guff. You did the right thing, and this goes into my why-r-e-agents-are-scum file.

0 Votes

Quote from @Carissa Atendido:

I've been using the BP Rental Calculator and BiggerDeals to analyze potential properties for my first investment, but I'm running into a consistent issue — most of the properties I look at are showing negative monthly cash flow and really low COC returns.

I’m wondering: am I doing something wrong in my analysis, or is it just that good deals are really hard to come by in the current market?

Here are the assumptions I’m using (are these too conservative?):

5% for maintenance & repairs
5% for vacancy
5% for capex
10% for property management

My target price is $300K or below, and I’ve been looking in Nashville, Austin, Dallas, and Atlanta. I realize that’s a wide range of markets, but I’m trying to run as many deal analyses as possible to learn what works and what doesn’t.

For those with more experience:

Do these numbers seem reasonable?
Is it normal to see mostly negative cash flow deals, or should I be tweaking my filters?
Any tips for spotting better opportunities?

Thanks in advance — I really appreciate any feedback!

Carissa

Cash flow means the seller is leaving money on the table. You either have to do something better, or something that the seller is not willing to do ( usually risk related).

0 Votes

Quote from @Jesus Sanchez:

Hi,

My wife and i are looking at a duplex in Rivesrise county. The current rents are way below market. We plan to rennovate the units and get new tenants at market rent. The current tenants are on MTM. if we give a 60 day notice at close of escrow will that be in copliance with CA statewide rent control?

thank you

You are being a fool. How? You are making an investment of 100s of thousands of dollars, and rather than spend $500 on an experienced lawyer who can give you an exact answer together with how to do it, you come here. Fill in the blank for this famous saying “penny wise, pound _______.”

0 Votes

Quote from @Marquez Cadet:

Does anyone know of some investor friendly title companies in Philadelphia, PA?

I am always mystified by these requests for “investor friendly title companies.” What exactly are you looking for? You don’t (or shouldn’t) want a company that will compromise title standards.

So what is an investor friendly vice unfriendly title company?

1 Vote

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Sue the guy who forged the deeds and sold? Particularly if the buyer communicated his intentions to develop the land? Added to that would be any seller representation about buildability and such.

1 Vote

Quote from @Andrew Steffens:

well - I just removed a 5.5 foot gator from my backyard (juvenile) - not sure what is worse?

I remember an old Johnny Carson show and he was doing a sketch on jokes people tell about rival states. I remember:

Q: what’s the difference between a Florida woman and an alligator?

A: you can date the alligator.

3 Votes

Quote from @James McGovern:

Many landlords fear the court system and piss away a lot of money to lawyers. I am thinking about organizing a master class to guide landlords in bringing their own evictions and small claims cases to court without using a lawyer .

would this be worthwhile?

Some states (Illinois) require corporate parties to be represented by lawyers. So your class might work for mom and pop unincorporated landlords but be inapplicable to corporate ones

1 Vote

New Haven, Connecticut

All Forum Posts by: John Clark

John Clark has started 5 posts and replied 1390 times.

Post: Tenant Resistant to Move Out - Want to Avoid Eviction

Post: California AB 130 & SB 681. The Crazies Are at it Again.

Post: New to Real Estate | Hungry to Learn, Serve, and Close My First Deal

Post: Myrtle Beach Condo inspection: 24% moisture in walls??

Post: All NEGATIVE cashflow when analyzing trying to buy my FIRST deal - WHY???

Post: CA Rent control

Post: Investor Friendly Title Co.

Post: Not COVERED - TITLE Insurance issue- THOUGHTS appreciated to remedy

Post: Nine bears ?

Post: A masterclass to help landlords win in court without the expense of a lawyer