All Forum Posts by: John Clark

"Also, when I was on the phone with the water company last week, they will only put the water in the name of the person listed on the deed. "

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Yup. That's why I said to have all bills go to you. Only way Water Department will do it. Just cover the first $Z dollars on each bill (as I described) and make the tenant responsible for the overage.

Oh, and by the way, any good seller's attorney will insist on the right to approve the assignee of a contract, and if not approved, the signing buyer is responsible for purchasing. So if you can't assign, or try assigning to a turnip in order to get out of a deal, you are still liable.

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"When you get a property under contract, you are committing to buy the property."

Not true at all. We are mainly flippers, but because we get too many leads in, obviously we can not buy all the houses we get under contract. So in fact we do it the other way around. We tell them flat out that we have no intention of buying the house ourselves, and that we are going to wholesale it. We then add to this by telling them that we still may buy the house if we are able to, but count on us wholesaling it. 9 out of 10 times, the seller prefers us wholesaling it.

No drama 100% honest and full transparency.

Most wholesalers (if not all) are dishonest deceptive and manipulative. We always flat out tell the seller we will wholesale the house. And again they always rather us wholesale it than anything else. Its all about how you pitch it to them!

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You are ignorant of the law. Once you contract to purchase the property, you are committed to purchase it unless the terms and conditions of the contract permit you to not go through with the purchase (e.g., bad inspection, failure to obtain financing after good faith effort to procure financing, etc.). Unless you have a contract provision that permits you to back out if you cannot wholesale the property, then you are committed to buy it.

So kudos to you for being honest and forthright with your sellers, and for including a clause in your contract that permits you to assign the contract. Do not think for one minute, however, that because you announce your intention to wholesale that your obligations under the contract magically disappear.

"as you can tell, I am looking for general and specific advice/guidelines."
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Specifically, I say that you should avoid Chicago in general. Both the new mayor and the new City Council are ignorant of both finance and economics, and will probably introduce rent control in the near future by seeking to have the state-wide ban repealed and then imposing a local ordinance. Then you'll have massive property tax increases to pay for all the pie in the sky spending, and finally a Detroit-style cratering.

Try Texas.

You could, and in my mind should, install the separate meters, and see about designating one unit as being responsible for common area usage.

Have all bills go to you. At lease renewal time you tell the tenants that you will pay for water and sewer up to $X plus tax on that $X, per billing term and they are responsible for all amounts over that $X plus tax per billing term. You pick up the trash tax. If they owe you money, you'll give them a copy of the bill so they can check your figures. At the end of the day, you are continuing the practice of landlord paying for water, but giving them a motive for conserving water. Should you ever decide to convert the place to condominiums, your water infrastructure will be in place. You'll also know your costs per unit better, and can adjust rents accordingly.

"She is on sec 8 and to tell you the truth I just want access to my unit to move on she has no money it would be a waste of time."

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So I assume section 8 paid and you're only out her co-pay?

Has section 8 stopped paying?

Bring an eviction case for prior and current rent. That will force her to clarify her residency tout suite.

"non refundable damage deposits more specifically."

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Your statement makes no sense. You can't have a non-refundable deposit for a future event that might never occur. You can have a damage deposit -- refundable if there is no damage. You can have a cleaning on move-out fee, because there will be a move out and there will be a cleaning. But a non-refundable fee for an event that might never occur? Nope. You run the risk of being tagged for false advertising of what your rent rate truly is.

If you are living in the house you can get the homeowner and senior exemptions IF the prior owner qualified on January 1, 2019 (meaning he lived there on that date). If true, you should be able to get a certificate of error. Dunno if you get his senior freeze deduction, as that is means tested, and I don't know if it depends on his calendar year 2018, or calendar year 2019, income.

@Christopher Liffner "I suppose even if I got the drywall up, you could see the wiring date in the attic. The plumbing might be a little easier to drywall up, but access from under the house really kills that one too. "

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Do --- N-O-T --- put drywall up until everything is inspected. Good inspectors will demand the drywall be removed so a complete inspection can be done -- using sledgehammers if needs be -- and you will have spent more money and time.

BTW -- didn't you get a home inspection and list of things to remediate before you purchased?

Now you know why so many towns demand pre-sale inspections. Just you knowing that you're on the skyline tends to make people pull permits and get inspected, right from the jump.

"When I asked why, the city said that's who they get the most complaints about. My thought, "So why not fine the guys who are getting complaints against them vs. making everyone get a license?" "

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Simple. The guy who gets the complaint whines and stalls and says "Town didn't tell me it was deficient," and is now fighting private litigation. Do an inspection between rentals and you take away the excuses of "I didn't know." It's the difference between being proactive and being reactive.