All Forum Posts by: John Duffy

@Roy Gutierrez I have had past renters that were married for 12 years and then got divorced will living in my rental. Don't be so fast to just single people (dating couples...) since America has a 55% fondness for getting divorced! lol As pointed out, all adults living in your rental need to be on the lease.

Walk away...for all the reasons the others have clearly pointed out.

@Kristi Bass Wow, "90% occupancy".  You indicated you have two properties under contract. What was the main reason you purchased them for? As Russell pointed out, laws can change so have a back-up plan for the properties, however, i must assume you didn't purchase them short term vacation rentals. I have three seasonal rentals here in Surprise AZ. I am typically able to rent them from about Oct -March/April (6 months). Because i am in a desirable gated 55+ community that is hard to get into, i "know my market" well. Again, for a variety of reasons, i would be cautious getting into the vrbo, airbnb, flipkey...makets unless you truly know your market and had a contingency plan for teh unknowns of life. I would also question your friends, "90%" rate!  Just sayin!!! lol Good luck

@Ladan Ballai   This is all very clear to me. I think the only path you have is what others have already outlined, small claims court, if it comes to that. Likely, this entire even will have some level of monetary cost to you. 

I own many many rental properties and ever single property i have ever purchased was already rented. Obviously, i have always reviewed all tenant agreements prior to making an offer. I have also on every purchase met all of my soon to be tenants, prior to closing, to go over their tenant agreement, among other things.

I would never take the words or signed documents of current owners and tenants as be all end all! I want to look all parties in the eyes and see that we all have the same understandings of all the contracts. Ive' even gone as far n some cases as having a notary come in and we all sign together and update the contract with new signatures. 

This is just food for though should you ever purchase more rental properties. 

So, the Estoppel was signed. Case closed! There should be no issues! ......So whats the problem? 

EAT the $3000 and lesson learned for you!

Why even get involved in purchasing a home with a non paying tenant that you would then have to go through a long a costly eviction to get rid of. My guess is thats the reason your seller is so motivated! Move on to a better opportunity!

@William Hamburg as Jeffrey point out, you need to get a real estate attorney involved now to protect yourself and the seller as well. 

As for the property, i would most definitely get the septics checked out by a professional. Whats going on under the ground that you cant see could cost you big time! As for the home, i would get a professional in to look at the HVAC, plumbing and electrical. Again, these are high dollar headaches down the road. I say plumbing as the older mobile homes get, it is not unusual to need to replace all of it, i speak from experience. 

I agree with Jeff on the financing. I live my life as a game of "what if". In this case, what if i cannot pay this off or the new balloon payments in two years. Then what....

If I were you, short of sitting behind a bush for 24 hours to find the culprit, I might have a sign made to post by the dumpster that says something to the effect; “Dumpster under 24 hour Surveillance -no unauthorized dumping allowed”.

In addition, if I were you, I would also my tenants to keep their eyes open on my behalf. I would give them some sort of ‘incentive’ if they were to identify people that I could then investigate further.

@James Bynum, is there an option to utilize another (traditional trash cans) trash service in that area? If not, are there other dumpers in the alley? If so, i would connect with those owners and see what they are experiencing and how they handle it.