All Forum Posts by: John Kunick

@Greg M..  Love the "pontificating jackass"!  I truly do not understand what would motivate someone to force others to do what they think should be done..  Totally understand suggesting and encouraging, but taking it to this level seems tyrannical.. 

Also, thanks to all for your input.  Like many of you, I do not see this being part of the normal process of landlords trying to protect their property and interests..  To me, this seems way over the top and just disrespectful to your tenants.

Hi everyone, I just read an article that is alarming to me about a large South Florida landlord who is "evicting unvaccinated tenants"..  From what I can understand, this landlord will not renew leases nor will  agree to lease to new tenants who will not show proof of vaccination.. To me, this seems to be discriminatory and potentially a violation of HIPAA regulations.  Will he also not rent to obese people?  How about people that abuse drugs or alcohol?  Just curious everyone's thoughts not only on the legality of this, but also is this good business practice?

@Laura Guy, bravo!  You nailed it!  This is about freedom and liberty and true capitalism being unhindered by tyrants and dictators.  I was one of those when the EM started that said it was unconstitutional as it infringes on property rights and contract law.  Honestly, I was surprised/disappointed by those landlords that saw it as "understandable and necessary" given the pandemic.  To me, it set a precedent that the government can declare any emergency it wants and therefore what else can be deemed "understandable and necessary"?  This whole thing hopefully has taught a lot of people valuable lessons about the slippery slope of government overreach.

@Paul Sandhu, ok, I got to ask what is "the worst town to live in, Kansas"?  That is an intriguing name!

@Raul Chavez and @Matt Rice, I live in Tulsa and have been fortunate to do really well with my portfolio of single-family houses here.. I have not done any STR.. But, I can tell you the market is so unbelievably hot right now for any rentals. I have one house become available a week ago and I posted it online and got ~ 50 inquiries in a couple of days.

What is driving it? There are so many people moving here from blue states.  We have a lot of companies relocating here due to low costs of housing and doing business.  As Paul mentioned, there are refineries and other oil/gas related industries, but there are also a lot of high tech and aerospace companies that are either moving here or expanding existing facilities.

I often talk to a lot of tenants who moved here thinking it was going to be a "cow town" with little to do and then don't want to leave as they find out what a great place to live it is..

 @Scott Kaczmarek, you may be correct assuming that tenants decide to go through courts.  However, in my experience with evictions, the tenants usually see that they need to get out once the "Pay or Quit" notice is posted - especially if the landlord has already documented everything to the tenant such that the POQ posting is a mere formality.  If you have tenants that have been using the EM as an excuse, this might be a really good time to get very direct with them.  Every situation could be different, but many tenants that are refusing to pay may look at the EM ending as "writing on the wall" and decide to self-evict.

 @Linda Thomas here is an article that might help..  Looks like PA doesn't have a statewide eviction ban.  IMO, you need to start the process immediately as courts will probably be backed up and there is always a chance another EM or some other type of ban will be put in place. 

https://www.businessinsider.co...

Cheryl, first, I wish you the best of luck..  Second, this is hard to answer as it all depends (and every situation can be different)..  But, I'd be more interested in the neighborhood especially if you were willing/able to take the older house and remodel it so it fits with what else the neighborhood has to offer.  The other key is to do a ton of tenant screening to make sure you are getting an "aspirational" tenant..  And, that leads to your other question about a PM..  I've never worked with a PM as I self-manage, so we are going to have to ask for help from others on Bigger Pocket..  But, whether it is you or a PM, the key is you must find the right tenants

 Sorry to be evasive, but it all depends on what your objectives are.  If it is to buy a rental property and hold onto it long-term then the answer is probably yes.  If it is to flip it and make quick profit, then probably not..  Trying to time the real estate market is tough, but usually works out in long-run with cash flow and build up of equity.

One other key, IMO, is to focus on Class A and B properties where tenants tend to be "aspirational" in nature.  These tenants tend to be accountable and responsible as they want good credit score and rental history so they put themselves in best position to buy their own house down the road.  This is a generalization, but by and large the EM issues have been in C and D properties with relatively little (not zero though) issues in A and B properties.  And, if the EM has taught us anything, it is that diligent screening of tenants is crucial.  I have all A/B properties and have only had two issues with EM and both were marginal tenants that I was hesitant to rent to but decided to take a risk (this was pre-COVID and EM).  Lesson learned!

@Mitch Jones, IMO, your concerns are warranted, but your post kinda answers itself. In real estate, we've always heard about location, location, location. Let's expand that to say it's about location within the United States. As many have referenced in this thread, your best locations are states and localities that are not heavy handed.. For this reason, I have built a large portfolio of both SFH and MFH in Oklahoma, Texas and Florida. Think the reasons are obvious. That is not to say that other areas are not good locations, but I'd prefer to play in areas where government, by and large, let's me provide a good quality product to tenants that respect and respond to good landlord relationships (relationships can not be over-stated no matter the location) and stays out of the way.

Secondly, I do NOT and doubt I ever will do any type of government real estate subsidy (Section 8 as example) as I do not want to invite any form of government to be my partner.  To expand upon that, I only do Class A and B properties as they tend to attract "aspirational" tenants who eventually want to buy their own house.  Thus, they tend to be more accountable and responsible.  So, location and type of property is more important now than ever before.  As a side note, I did a few class C properties a few years ago (although I did not allow any section 8).  I sold them less than a year later as my experience, although reasonably profitable, was not worth the headaches and hassles of dealing with the tenants they tended to attract.

Lastly, if the eviction moratorium has taught us anything it is that screening and doing due diligence is more important now than ever before.  In that respect, longer term, I think the EM will have the exact opposite effect that the liberals intended (can you say negative unintended consequences).  Before, landlords like me were willing to take risks with marginal tenants.  The only issues I've had with the EM were the two marginal tenants that, in hindsight, I should not have taken the risks with.  Lesson learned!

 Padam, without knowing what state you live in nor when your lease ends and what is specifically outlined in your lease about "notice to renew or vacate" it is hard to give you specific advice..  But, generally speaking, I agree with Nathan and Jon in terms of this tenant sounds like he is managing your property - not you.  IMO, you need to rid yourself of this tenant and move on to better pastures.  But, as Chris pointed out, these times right now might make it challenging to move on..  So the question becomes how best do you rid yourself of this tenant?