All Forum Posts by: John Knab

If you've had a tenant over the past year or more that has quit paying you simply because they can, then you understand the frustration of the times. You turn over the eviction process to a seasoned eviction attorney only to find out that their hands are tied behind their backs. The courts are either not open or there is no urgency to free up your rental property. Finally, you get a writ and judgement but your community requires a local sheriff to serve the eviction papers and see them out of the property. Problem is that the sheriffs are not authorized to execute the eviction. 

Given this nightmare, you probably would expect the government to provide some stimulus relief to property owners given the eviction process is broken and shut down. Really? There is not even discussions of relief for property owners. Property owners are invisible to the local, state and federal offices. 

The current administration is in no hurry to evict because it is not politically popular to do so. It would also accelerate the homeless plight within the country. Meantime, property owners, prepare for a long, long process before you can get your property back. When you get the property back from a tenant that has not paid you in a very long time, be prepared for them to damage that property, on purpose. Why? No reason, just the fact that you tried to have them evicted for not paying.

Try this at Walmart. March in and walk out with a large screen TV without paying. When you are stopped at the door, simply tell them that because of the COVIC season, you are not in a position to pay them but you will one day. Is this example absurd? Just saying. Rental property is one of the few situations where not paying is allowed without current consequence. 

Estimates of this eviction process opening up is probably September 2021 or into early 2022. Ugh!

@David M.

I'm not an attorney. I've heard that in a lawsuit pertaining to your rental, they can only sue you up the assets in that LLC and not your entire portfolio of assets. You will need to confirm that with an attorney.

There seems to be two categories of non-paying tenants. First, one that had lost their job as a direct result of COVID-19. The other is someone that is simply working the system just because they can.

I will work with someone that is in the first category but not the other! 

Be sure to work with an attorney that specializes in eviction. My attorney does 250 eviction claims per month!

I’m Not A Provider For Free Housing!

If the Democrats want to offer rent-free properties to tenants, please be sure to pass a Bill to reimburse owners. There are 20 million single-family rental properties in the country. Free rent would collapse that industry resulting in a housing crisis like never before.

The Senate has enough business savvy to stop this nonsense before it even hits the floor!

If you buy your SFR with cash, you obviously have less chance of losing the home unless you fail to pay property taxes. However, if your focus is to earn the highest interest on your money invested, then putting 20% down will yield a higher interest from that down payment. It is referred to as Cash-on-Cash which means all you are measuring is how much your down payment is earning for you. There's no right or wrong way to proceed. Those selling properties, like me, want you to leverage your money so you can buy more. You can cash our one of our homes for $150k or you could buy five homes with that same money with financing. Your decision; both options have advantages and disadvantages.

I manage a national ‘buy and flip’ turnkey property provider for investors. It’s a difficult task to manage geographically remote from HQ. There is a dependency on numerous renovation contractors and third-party property managers. We try to set a high-bar on our rehab work. When average age of our properties are 1950s through 1970s; it is critical to keep the SOW very detailed. When we find issues in our work, we strive to address it. This becomes an emotional business when Buyers expect a trouble-free and maintenance-free experience because it is labeled a ‘turnkey’. I recommend keeping a 5% reserve of money for maintenance and repair as well as for vacancy. 

I also recommend you always have a third-party inspection. 

Finally, insist that your property manager place a credit-worthy tenant where the rent requires 3x the amount in monthly income.

I'm not a fan of the term "Passive Income". If you choose to be in the SFR business; remember it's a business.

If you follow this guidance, it’s a great business to be in; especially B-Class properties.

Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss more.

John M Knab

Americas Housing Alliance, CEO

@Sandra N.

Look into setting up a self-directed IRA with checkbook privileges. Contact IRAservices.com or U-direct.com just to name a few.

@Brian DeLorme

I use to invest in C and D neighborhoods. No more. C and D equals trouble; low rents; crime; vandalism; vacancy; AC units being stolen; copper being stripped, evictions; increased repairs; difficult to resell and ongoing bad news. Other than that, go for it.

@Viren Kumar

Viren, you should be able to tell others about us at Americas Housing Alliance.

John M. Knab, CEO

@Anthony Corrado

Anthony, I’m the CEO of Americas Housing Alliance. We have been operating since 2012 in Chicago and St. Louis. Let’s set up a call and I can be very specific about what we do and don’t do as a company.

John M Knab