All Forum Posts by: Joe Norman

In my honest opinion if you aren't confident enough in your knowledge, network, and abilities to make the decision to self manage an easy one, then hire it out to a pro. There are so many unknown-unknowns and, unless you have a very experienced mentor willing to walk you through it, I don't think it's worth the risk for a rookie to take on self management. Good luck!

Love Lesson #4. My tenants will never have contact info for the owners. Even the units I own personally (under and LLC) the tenants do not know that I am the owner. Glad this investment is working out well for you!

I'm more curious about why your property manager rented this property out without a rental license in place already. I won't presume that they shouldn't have done this, but will state that in most jurisdictions with rental licensing laws thats a big no-no.

To answer your questions generally (not specific to Colwyn Darby, PA because I am not licensed there):

1) Generally the county will not allow evictions or rent collection actions if a unit is being rented without a licenses. Furthermore there could be fines/liens associated with any citations. I'm not sure what you would be "defending in court" if you've known about this issue since last year and have neglected to address it.

2) Get the rental license in place BEFORE you move in a tenant is the biggest takeaway here. As far as avoiding huge costs, thats all in your due diligence before purchasing the property (e.g., inspections).

Your lender should be able to tell you definitively, but as others have said you very likely agreed to live in the home for at least a year as a condition of obtaining the down payment assistance. Will the city randomly check? Probably not...but is committing mortgage fraud worth the risk?

The city posts the licenses to their portal immediately after the inspection, lead cert, and payment are all provided (again, through the portal). This is one of the few things Baltimore City Government actually does efficiently - probably because there aren't people in the loop.

Log into your Baltimore City Department of Housing & Community Development online portal, click the "My Account" at the top and then "Permits & Docs" on the left side. You should see your license in the list of documents. If you do not then you likely registered incorrectly because they are posted immediately.

Mayor Schaefer did the same thing back in the 70s. This is primarily targeted towards owner occupants so I wouldn't get your hopes up as an investor.

I do not see any 5 bedroom rental listings in or around Ednor Gardens in Bright MLS right now, FYI

 I would guess 15-20% down payment would be required. That said I am not an NMLS licensed lender so you should get more information from someone who is (there are plenty on BP). Good luck!

There are a bunch of different "conventional" loans, and as it sounds like you're finding out the down payment is very different if you're planning on using it as a primary residence vs. investment. So yes, its very possible to use a conventional loan to buy an investment property...but you aren't going to get owner occupant rates/terms.

Did you have a listing agreement with a brokerage? 

If you did not then I see absolutely no reason why the complaint against the wholesaler's agent (I won't give him the credit of being referred to as a "buyer") should prevent you from re-listing your house.

If you did have a listing agreement then I would suggest consulting a DIFFERENT broker as @Don Konipol suggested. I strongly suggest you talk to the Broker, not just an agent that works for the broker.

All that said, who on BP wants to hop on and defend the practice of putting a house under contract w/o any intention of closing?