All Forum Posts by: Katrina Wallace

We are in the midst of purchasing a property with an existing tenant that has a lease that has become month-to-month.  The rent on the property is under market value and we plan on raising it.  When should this conversation be had with the existing tenant? Does it have to wait until after closing?  The existing lease says that in order to give notice to terminate if they are to move out then it would the last day of the calendar month following the month notice is given. We close on the house the 9th of the month.

Any tips on the best way to have the rent increase conversation? The rent is currently $850 but with some updates to the property it will go for $1,300. We are thinking about raising the rent to an amount in the middle if they decided to stay on since we would not be able to make the big updates until the property is empty.

The current lease does not allow for smoking in the property or animals.  The current tenant vapes (although I don't know if they do it inside) and has a dog. Is this something we should discuss with the current owners? How does it effect the security deposit they paid the original owners? Since we do not know the state of the unit prior to purchase is it even possible to use any of the security deposit funds when they move out?

We have a prospective tenant that has two service animals. 

1. How do I confirm that the animals are in fact service animals? 

2. I know that if they are in fact service animals then they are not pets and you can not charge any fee for them. What type of contract addendum do  you include in your lease for service animals to acknowledge that they are there and that if they do cause damage the tenant is still responsible?

Hi Everybody!

My wife and I are excited to get started in REI. We are looking to invest in long term rentals, mainly single family and small multifamily and scale up over the years. Our focus is mainly on the Greenville area (where we live) and Eastern NC. We have both lived around the Durham and Chapel Hill area for many years, I am from Durham and my wife Katrina is from Fayetteville, so we are very familiar with those areas as well and would be open to opportunities there.

We would love to meet anyone and get connected in the area. We are currently looking for a real estate agent and recs for contractors/handymen, as we think turnkey or small rehabs may be the best way to get our feet wet and gain some experience before getting into bigger BRRRR projects. I make a decent income at my job and we envision my wife transitioning into REI full time over the next few years to get REPS and using the income from my job for most of our down payments. We have been studying a lot and are currently doing the BP Bootcamp, just need to fill out our contacts and team and start buying some properties!

Thanks