All Forum Posts by: Jesse Sumner

This comes as a result of the sailors and serviceman's relief act. You simply have to inform the court that you have checked the database and your tenant is not in the military. It also protects you. If you were to accidently violate the SSRA by evicting a deployed military personnel, the tenant could bring a claim against you under the act.

I believe there is an online database. I would just check the database, sign the form, get your default and move on.

Good Luck!

When I have someone that is requesting the transaction be done a certain way, i.e. pay 10% earnest money, I say: Well a standard real estate transaction is ... or the typical real estate transaction action is... or a traditional real estate transaction calls for us to ...

When you use these statements you are telling the buyer or seller that what they are requesting is not normal. They tend to change their tone because psychologically they don't want to do a transaction that is not normal, nor traditional nor standard. It may not work all the time, but it changes the tone of the conversation. Many times they say, “Oh I didn’t realize that.”

Obviously if someone uses these lines on me, I say I don't care if it’s not standard, this is my transaction and this is how I want to do it.

Form a relationship with a lender at a local community bank. You may have to start our small or set up a checking account and let them get to know you. However, once they are comfortable with you as a borrower and your abilities, there are plenty of ways to finance your properties.

I purchase and rehab my houses on a line of credit. Once the repairs are completed and I have a tenant in the property, my banker will loan me 80% of the as repaired value. Therefore, I am able to get most if not all of my money back out of the property. Rinse - repeat.

If the fence is on the line and you are Ok with its placement, you should be OK. You would be getting what you paid for in your purchase. However, I would make sure to get a survey to determine that the fence is truly on the line. Also, this might make a good bargaining point for your negotiations.

Good Luck!

From your post it is not exactly clear which property is encroaching on the other. You said the "owner" knew about it but did not do anything. So my first question, is the fence on the property line now? If it is on the line, then you would to sue with some form of an adverse possession claim (if your state has such a claim) based on the previous owners use of the property. This is usually a very high burden to prove. Most likely you are stuck with where the fence sits.

If the fence is not on the property line and the other owner is 3 ft into your lot, then you would have to file a suit to have the fence removed. Either way you would be buying a lawsuit unless it is on the line and you are fine with where the fence it located. You could possibly work out an agreement but this is unlikely. I would pass unless you are Ok with the fact the fence will not be moved- my 2 cents.

Good Luck!

I am researching an issue with regards to a loan with a balloon payment that is maturing. I have been told that under Dodd-Frank if a note with a balloon payment is renewed with the exact same terms it previously had (i.e. maturity, interest, payments, etc.) before it matures, it is considered a modification and not a refinance. Under these circumstances, this “modification” would be excluded from the requirements of Dodd-Frank. However, I read a post from @Bill Gulley where he cautions that the Act would apply if a new security agreement is filed under any modifications and that the modification would need to be compliant with the Act.

Has anyone else looked at this issue or have an opinion?

I had this happen once and I told my agent I did not feel comfortable offering any more. The bank went with the other buyer. After that buyer couldn't close, the bank came back to me and I lowered my offer. The bank accepted it and I scored a homerun.

Like the stock market, I never chase a deal. It always comes back to bite you. If you have cost overruns the exceed your estimates, you don't have any cushion. There will be another deal down the road. Also, keep in mind that your real estate agent may have a vested interest in you buying this property so that he can get commissions from both sides of the transaction.

Good Luck!

I find that with both tenants and PMs, they either train you or you train them. Therefore, I choose to train them. I make my expectations very clear from the beginning and do not waiver from them. If the tenant or the PM does not like it then they can leave. In the beginning there is usually a little push back, like a child testing their parent's boundaries. If this causes turnover, so be it. I have had some turn over on properties but eventually I find the right tenant and now most of my properties have multi-year tenants with little problems. If the tenant starts to forget, I rattle their chain a little and they usually line out. If not, it is time to start looking for a new tenant. In the beginning, I had a little grumbling from my PM because the tenant would not like it or they would leave but I found it was mostly because it was more work for him and he did not to do it. However, I explained that I did not care if the tenant did not like it or if the tenant left and if he did not do what I asked, I would find someone that would. It is a little bit of work on the frontend but at some point the tenant, the PM and myself are all be on the same page and this has made all the difference in my investments.

Good Luck!

Make sure you get the security deposits from the previous owner. If you haven't already done so already, set up a separate account to hold the security deposits because generally you cannot comingle business funds with tenant's security deposits.

Good Luck!

I second @Paul Granneman

I use Evernote. I like the ability to setup folders and subfolders to keep items separated but organized under the same heading. It also has the ability to clip and paste information from the internet and keep it and organize it in your folders.