All Forum Posts by: Jason L.

It's a bad time to be showing vacant units when most places are telling people to stay inside and avoid strangers. I have tenants who are due soon who I'm strongly considering either not raising rents on or offering short term renewal options (2 things I'd ordinarily not do), just to keep them happy and make sure I don't have to show a vacancy before the fall.

My suggestion would be something similar. Either price the unit to sell or offer a generous move-in special. Better off taking $900/month on a $1000 unit than potentially taking a prolonged 0 on it. At the end of the day, a product is only worth what a customer is willing to pay for it and it sounds like you've already gotten that feedback.

 I have RCV too, but Lynette does a good job laying out the downside and upside. For instance, I had a break-in at a house recently when the tenant was on vacation and they busted up a door and window I had to have replaced. My receipts are about $750 for that. However, I have a $1000 deductible so insurance isn't giving me anything for the incident. That said, I probably pay $200-300/year less than if I had a $500 deductible. If I had a $500 deductible, then they would've given me back $250 (750 - 500), which is basically the difference between the premium on the 2 policies. 

1) $1000 deductible: $700/year premium + $750 in damages = $1450

2) $500 deductible: $950 year/premium + $750 in damages - $250 from insurance = $1450

So basically it's all a wash, but I will usually save money with a higher deductible in the long run (as long as your tenants don't get broken in on!).

@Jay Hinrichs What about payment plans with tenants on near term expiring leases? For example, all of my current tenants have leases up in June or July. If I need to work out a deferred payment plan with one, then they're almost certainly going to need way more time than 3 months to get a new job/more hours. So would I have to also give them a renewal as well?

Has anyone spoken to their insurance companies yet regarding if a loss of rent policy is included if tenant's simply just cannot pay rent and by law cannot be evicted? If yes, what about if tenant's can only make partial payments? 

Knock on wood this doesn't apply to me yet, but I'm just curious if anyone else has looked into it yet because I'm debating what my plan should be when I ask my tenants about their work situations.

What exactly is the rule in "no eviction" states/jurisdictions regarding rent payments? Does this mean that rent is optional for everybody in the next 90 days or are payments simply deferred past the 90 days period (i.e. if rent is $1000, do they owe $3000 in 90 days or are the next 3 payments considered lost income)? I haven't seen anything clarifying this, but I'm just wondering why even the employed renters would still pay rent?

Mitchell is likely correct (depending on your tolerance for living in bad areas and/or downsizing significantly). Boca/Delray/Boynton are on average a lot more expensive than Wesley Chapel. The $110k in equity that you have now will likely not be enough to buy 2 houses out here. You'll also learn that a majority of the housing inventory out here are HOA, which can be a killer for cash flow. Not saying you shouldn't move here, but given the constraints you wrote you'd have to consider the idea of buying a rental property long distance.

Speaking from personal experience of seeing this go wrong, I highly recommend separation between the realtor and the property manager. You're always somewhat leaving it up to fate as a long distance owner by not being able to see the property. If for instance the PM or realtor made an unintentional mistake/was negligent/etc, then you'll want to be able to have a third person on your side who could potentially alert all parties to the situation. When the PM and realtor are the same, then there are no checks and balances on their transgressions and you'll probably never be the wiser.

I'd also say as a general statement that anybody who tells you they're good at both being a buyer's agent and a property manager will at best be good at one but most likely is good at neither. Jack of all trades, master of none. It's so easy to hire these independently that I just don't see the upside in ever even considering hiring one to do both.

C-class SFHs. $60-$80k range.

Recent threads about this topic are very light. I figured I'd try to put a new one out to see if there are any new faces lurking on this forum.

As for your second point, I personally have found it way more productive to vet a good property manager before worrying about agents. Way more churn with real estate agents than with property managers, and the latter does a better job validating the former than vice versa. Just my opinion at least. That said, I'd love to talk to some fellow investors about their experiences!

I'm an out of state investor looking at buying SFHs in Indianapolis. Would appreciate any recommendations for property management (or who to stay away from). Preferably someone you have used/are using yourself. Thanks.