All Forum Posts by: Julie Haveman

Hi, I can't answer all your questions, but check with your financing bank to see if they will even let you move it into an LLC. Some will and others won't!

We cut the back splash off and put an inexpensive tile up. Looks great and still got inexpensive counter tops!

We seemed to have a hard time getting new tenants to switch the utilities over to their name, they forgot or couldn't get ahold of them, every excuse. I learned from another landlord not to give out keys unless they come to lease signing with confirmation numbers from the utilities!

Would it solve everyone's problems to push close back 2 weeks?

We recently handed the cost of trash back to the tenants, even on our four family. It saved us $15 per month per unit. Also shopped around for snow/lawn and shaved another $40 per month. Increased rent by $25 per month on everyone renting that has been there at least 2 years. It all adds up for sure!

We have a couple that are section 8, and I think you are limited on how much you can raise the rent at one time.

We have had a couple of tenants like that, maybe not quite that bad. We figure if they pay rent on time, then the damage to the unit is already done. We just leave them in place until they leave. Plus if you don't renew their lease and get it all cleaned and ready to go, what's to say the next tenants will be better?

We get the best insurance rates for duplexes from River Valley insurance in Grand Rapids. I don't know if the duplex you are buying has tenants in it, but if it does make sure you get a credit for security deposits and rent pro rations!

Thank you! This was very helpful! My husband and I just signed up for the conference in February! Excited to go and keep learning. We are one of those ready, fire, aim investors, so scrambling to learn!

We charge a $25 late fee if not paid by the 5th at 5 pm and the $3 per day on top of the $25. We have one family that pays at the end of each month instead of the beginning and pay almost $100 extra each month. We have a security deposit and last 2 months of rent for them, which is why we let this go!