All Forum Posts by: Jason Barnett

Originally posted by "siszam":

Sure they could have held off but mold is a real health hazard.

No, only some kinds of molds are real health hazards. Most molds are allergents that can cause irritation, but they are hardly hazardous. I am positive that if I went to your house right now I would find mold, but it's not likely I would find botchy. I literally brought in a professional team to test my mold levels and it said that I didn't have any botchy. Not true. If I fail to clean up the place (once I know of a problem) for a long period of time then that is actually a stronger legal position for the tenant. There were no genuine problems. The tenant claimed allergy problems, but frankly it's like saying I should pay for all tenants' allergy medicine if there is a bunch of flowers next door to the building. Maybe that's how you do business, but I don't run a charity. No, I was angry when she cussed me out while I was in the rooms to do some clean up work. But I never cussed her out no matter how much I wanted to do it. IMHO you've never dealt with a nut job.[/i]

You have done very well indeed, congratulations and I wish you continued success!

Originally posted by "MikeOH":

RedStar,
Be sure that you screen potential tenants. Most low income tenants will have bad credit, but you should be sure to do a criminal background check. We eliminate about 75% of the applicants for either previous evictions or criminal history. You can't throw a rock in Ohio without hitting a crack dealer.

Agreed 100%. In my low income areas I don't even bother checking credit anymore as everyone is going to have bad credit. Look for evictions, foreclosures, and felony convictions. You aren't going to find the typical / nuclear family with those kinds of rentals.

BTW not all Ohio rentals are crackhouses, but no doubt that's what you get in the low income areas. I.e. if your rent is less than $500 (2 BD 1 BA) then that's what you should expect.

Unfortunately I can't give specific tax answers on a public forum such as this, but if you really don't want to pay a CPA for that answer then you can read the IRS code section 469(c)(7) for those specifics.

Originally posted by "Terrence":

Good Lord! Ohio RE is practically FREE!! Do the people drive expensive cars since they have to spend so little on housing? I can see a row of 10K houses with hummers and lexxuses out front...

In some areas... well, you could say that was true :lol: For the most part though no, it's not like that at all.

Analysis with an option ARM becomes a lot trickier than analyzing a straight-line amortization (i.e. conventional loan). Here's something to consider though. If the appreciation stays at 14.4% for 5 years then your debt to equity is still going to improve. You don't pay down debt, but the price of the house would be almost double!

OR's concerns over the option ARM are legitimate and I don't want to downplay that. But if appreciation is as good as you're claiming then I personally wouldn't be too concerned. After 2 years you would have enough equity to refinance to a conventional loan.

If you really want to be a DIY guy here then at least buy a good program. You can try Pat Tarr's "Armor and Camouflage" for $500 and you even get some forms that you can use (and reuse).

Originally posted by "takleberry":

My main recommendations would be to let a professional do the debt collection (don't do it yourself), and have a debt collector pursue a tenant in conjunction with whatever eviction or court judgments you seek.

I would like to educate everyone about the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). I don't have the legal citations handy (it's a federal law), but you can google for this.

The one point that I would bring in here is that there are very specific rules that apply to credit collection companies. This subset of rules was written to keep professional collection agencies in check. However, the rules for creditors (i.e. landlords) are different and actually provide more flexibility in what you can do to try collecting the debt. Depending on how aggressive you are this might actually be a more effective method of collection. If the dollar amount is large enough then it might make sense to read up on the law and chase the money yourself.

Some of the out of towners seem to be Commercial Real Estate Brokers that want to get rent comps for the area. Some will even come out and say it.

trashmail.net is another email service that lets you set up throwaway / temporary email addresses. Another option is to leave your phone number and say appointment by phone only.

Another option: find a handyman that can do general repairs and make him a tenant in your multi-family apartment building. Give him a reduced rent (or free depending on the size of the property) and have him do most of the day to day repairs. Then you can advertise "onsite property management."