All Forum Posts by: Karissa Sampson

We have a mortgage and HELOC for our 1st property (condo w/ 2 tenants, 1 existing and 1 brand new signed 1 wk ago and moved in today) and now another mortgage for our 2nd property (duplex-we live on one side and 1 tenant on the other who signed lease today). We have started the process of preparing to request the forbearance that were offered to us by both banks. HOWEVER, currently all 3 of our tenants have stable well paying jobs (engineers and tenured principal) and have told us that they have no financial concerns for ability to pay. With this in mind, we will continue to collect rent AND continue to pay our mortgages.

The point being, if you expect that your tenants continue to pay rent even while they are enduring a financial hardship that makes you a hypocrite if you then decide to not pay your mortgage just because banks are offering this to you right now (unless you are having financial hardships outside your investment properties such as job loss/hours cut back/reduced pay. I supposed inability to get work crews in for flips/renovations etc. presents its own issues, but I'm focused on just the tenant/rent - landlord/mortgage dynamic)

I've spoken with friends and even my own sister who are all renters about this. They have been discussing whether they should "Rent Strike" soon. My reply has been to simply COMMUNICATE with their landlords, just as we are communicating with our own tenants. People who don't communicate with their landlords to seek out options to manage their situation are not trying hard enough IMO to amend the situation they are in. I agree with the above post as well, that housing is an essential need (food, water, shelter...) but also that too many people don't take it seriously. That sweet new road bike you got to replace your old one this spring? Sell it, use the money to make ends meet for your essential needs. That student loan payment? Contact your loan service and ask for a forbearance due to hardship. That Netflix/Hulu/BlueApron/Farm CSA/neat toothbrush subscription? Not a necessity, suspend subscriptions temporarily. (This all goes for landlords too.)

Now is a great time to take a look at where you might be bleeding out money and stop the bleeding, whether you are a tenant or a property owner.

 What has been your experience (and others?) with LED light fixtures? I like the idea of them but I have found that many LEDs burn out or malfunction over time just the same as regular bulbs, which makes me a bit hesitant to install them. Also, nice work on your kitchen! We also have popcorn ceilings and I have no intentions of removing the popcorn anytime soon. Renters don't seem to care in our B neighborhood and if we sell wayyyy down the road, I don't think I'll find it worth my time or money (perhaps it will be worth it and I'll re-evaluate then?!)

Newbie first time investor here. Purchased a duplex and living in 1/2 while renting out the larger side. Mandatory quarantine due to illness earlier in the month morphed into mandatory work-from-home orders and equals us getting the renovations completed ourselves and we just signed a lease with a tenant today. We managed to complete the kitchen renovation for both sides (2 kitchens) for $1,400 total. We debated stone counters but being conservative with our money on our first investment property and not wanting to overspend versus comparables in our neighborhood ( yet still wanting a nice look), we ended up going with marble-look laminate counter tops from Ikea. We like how it turned out and have received compliments at all our showings. Just the hardware is left to install...