All Forum Posts by: Kathleen Leary

That's not too bad - they' could've kicked in all the drywall, ripped out the light fixtures, pulled out the sinks/toilets, spray-painted all the windows, poured concrete down the drains & super-glued the doors shut. You're lucky - this time.

If they're legally married, one person can be the financially responsible party & carry the rent payment (for example: husband goes to work & wife stays home). If they are not legally married or in a union not recognized in your state, DE-nied. All tenants living on the property over 18 have to qualify (unless they're somebody's kid). That's how I & many other landlords do it; it's a measure of security for you to insure you get paid. Nothing legal, of course - you're welcome to rent to them with or without the background info. Me? I'd pass.

Well, around here, you could buy about half the entire town! Seriously, unless you're buying a large, working farm, the biggest, fanciest house in the county wouldn't sell for more than $250,000. It's all location, location, location . . .

Jeez . . . if I had an extra $40K to spend, I'd buy another house, do a killer rehab & let IT make ME some mo' money. I sure don't know everything, but I have a hard time imagining that anyone has much to say worth that kinda cash.

In a mid- to lower-end property, it's just more plumbing to maintain or replace. It goes across the ceiling - more opportunity for leaks. Yes, it looks fancy & shiny like the ones on tv, but the few times I've used them, they are kind of like one of those "camp" showers when you're out in the middle of nowhere - kind of dribbly.

If other buyers are (were) interested, let 'em have it. Spend your money on other things.

I can only speak for my tiny local area, but vacant lots here go for dirt cheap (sorry!), if they sell at all. You can buy empty lots in town for $3,000 - $4,000 & probably even less. One of the problems here, which may be similar in other places, is that new construction has to conform to newer setback regulations & the lots just aren't big enough. So after tear-down, you can't build anything new on it - kind of a Catch-22. You might check that situation out, since it could make the whole thing into a white elephant.

Keep in mind, this is a tiny town in rural Kansas, but long-term rentals here tend to be "repaired" with another layer of white paint. Updates rarely exceed the least possible amount of work & money to get it back on the market. We do have a couple of groups of rehab/flippers & they put in whatever finishes the market will bear for each particular property. But rentals are relatively cheap around here & they look like it.

The only exception is when a property is new on the market (from a death, move, etc.). Some of those are pretty nice. A few years & a few coats of white paint will bring them into line!

Oh, dear - that looks like my shed, except I've got dishwashers & light fixtures! And don't forget the boxes full of plumbing parts, electrical supplies, doorknobs & locksets, cans of paint . . . . well, you know what I mean. It's great to have stuff, assuming you can find it when you need it!

In this town (which is fairly permissive, actually), if you pay somebody to do work of any almost kind on your property, you gotta have a permit. That includes demolition. And if you need to bring in any heavy equipment (to pull up a slab, etc.), that has to be okay'd by the city as well. Plus you may have asbestos issues you may not be aware of, if the house is old - stuff gets covered up over time. I watched a house "disappear" a couple of weeks ago (like, at 10:00 the house was there & at 2:00 there was nothing but a graded lot) & all the owner did was stand there & jaw with his buddies. THAT'S definitely the way to do it!