All Forum Posts by: Katrina Edwards

Everbank, Jim Taggart.  

https://www.everbank.com/_experts/lending/j/jim-taggart  his phone number is on the link.

not sure if they go to 80% but they might.  Everbank portfolios these loans so have some discretion.  They look for assets and credit history.

Check with your credit union as well, but they typically avoid investment properties in my experience.

Doing a 1st position HELOC with everbank now on a duplex I own. Jim does all my financing and I trust him explicitly.

Good luck!

Congratulations!  Buying from an estate is similar to a "normal" sale unless there is court confirmation required due to probate.  In a trust?  Great!  Super easy as long as the trustee has full powers.  Don't expect much in the way of disclosures and do your due diligence.  Congratulations again and best wishes for your offer acceptance!   

No one ever wants to pay for large repairs.  It's hard to get 2-3 people to agree, let along 300+ (usually a special assessment requires the majority vote of the membership).

Why would you sue the HOA? You would basically be suing yourself and costing yourself additional expenses.

Why not take a proactive approach and see if you can line up some contractors who can provide quotes? Or, if your building is in a pod of say 4-6 units, separate from the others, find out what it would cost to fix YOUR building and then feel out the other owners to see if they would be willing to split the cost.

Don't sue yourself...

Sorry to sound harsh, but we live in such a litigious society that it drives me crazy.  Suing people is not the answer.  Taking well thought out action is...

I hope this helps.

 Hold on there! There is no requirement in California that one accept section 8. As others have said, if you price your unit above the section 8 voucher amount, there's no issue. Section 8 has good and bad points. One of the biggest issues with Section 8, is waiting to have rent increases approved. I do accept section 8 on some of my own properties but advise my clients not to accept it.

We advertise "section 8 declined". 

Set your income and credit criteria high. That solves most problems with applicants.

People, it is very important that we do not post misinformation here. If you do not know something for a fact, state that the information you're providing is based on your understanding. Better yet, do the research and provide a link.

Accepting section 8 usually requires entering into an agreement with the government. No one can force you to enter into that type of an agreement in California.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but I am a stickler for facts and checking data.

I hope some people find this helpful :-)

@Catherine Coyis correct in that there is a lot of misinformation on this thread. First of all, most reverse mortgages have a 90 or 180 day redemption period. This starts after the key person has passed. If the husband died a month ago, it's still too early for anybody to be threatening to kick anybody out.

My advice: contact a real estate professional near where the woman lives. Have that person introduce the woman to a local real estate attorney who will give a free consultation and provide good advice.

Do not panic, but move swiftly to protect her.

If she is within 30 miles of Palo Alto California, pm me and I'll provide you with a couple of attorney recommendations. 

There seems to be quite a bit wrong with this picture, and I suspect that there may be some fraud involved, either from the people who are currently contacting her or add origination. 

If she doesn't have any money, she may be able to contact a legal group that will work on her behalf based on income. 

That is awesome if they will accept it.  Maybe because you're working for a government entity that will be more incentive for them to allow it?  I know you don't need a license to buy and sell for an entity if you are a direct employee of that entity (w-2), which I assume you are at LADWP. I hope so for you, but a few words of caution:

The broker exam is not just high level broker knowledge.  It also includes basic RESIDENTIAL sales knowledge questions.  The broker exam in my opinion has NOTHING to do with running a brokerage or supervising sales people just as the salesperson exam doesn't qualify someone to do a good job selling real estate.  Focus on trust fund handling and ethics.  Focus on residential not commercial.   I believe the state tests on the things they audit for...But I have no proof. 

How do I know what the exams contain?  I have a CA brokers license, originally had a salesperson license and will be doing my third broker renewal shortly.  I also work daily in the buy/sell markets for myself as well as clients. 

Most people do not pass the exams the first time around.  Especially the brokers exam.

Find a good study guide and study the heck out of it.  I passed both my exams the first time through.  I KNEW I passed the salesperson exam, but I was relieved when I got the pass result from the broker exam. I know quite a few people, smart, experienced folks, who've had to sit for the exams two or three times.  

Keep us posted.  Hoping to hear your work experience will count and you pass the exam the first time!

My 2 cents.  Be very careful about charging "pet rent".  I think I read somewhere that "pet rent" paid can be a defense by tenants when it comes to deposit deductions for pet damage. 

I'm in CA and here is what I do to protect me and my clients when I/they think about accepting pets:

In your advertising, say "pets may be considered and are subject to owner approval"

That gives you the control to decide how many and what kind and under what terms you would accept a pet or pets.

Advertise the rent in an amount that you would accept for folks with pets. See my concern above about pet rent.

Increase the security deposit as needed and legal to make you comfortable with the pets.  If they don't want to pay it, they can go elsewhere.  We usually increase the deposit by $500-1000 per pet.  If you are not comfortable with the pets, decline to approve them. 

In California, deposits cannot be non-refundable, so plan on refunding all the deposit each and every time.  That will help you make good decisions regarding accepting applicants.

In CA I like to call ALL deposits "security deposit".  Tagging deposits for other uses, pets, cleaning, rent, etc., in CA limits the damages for which a LL can withhold.  For example, a LL cannot apply a last month rent deposit to pet damage or outstanding utilities and visa versa. Calling the deposit security in CA gives the owner the most leeway to apply deposits to monies owed from whatever damage source. 

If approving pets, require the tenant carry renters insurance and name you and your PM as additional insured.  Again, if the tenant doesn't like it, they don't have to rent from you.

Require that all pets be licensed and up to date on their shots. Require proof.

Check with your insurance company regarding whether any dog breeds will raise your insurance premiums or cause your coverage to be declined. Don't rent to folks with those breeds.

Have a very strict pet addendum.

Check with WA regarding treatment of deposits, pet rent and requirements for insurance by the tenant.  There may be pitfalls there.

And finally, check the jurisdiction in which the rental is located to see what, if any, restrictions there are on the number of pets in a household.  Some cities in Silicon Valley cap that number at 2.  

I hope this helps. I'm not an attorney and can't give you legal advice, but with over 25 years of PM experience in a "tenant-friendly" state, I've learned how to protect myself as a landlord and property manager in addition to my landlord clients.

If you are worried about these particular folks and their pets, say no.

On the bright side, I often find that responsible pet owners (check references) make stellar long-term tenants.  That could bring you piece of mind for years to come. 

Good luck!

While you most likely will need to hang your license with a broker, each MLS has different rules. For example, my MLS allows affiliates to have memberships, such as appraisers, assistants etc.

Your best bet is to call directly to your local MLS.

There are a number of virtual brokers, who will allow you to hang your license with them. There've been some other discussions here on bigger pockets about that topic.

If you're not planning on collecting commissions, why not utilize the services of an experience licensed agent to help you with your searches? Most MLS have a tool which allows the agents to set up searches for their clients that are automated. You could then ping your agent when you see a listing of interest and they could help you with additional research.

Does that make sense?

I hope this helps :-)

I don't think so. You're probably going to have to start with the salespersons license and hang  it with a broker for at least two years prior to applying for your brokers license. If I remember correctly, the only people who can skip the two years of broker supervision are attorneys and maybe CPAs. I think they used to count a four year degree towards broker supervision, but that changed a few years back.

When in doubt call the BRE directly and ask. 

Just because you sold real estate for the company you work for, doesn't mean you're qualified to hold a brokers license. That would be equal to buying and selling your own properties for a 10 year period, which still doesn't qualify you to be a licensed broker.

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but the real estate criteria has been getting stricter overtime. That's a good thing!

I hope this helps :-)

Right.  So do you think inflation is going to rapidly increase?  Gas prices are low, so spending increases, but how long will the low gas prices last?

I was hoping we were going to be entering a period of equilibrium...