All Forum Posts by: Kevin Harrison

Also I would give proper notice and do a home inspection asap to show what condition the house is in. bring a 3rd party person with you to minimize he said she said accusations.

They can report her old lawyer regardless. Changing sides in the middle of an issue is a huge conflict of interest and since the lawyer has already spoken with her in what was suppose to be confidence there is no way he can represent her family against her fairly. its is tantamount to stacking the deck. I would get another good lawyer and fast. I would also report the old lawyer to the bar association for among other things, lack of professionalism, conflict of interest, and would possibly even consider suing him depending on how the negotiations go for hurting her chance at getting a fair amount of money since the family now have "inside information".

Because no matter what he does or does not tell the family he already knows her intent and how to best push this issue to get a big win for the side he is on now.

Have you thought about just refinancing your PR instead? It will let you keep it as a rental and still pull money out of it.

here is a post I wrote that you may find helpful in figuring out what you want to do with your home.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/305273-should-you-sell-your-home-or-make-it-a-rental-asked-and-anwsered

This is a sticky situation. Since you have already moved in but have yet to sign a lease you should be entitled to your money back minus pro-rated rent for the time you have been there if you do not stay. I would most definitely not sign that lease if the appliances are as you say they are. But know that if you decide to move out you need to start looking for another place asap, and that you may have to end up suing to get your security deposit back. If you decide to try and negotiate the lease I wish you the best of luck because it sounds like your landlord may be trying to get one over on you.

For future reference you should always read the lease in detail before you sign it and you should have a signed lease before you move in. A lease protects you more than it protects the home owner.

Before you buy I would get with each tenant and have them sign something saying how much they are paying in rent and that they are currently on a month to month verbal contract with the current owner. This way once you do own the place you will have something to show the judge if their stories of what they were paying or the terms of their lease start changing. This needs to be done before you buy and if the tenants wont sign then I would walk away.

Maybe you could try your add more like this?

"This is a well maintained house on a quiet street with a great yard that backs up to the woods. Conveniently located close to schools, shopping, and all the amenities of Mount Vernon and Skagit Valley.

There are 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs with a large deck off the kitchen and dining room, as well as a large living room. There is also 1bedroom and 1 bathroom downstairs, with a large den and laundry room, adjacent to the oversized 2 car garage. 

Rent is $1700 a month. Utilities not included. Small pets considered. Income must be 2.5 times the monthly rent. Minimum credit score of ___ required. Home is available for rent as of Sept 2nd"

The words dead end have a negative connotation subliminally in peoples minds even if they know what you are trying to get across. I've shortened you add quite a bit but I think I hit all the key points. Almost everything from the second 2 paragraphs are things you should ask casually either over the phone or in person.  

@Cindy Murdoch, Not a terrible idea but then you would have this weird stepped down hallway between the rest of the main floor and the dining room which would make the house feel smaller. I would also make the downstairs bedroom open to the main living area on 3 sides so I hope whoever has that room is a heavy sleeper. This would probably be cheaper than what I had suggested but not by much.

The upstairs hallway is a good idea though as long as the dimensions of the house would support a standard width hallway. Even with the stairs flipped all you would have to do is relocate bedroom #2's closet behind/over the new stairs and move the door for bedroom #3 over to meet the hallway.

Actually the way you drew the upstairs would match with the stairs being flipped, That's about how I would do it other than the placement of bedroom #2's door further down the hall instead of directly at the top of the stairs.

This is hilarious. They neglected to secure their property, they had this system installed without permission, they are responsible for any consequences.

Locks don't make homes any safer, they just keep honest people honest. If people really want to get in they can. But leaving the window open is just silly. Dollars to donuts says its someone from the neighborhood or one of their friends.

@Adrienne Bryson, No I have no idea what this would cost in your market but I would guess between 8k-12k to have someone draw up the plans and get them approved and then actually do the work if there are no major issues.

But please let us know if you pull the trigger or not. I think with the stairs reversed the upstairs would make a cool master suite.

thanks for the update. Glad to hear that the problem sorted it self out.