All Forum Posts by: Konrad Wallerstein

Nayhan and Bjorg, thank you for your replies.  I was starting to think along similar lines. 

In general is there any benefit to providing a tenant a loan/mortgage to buy a property rather than selling it and generating income from note finance or the stock market?  Have any of you provided a mortgage to a tenant?

My specifics: a tenant fell behind and I did not evict him.  He is now paying regularly more than the rent to slowly repay the outstanding.  I will be moving and am considering selling.  If I sell to a third party I doubt the tenant will pay back the outstanding.  If I sell him the property we can add the outstanding to the capital sum.

Thank you for any comments.  Konrad 

Hello.  I am retired.  My income is from 11 rentals I own free and clear - 2 in Lehigh Acres and 9 in Jacksonville.  My property income shows as negative (-25,000) due to accummulated losses and my SS is not taxed so does not show.  In addition in 2017 I sold two properties (overseas) for a loss so my net income is definitely negative.  

I would like to obtain a mortgage on my primary residence, also in Jacksonville, but the lenders I have approached all base their decision on the net 1040 income so I do not stand a chance.  Can anyone suggest a lender at a reasonable rate who will base a decision on ability to pay?

Many thanks

Thank you for the prompt response.  What you write seems to make eminent sense.  

I have a few rentals in the USA (Florida) and in France.  The tax systems are quite different.  In France for furnished flats, for example, taxable income is 50% of gross income with no deductions allowed.  Simple but different.  I file a tax return in France on the French properties and recently have had to pay tax on revenues.  In the USA I file the Florida properties and the French properties using US tax rules.  Under these the French properties are not generating a profit.  But I have paid tax in France and so (I think) can claim a foreign tax credit in the US.

Does anyone have any experience of foreign tax credits and do you know if I can claim the credit even if I do not have taxable income from those properties in the US?

thank you for all your input.  I understand from a lawyer that in Florida if three conditions are met a property can be repossessed under the title of having been abandoned.  Apparently according to a lawyer, if I have an email or something saying that the tenant has vacated then she has "surrendered the premises".  He also said that chasing the tenant for unpaid amounts due was a waste of time and money.

Well I have learnt a lesson, obtained valuable information on Florida law, and so now will tighten my procedures.

last night I sent the tenant an email saying if I did not hear back I would send a three day notice and then start the eviction process.  She responded saying:

she had moved out in December and the deposit (one month) should cover the rent

she had had regular problems with the air conditioning and the maintenance man was slow to come and when he did come his repairs did not last long so she claims having had to spend time in hotels.

she contacted the agent I used to find the tenant to ask him for my contact details to which he supposedly replied that he had no way of reaching me - but we are in regular email and telephone contact.

that I should be ashamed to call myself a landlord and that she should be suing me.

However, she did not give notice (60 days), she has not returned the keys, the utilities may still be in her name or may have been switched off in December, there was no opportunity for a walk through when she left and the cost of any repairs and cleaning still need to be assessed.

As she has left the premises and told me she has moved out, may I drill the lock and replace it or will it still be considered a lock-out?

Is there any value to initiating the eviction process now?

Is there another mechanism whereby I can claim the rent for the unpaid months and the cost of repairs and cleaning and leave a negative note on her credit and rental record if she does not pay?

It is clearly a lesson to me for not having been strict as soon as she did not pay her rent on time.  I hope any others reading this who have behaved as I did can also benefit from my mistake.

Many thanks for any responses.

I have a condo I rent out in north Florida.  The tenant has paid the rent regularly for 18 months (and before lived in a smaller condo in the same building for 3 years, always paying the rent on time).  Now she does not respond to emails, there is only voice mail on the telephone and no-one answers the door.  The rent is late - she has paid neither December nor January.  I am currently overseas and have no property manager although I have a very good maintenance team.   

Do I need to write to her giving notice before starting the eviction process?

Can I have the lock drilled and replaced and leave a key with the building manager for the tenant?  I am concerned that there has been a mishap and would like my maintenance man enter and make sure.  Or would this be construed as a lock-out?  Can the maintenance man enter using a current key as long as I send an email to the tenant giving notice he will enter and he knocks before entering?

Man thanks for any and all responses

Steven, 

i know this is an old thread but I hope you are still monitoring and will reply.

I hold 11 rental properties in my own name but to reduce liability risk am thinking of placing them into LLCs. I was further thinking of using 2-person LLCs (my wife and me), due to the greater liability protection they afford over 1 person LLCs. From your previous comments, these would be deemed partnerships and I would need to file a 1065, each LLC is a separate partnership needing its own 1065, correct?

If I move to a partnership, what happens to my accumulated passive losses?  Are they lost or can they be split (as we file jointly) to be used against partnership gains?

Many thanks

Konrad

as I wrote I have 9 rentals.  They are reported on schedule E, as I wrote the schedule C business is something quite different.  Back to the question, though, you are saying that the need for a qualification to manage rentals for others depends on the state.  So in Florida, Nathan thinks a qualification would be necessary.