All Forum Posts by: Kristina Heimstaedt

In the event that you have future issues that do not involve the danger of children, I always corroborate the story through tenants b or c. We had tenants who were too noisy and I was able to confirm this through a third tenant. Tenants and most people love to gossip/manage/control their neighborhood or home. 

However, if there is some dangerous or illegal activity going on, it's not worth it to participate even as the landlord. Don't risk letting that liability fall on you.

I know we had tenants who enjoyed using the property management software from Buildium. They can pay online and it automatically charges the tenants a late fee and pulls you out of the "because you're late, I also need to charge a late fee of x amount". 

If that still doesn't work, I agree with @Michele Fischer and think that you need to do your best to change the culture. If it helps, I typically spell things out for tenants as follows: here's the law, here's my common practice, here's the bro deal I'm willing to offer you. It demonstrates your knowledge and often allows you to demonstrate that you're a good guy. In this particular context, I might say "your lease has a late fee of x dollars if you don't pay by y date. I'm/my attorney is typically very strict about this. However, I know you've had x,y,z going on and as a result, if you pay by date z, I won't apply the late fee". 

Best of luck and I'm sure you'll lock this in!!!

I'm going to echo what @Michael Le said in that it's typically not cost effective to add meters. I've managed several properties that didn't have separate meters and typically I use the "all utilities included except internet and cable" as a major selling point for tenants. For tenants looking to budget their costs, it typically works out pretty well. Best of luck!!!

Welcome to #leftcoastbestcoast 

Pictures and see if you can't hire a third party to see if they can tell you how much it will/would be to bring the property back to pre move in condition. 

I had a tenant who complained of mold, so we bought at home mold testers. There's always a solution, you just need to network/do some homework. Definitely make sure you get an estimate as to how much it will cost though when you return her security deposit indicating the deductions.

All of ours are in Newport Beach.

We ask for a deposit that is about 125% of rent and round down a bit from there. I've had a tenant not pay their last month of rent and leave the property in shambles. Some push back on price, but if they do, that means that they aren't the right tenant for us. 

@Alexander San talk to lenders, talk to credit unions, get an idea of what your leveraging abilities are so that when you look at a property, you can accurately assess cash flow. When you're young, you want to make sure that your money is going to continue to grow and you want more coming in rather than feeding or paying to sustain a property. Learn the difference between adjustable rates, versus fixed rates, private money, and seller financing. Rates can range from as low as 3.5% to north of 10% based on where you get your money from and on a loan of $500,000 which could mean $1500/month to $4200/month or more. That will dramatically impact what you determine to be a good versus a bad deal. First and foremost, learn about the money that you're getting.

Next, learn about construction costs. I had a client buy a house recently thinking that the cost to fix up the property would be significantly lower than he thought it would be. He's happy where he is, but his property is costing him every time he turns around whether it's actual remodel costs or just furnishing the property because it's his personal residence. There were a lot of things that he thought would be minor that turned out to be more costly than he thought they would be whether it was scraping ceilings, creating a flush ceiling, raising a roof line, changing a door, it's added up and been more complicated than he thought. 

This game requires doing your due diligence especially in Southern California where the swings are still fractional, but when 25% is $250,000, it hurts when it goes south. Like I said, if you have more questions and would like to talk, PM me and I'd be happy to continue the conversation.

@Alexander San Everyone here has given you some solid advice. I just thought that I'd add my 2 cents. 

I think the most important thing for newbie investors to learn is financing. Typically you don't have a whole lot of capital to start and it's nice to know that you're going to have a comfortable spread between income and expenses. Yes you can do a low down payment, but typically that means PMI for x number of years. I would look into credit unions to see what offers they have. I had clients who did 5% down with a 3% interest on a their loan with a 5/5. Knowing your expenses will help you to assess whether something makes sense or not.

I'm always more than happy to talk Real Estate. Don't hesitate to reach out. 

I manage a portfolio of properties in Newport Beach that range from 1-4 units, but looking to move into 8-15 units. I'd be more than happy to talk/connect. Reach out if this seems to fit the bill.