All Forum Posts by: Kyle Meyers

I have a property that I am just getting ready to rent out after finishing repairs. I have had several people who live on the street approach me about renting from me, they have problems with their landlords not making repairs or the properties being forclosed on. Most of the people I have talked to are on section 8 and suggested I get approved to rent section 8. I am wondering how difficult it is to do this. I contacted the section 8 office and they told me I need a tenant to apply to use section 8 to live their for the approval process to start. What are the hurdles to getting a property approved? Many of you mentioned the inspections, what kinds of things would be different than a non-section 8 rental?

Let the seller know that the roof is a cost you were not expecting, and tell them you would like the price reduced by the replacement cost. I bought a property as-is last year and was able to get a check at closing for replacing the lines from the AC to the furnace. If they refuse, just try to find a middle ground, if the numbers work, you will just be getting a better deal if you get a price drop, if you can't get the numbers to work without a credit for the repair, walk away.

I used ezlandlordforms.com it gave state specific information at each step.

I have not bought online, but I did attend an actual auction and bought 3 liens. The company that ran the auction also does online auctions. The website is sri-taxsale.com.

I would also advise reconsidering using the property management company, it will depend on your personal situation, but IMO, it is usually to self manage when you can.

The other area I would caution you on is raising the rents, even though they are under market, it could cause your tenants to move out and then you would have to deal with a vacancy. I don't know exactly how the process works for section 8 rent increases, but I would try to increase the rents slowly and wait a few months before raising them to keep from getting off to a bad start with the tenants.

Best of luck to you.

I had all the supply lines and one drain replaced in a 3 bed, 1 bath/side duplex with w/d hookups for under $2000. The other quotes were all more than double that, keep searching for the best price, I found my plumber through my contractor.

My understanding of the law, at least in my area, is that they would have to truly believe they have the rights to the land. You said you own part of the grave yard, I assume they own the rest, if they thought they had purchased the entire graveyard and they have been maintaining it, they may be entitled to the land now. You should probably let them know that you have the rights to that land, and get the help of a lawyer.

I am using Quicken RPM for my 2 properties, it seems to work well for most of what I need. The one problem I have with it is the lack of ability to track assets. I found some ways others have set up their own way to track appliances and other personal property in their rentals, it is possible to track, but not as easy as I would have liked for something I would expect to be a common need for landlords.

I believe you can only get title insurance for the purchase price, so if you were purchasing for only a few hundred dollars, there would not be much purpose in getting title insurance that only covered a few hundred dollars. This is just based on my discussion with one title insurance company, I don't know if they all have this policy about the amount of coverage.

Yes, I didn't mean not to try to work with the landlord. My impression from the original post was that you had already contacted them and they were unwilling to help. It would be best if you can contact them and get them to resolve the problem. If they won't help, then send a letter so you will have proof in the event that this goes to court, and try to find out the laws in your state by contacting local agencies or a lawyer. I would not recommend skipping or shorting rent payments unless your lease specifies that you can make repairs and deduct the costs (this is not common).