All Forum Posts by: Lee L.

@AJ In addition to what others have said, 

-- get the leases and any other documents such as "house rules".  These documents will be critical to you as a landlord and will determine what kinds of obligations you have to the tenant such as parking, storage space, when rent is due.

-- get the tenant estoppel. Ask for the following to be specified: Names of all people living in the apartment. Number of/type of pets. Who owns what appliances. What the security deposits are

-- receipts of any repairs and maintenance, such as the of clearing tree roots, septic, roof repair, termite work. Read the contractor's notes carefully, and call them if needed. This could reveal any on-going problems with the property and provide further insights on the property. 

-- Try to have a conversation with the tenants to get an idea of any on-going issues with the property and the neighborhood. Results of the conversations could be the basis for further investigation. This is one of things I set out to do when I "drive by the property", although it's pretty much frowned upon by listing agents. 

-- Water bill. Where I'm from (L.A.), this is a significant expense, especially if a lot of people live in the apartment and/or they have washing machines

-- Try to uncover any issues with the city. When was the last safety inspection? What were the issues that needed rectified? Has the seller done any modifications to the property since the last inspection

-- Try to review these things before your inspection, so if any of the above constitute red flags, you can forgo the property before doing formal inspections. 

@Greg Thank you for your insights. I agree that I should contact a broker to shop the market. My only hesitation is that I'm getting a multiple policy discount; otherwise I would have ditched this broker long ago.

@Derek Lacy Thank you. I have a homeowner's policy that I'm paying around $1800 a year; this fee is impounded with my mortgage payment along with property taxes. Since there are two buildings on the property, I have a separate policy for each of the buildings. Since I moved out of the unit I fixed up, and I'm no longer occupying any of the units, the insurance broker said I have to make a change to the policy to reflect the fact that I'm no longer living in any of the units. I end up paying slightly less after the change. Is this revised policy a "landlord policy"? 

For the Umbrella, I'm being quoted the following below: Is this reasonable, given that I own my own car, and I have a 3 unit building, all of which are rented out?  I intend to rent until I find another property. Once I get that property, my umbrella insurance would go up? 

COVERAGE DESCRIPTION PREMIUM

================================================================================

SL2 250/500/100 U/L AUTO/MC SURCHG 54.00

$250/500/100 Underlying

SL5 300 CSL U/L RENTAL UNIT SURCHG 137.00

SR ADD'L RENTAL UNIT SURCHARGE 96.00

5A PERSONAL LIABILITY COVERAGE 212.00

BASE PACKAGE (1 Res. + 2 Autos)

7A MIN U/L CPL/HOMEOWNER CSL

7BS MIN U/L AUTO/MC SPLIT LIMITS

$1,000,000 LIMIT

$300,000 LIMIT

$250/ $500/ $100 (THOUSANDS)

SUBTOTAL PREMIUM : $499.00

TOTAL POLICY PREMIUM : $499.00

(FULLY EARNED) POLICY FEE : $37.00

TOTAL POLICY CHARGE : $536.00

@Thomas S.undefined

I've never had direct experience with this company but have heard good things and they have good reviews on yelp. They're based in DTLA: The Eviction Group,

@Jay Herman Just wanted to say congrats -- from homeless to soon-to-be homeowner and landlord at 21. Rather inspiring ...

I've been househacking for about 2 years, and have recently rented out all the units of my property in L.A. Since I won't be at the property any longer and plan to get a few more units in the next couple of months, I've been looking into getting an umbrella policy for some extra peace of mind. 

I contacted my insurance broker who said that since I don't have a primary residence any longer, the umbrella policy I'd need to buy would be "renter's insurance," which like a regular umbrella, can provide $1m in personal liability protection.

I'm not sure my broker is laying out all my options. Is it true that I cannot buy an umbrella policy if I'm renting, but own a property that I'm renting out completely?  I also heard that there's such thing as Landlord's Insurance. From the perspective of a landlord, what is the difference between an umbrella policy, renter's insurance, and landlord insurance? 

Thank you all for the help! 

Perhaps you can put a minimum number of years of driving history in your rental criteria. 

Sunset Junction area in Silver Lake, Los Angeles around $1800 - $2850+ depending on how nice it is.  

As others have mentioned, there's no capex. Depending on the condition of the properties, which I'm guessing isn't great judging by the listing price, capex and also maintenance will be a huge number. You will be maintaining 17 buildings, not just one with 17 units. Are you ready to maintain 17 different roofs, 17 sewer lines, 17 hvac systems, 17 foundations?

How much will the inspections be? $5K?  

Try to find a good handyman who knows how to do everything including plumbing. It's cheaper and faster to have everything done through one person instead of having to call several companies. Have a list of people you can call before an actually happens emergency. 

@Andria Diaz If you're ready to jump in, I'd suggest finding an agent that is familiar with doing multi-family deals. There are extra things you need to consider as part of due dilligence in multi-family deals. You can read up about these things here on BP. The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings by Steve Burgess is one of many good books that can give you a pretty good overview.

I'd also work with a loan officer who does a lot of multi-family deals. Not only do they know tricks to help you qualify for a multi-family deal (ie: you can qualify for a higher amount for MF compared to single family), they can help ensure a smoother process with respects to these loans.

Househacking is a great way to accumulate wealth and to add value to your property. Try to look for opportunities to live in and fix up the units.  Depending on the market, you can create a lot of value by FIXING UP the units. I would look for properties where a) the area is getting better b) the market supports the upgrades c) you can lock up access to the property -- ie: You can vacate the current tenants and get the rehab done d) the rehab budget and overall scope of the project makes sense financially.

Househacking has worked out for me pretty well. I just got done househacking the main house of a triplex and raised the rent from $1800 to $3195/m for the unit. I'm now looking to rinse and repeat for another property.