All Forum Posts by: Lindsey Vargas

Hi!

We just bought a duplex and inherited seemingly high quality tenants. We will be living on the other side and managing ourselves.

I am making NOT becoming my tenants friend a high priority but I can tell they would like to be friends. I don't mind being a friendly neighbor, but I definitely want to keep things professional and not cross any lines.

We are in the middle of renovating our side and our tenants just bought a lawn mower and mowed the whole front yard (which I think is normal)

But now she texted me and asked if we'd mind her mowing our backyard and that it would be a privilege to do something nice for us. I feel like maybe I should say no so that we don't complicate things and leave her thinking she is owed a favor from us.

Am I overthinking this? Should I tell her yes its fine or NO THANKS?

I’ve been using a realtor who has shown me 5 properties and sent my listings for the past month. I might have found a deal where I can buy directly from a seller and not use my agent.

How do I do this professionally and maintain a relationship with my realtor? Would a nice gift card to a restaurant suffice? Should I write him a check? I feel like I wasted his time and don’t know how to tell him if I don’t need him anymore.

Real estate agents or someone who has been in this position.....advice?

Your expenses sound low. Are you factoring in a property manager? Giving yourself enough for repairs? 

@Amy Beth yep, I’m already looking at other places. But managing it ourselves is the plan if a miracle does happen.

Update: they countered with the asking price of $110,000 and to pay $2k of the closing costs which we asked for in our offer. 

I countered with a letter explaining what I plan to do with the property and how my fiancé and I love the area because it’s near the high school we started dating at 10 years ago. 

This time I offered 90k and asked to pay more of the closing costs which is my highest offer. 

I’m not thinking they will accept since she didn’t come down at all before. 

I guess I’m going to have to start driving around and looking for deals! Also going to need to find a place to live in the mean time. I don’t want to rent for a whole year! 

@J Chad Davis very true! That makes sense. Even though the seller would be taking a loss, they are currently losing money every month by letting it sit vacant. Maybe they haven’t had any offers and they want to stop paying the mortgage. I offered $82,000 yesterday so anxiously awaiting their counter today.

@Joe Splitrock i am listening to him talk about driving for dollars as I’m reading your post! Weird! Thank you!!

@Ericka Chatman How could I find that out? I found out that it’s been under contract once but we don’t know why.

@Theresa Harris thank you so much!!

@Joe Splitrock thanks for taking your time to reply with such valuable info. So where do I find these off market deals? I’ve tried craiglist with no luck. I’m also on the chapter in one of Brandon Turners book on how to find a good deal so I know I need to finish this book!