All Forum Posts by: Tom Lipps

 Apologies if this is a dumb question...

To your point, the contract is with the Seller. And the contract calls out closing costs, title insurance, and prorations.  As of right now, the Lender is paying for the closing and title insurance, but not the prorations. IBased on what you're saying above, why would the lender pay for any of these costs (closing or title ins)? If my contract is with the Seller, then wouldn't the Seller have to pay for all of them?

 I just checked the contract and sure enough, it calls for prorations (rent, security deposits, etc).

Good points. They don't want to fork over $1k for something that's not their fault, but I don't want to be stiffed with owing my tenant $600 when he moves out either (for something that's not my fault! )   :-)

You're all right, the real question is, am I willing to walk? I've been looking for my first rental for about a year now, and I'm pretty excited about this one.  I'm particularly excited because it has a finished basement with full bath that could be converted into a third bedroom and second bath with minimal capital. I'm not willing to walk.

Hi BP!

I'm set to close on my first rental ($82k duplex) this Friday.

However, I received the Title Agency's Final Settlement charges and it does not include a Prorated Rent or Security Deposit from the seller (even though I explicitly asked for these to be included a week ago). They told me since this is a Short Sale that prorations and the security deposit would be handled outside of closing.

The current owner has been MIA (won't be at the closing). I believe she has already moved to another state, and left all her stuff behind. I'm 99% confident that if I don't get this at closing (little more than $1k), that I won't get it at all. 

I've started the conversation with my Agent, Lender, and Title Agent to tell them I'm not ok with this. Am I being thick headed by not being ok with this? Do you think I have ground to stand on? If so, do you think (this close to closing) that they'll be able to work with the Short Sale bank to get this fixed in time?

Thanks everyone as always!

- Tom 

 Fair and straightforward feedback John. Thank you!

Are there legal reasons for not touching anything prior to being the owner? I was actually happy I did, because had I not the door probably would have fallen off, and then the window glass would have shattered and it would have been a much bigger problem.

Hi BP!

I'm about to close on my first rental property this Friday and am very excited! I'm learning A LOT as I go, and BP's community has been amazing in helping me confidently get through to closing.

The property I'm getting is a Short Sale (the previous owner has been MIA the whole process). The first unit has two tenants in it and they have my number and know I'm about to close. They called me last night and asked if I could come check out/fix the garage door (even though I don't own it yet!). 

Since I'm closing this Friday, I thought it would be a good idea to at least check it out. I was able to fix it, but the tenant raised a good question, "The door was off its track which was causing it to hang about 3 inches too low. So the top of my van hit the door, and it knocked off my top reverse light. Who's gonna pay for this?"

Naturally, I currently don't own the property, so I know I'm not responsible. But this got me thinking, if I did own the property, and the door was in-fact hanging too low because it was off it's track; would I be responsible for repairing his vehicle?  What if the door was low enough that it should have been obvious to him that he would hit it?

If the owner is responsible in this case, is there a "rule of thumb" for when to establish if the Owner is responsible? Let's say he got a flat tire from a nail on the property... is that the owner's responsibility? 

I want to be a responsible ethical landlord, but also want to make sure I don't let my tenants take advantage of me.

Thanks for any advice!

 - Tom

Ditto. My Brother and I are Cincy natives and looking to connect with other fellow investors! 

I had my wife read Rich Dad Poor Dad. This book has become a cliche in the BP world, but it's a short, easy read, and really helped get my wife onboard  with investing in assets. Good luck!