All Forum Posts by: Lois Ginter

That thought did occur to me.   It should have never been allowed in the first place due to the location of the property and it is as a hazard.  The property is one of four that I own side by side in an urban neighborhood.  Plus I will be living on the property.  I just can't let one tenant do this sort of thing without setting myself up for the other tenants to want some type of special consideration for their deal.   "Oh, you want an arc-welder in your living room to create your metal sculptures, why sure........I will be happy to  track down all of the permits and insurance that you need to do that." 

I have no bones about splitting fire wood, it is where they are doing it.   My issue is with them operating dangerous machinery and storing highly flamable materials in a densely populated urban residential neighborhood close to other wooden structures and the people that live in them.  I also don't want the debris and noise associated with that type of operation to be attributed to me.  

I would rather have a building full of junk, than a burnt down house, or endless meetings with attorneys and insurance companies asking why I let this happen. 

My leases won't allow the storage of personal property in any outside buildings, or the operation of a business on the property. While I am well insured, I have no way to prove that the tenant is now, or will continue to be, or that he has secured the proper permits, etc.   I just see a risk of having somewhat valuable and dangerous equipment unsecured, and that much fuel for a fire on the property.  

I also don't want the disruption of that type of operation in a densely populated area.  This is a struggling urban residential neighborhood.  I don't want to drag out the removal of the items, because they aren't motivated to change the situation, or think I won't do anything about it after they sign a lease. 

It is forestry equipment and a log splitter.  The property is in an urban area.  There is also a large amount of freshly cut fire wood in one of the buildings, and the property doesn't have any wood burning devices.  A drive-by has a pick up truck full of firewood parked in the driveway.  

I plan on bringing it up with the tenant right after closing, but if I don't get a good answer, I don't want to offer them to extent the lease.  

I am purchasing a property with two out buildings.  There is personal property in these buildings that may, or may not, belong to an inherited tenant.  If the tenant does own this personal property, it indicates that he is doing work on-site with dangerous machinery. These tenants are paying at least $100 per month above market.

The existing month to month lease agreement has no mention of the use of these buildings.  My lease agreement has a clause that personal property may not be stored outside of the apartment or designated storage areas, and that anything other than a personal vehicle is not allowed to be kept on the outside on the property.  I am asking that they sign a new month to month lease, for the same rent, within seven days of me taking possession. 

The seller inherited the property, so he has no idea what personal property belonged to the original owner. My purchase agreement includes all materials and equipment on-site related to the maintenance of the property.  

My gut is telling me to give these tenants 30 day notice, rather than offering a new lease. It makes no sense that they would pay above market for this apartment, when there are plenty of SFH in the area for for the same amount of money, or less. It makes me wonder how they were screened, and if the reason they aren't renting someplace else is that there is an issue that would prevent them from doing so. I'm willing to talk to the tenants about removing the items from the buildings, and give them the benefit of the doubt. But still, I don't want to get into any drama about what they were promised by the seller. I also don't want the possibility to remove these items dragged out over months.

Please be transparent with your tenants.  Be prepared for the seller wanting to see the complete property at one showing.  During my purchase, the seller was very unorganized, and it made my life difficult to see the all units during one visit.  I had to make multiple visits to the properties, and the tenants were not happy about the short notice.   I wasn't able to look at the all of interior conditions of the windows, appliances, plumbing, etc.....so having list of items you expect a seller wanting to look at, and letting the tenants know in advance that this will be happening will build trust between you, the tenant, and the buyer.  I really didn't care if the tenant dusty furniture, or a box of sex toys next to their bed.  I just wanted to make sure that that everything was functioning. 

I include income requirements, and that a criminal and eviction background check will be preformed.  My market is lower income, so I will go down to 2.5 rent for monthly income, and overlook credit score.  This is a common practice in my area.  Younger working people are just not going to have that great of a credit score, so why eliminate them from the applicant pool?  

I agree that there are many college majors that have transferable skills to RE.  I got my BA in accounting 20 years ago, and the business, systems, and math principles I learned then are still used today.  It also makes you aware of how critical the administrative side of a business is.  Your other interest will guide you to the intangible aspects of investing. 

 In old career that was always a hot topic, but in 25 years, I can count on one hand how many times the IRS or other government agency sussed that out.  It was usually due to a disgruntled independent contractor, or failure of the employer to file unemployment tax returns, and the agency came in and audited.   Sure there were some big cases, like Microsoft, but those things are still going on in the IT world.  

I Googled Handyman Insurance, and there does seem to be individual policies a provider could take out.  Anybody know how those work? 

I got $500K liability and $1000 deductible for a duplex from Foremost, which is a subsidiary of Farmers.  The policies are specifically for rental properties.  I went through a local independent insurance agent.