All Forum Posts by: Lynn McGeein

This post reminded me of when my kids started using toilet without our help. We eventually figured out that they were using like half of a roll each time because they were terrified waste might touch their hands. Was kind of funny, but expensive because took us a while to figure it out -- older home so we assumed it was a plumbing problem, and obviously went through a lot of TP! If similar situation, then any additional repair after plumber informed you of the problem should be the tenant's responsibility.  

@Timothy Blackman check for state and local first time home buyer programs. Some will assist with down payments or closing costs and only require you watch some videos to become a better informed buyer, so win-win. My son did this for his first home and, other than paying for some lender fees and his home inspection up front, he only paid $11 at closing. It allowed him to keep the money he was willing to use for a down payment for emergencies, which made life as a homeowner less stressful. Those programs may also have a list of lenders with better programs or rates for first time buyers.

@Mohammad Murad If you have a contract with your agent, it should state clearly what you'd owe them if you buy a property within x months, whether you use them or not. As a buyers agent contacting a FSBO, however, I would have asked the seller up front if their advertised price included any offer of buyer's agent commission or closing cost assistance. If it did not, I would have insured that my buyer knew that before writing the offer, and we'd have built it into the offer if buyer really wanted any of that paid by seller at closing. Sounds like you need to have a conversation with your agent to clarify what costs you want the seller to pay. If you really don't want to pay your agent, even though it sounds like they're lowering their normal commission to make it work, then follow the terms of your buyer broker contract to exit, usually not buying anything within the time frame or if both sides agree to a termination. Remember, however, that there are many steps from offer acceptance to closing, and if you're not familiar with the process, it could be much more costly to not have an agent to assist you, at least until you know what to look out for.

@John Fields if seller will agree to escrow agreement of 2x the estimated repair costs in escrow and state clearly how you access those funds, that may work if your lender allows. Best to just negotiate price, closing assistance in lieu of repairs, or have seller pay your contractor up front before closing if you know and trust the contractor.

This depends on your state and local laws. In my state, Virginia, full calendar-month notice is required with month-to-month, meaning full June rent is due June 1 unless notice was received by April 30, so there would be no rent credit due for any day in June with a May 12 notice. But I have rentals in North Carolina, and I think NC state law only requires 7-day notice on a month-to-month lease, where partial June rent credit would be due even if they didn't give notice until first week in June.  Make sure you check your state and local laws before making a final decision as you don't want to violate state and local landlord/tenant laws.  

If all you have is 2 properties, so less than 4 rented units, why don't you qualify for the exemptions from fair housing, especially if the property that caused all the complaints is the same one you actually live in?  Not a lawyer, so not giving any advice, legal or otherwise. Just curious.  I know that you can't say you won't accept vouchers in states where source of income is protected, but can't you just explain that you said it the wrong way, not intending to discriminate, but it's actually just the home you live in and you know it won't meet Section 8 requirements?  Even the NY Fair Housing page says 4 exceptions, with one of them being "one- or two-unit owner occupied buildings."  https://ag.ny.gov/publications/fair-housing

@John Bertolon we’ve noticed over the years that any decent rent increase triggers “stupid-trip” repair requests, change of owners or not. I think it’s just tenants’ passive-aggressive way of trying to get their money’s worth. If it’s not an emergency, when they make their request, we thank them for letting us know, and advise that we’re keeping a list of minor issues and that we’re planning to address these types of things in one trip in the next month or so. We then try to combine them all together or add it in if we’re handling something more serious.

@Agustin Rossi you’d have to make the contract assignable and have seller agree others can enter the home, anyway, so if you don’t have funds to purchase, you’d need to find a lender or private funding that will give you pre-approval, or not many sellers will take you seriously and let you tie up their house. Many states are starting to prohibit wholesaling, so make sure your state isn’t one of those.

@Travis Andres. I think I'd also have an issue with both agents. When I'm listing agent, I ensure EMD is received per contract (usually 2 business days) with confirmation from escrow agent. And your agent should have ensured end buyer paid it. I guess if agent informed seller and you that your respective EMDs were never received, then they'd be covered. Especially with a wholesale contract, I'd want a large EMD and to make sure it was placed in escrow.

 I like the idea of tying seller agreement to pay buyer broker fees with an appraisal guarantee, especially if broker fee is added to list price with list price already being top of market. But if buyer has that much money to cover gap in any appraisal vs purchase price, wouldn't they be more likely to just pay their own buyer broker fee?  I imagine most buyers who request the seller cover their buyer broker fee are those that can't really afford to pay it so wouldn't be able to pay an appraisal gap.  I actually prefer that buyer has a home inspection, avoids potential problems where buyer may say that seller was trying to hide something. Also eliminates many Walk Through items if they were waived in the inspection,  so can't become last minute issues.