All Forum Posts by: Madeleine Austin

@Nathan Gesner, perhaps I should have clarified. I was not open-ended. We just closed Monday. I had not spoken to them. What I am trying to decide is if we should give them the option. The previous owners treated these people like chattel. That may have made them money, but I'm not continuing the pattern. Pride of ownership is on par to profit for me. After reaching out to them, they are moving on. I would have been more than happy to renew their lease on a month-to-month basis until they figured it out. Turns out talking to them respectfully and explaining the situation worked out for me this time. They don't want to live in a crumbling house, either. Repairs are moving forward and everything wrapped itself up neatly!

Hello! My husband and I just closed on our first rental property. We are inheriting tenants whose lease is up at the end of the month. We were under the initial impression that their intent was to move out. Now we have heard they are looking to stay. We have not called to introduce ourselves quite yet.

They have a good reputation in terms of paying on time. However, the house needs significant work and for safety reasons, it is likely it will have to be vacant for 1-2 months as that happens. Additionally (I need to follow up on this), there are more people than I think are safe living on the property and they own multiple dogs...both conditions we were going to deal with when we create the new lease (still deciding the direction we are heading in). The previous buyers, in my opinion, were poor landlords. They clearly did not care for the safety of their tenants and made cheap temporary repairs. 

My husband and I still have to discuss (he returns home Saturday and is not reachable until then), but what are some things we should consider? Any advice? I know I lean in the direction of starting fresh and vetting our own tenants. I know my husband will be more concerned with the bottom line and the figures. He is more "a bird in the hand" but I am more cautious (sometimes too far). Any advice from seasoned property owners?

Agreed with the aforementioned comment! My husband and I are military and just getting started with real estate investing using the VA loan; we have placed NC as our first preference (we were initially inclined to SD) but for us, SD was just not feasible for our first time. Others have had success, but that is not the route we wanted to go down....we are looking for quick(er) cash flow. We ended up putting NC first so that we can potentially have an easier time with our first property. Now we are waiting on orders due in August. I am a newbie too, so I don't have much advice, but definitely prioritize (eventual) cash flow if you have to go to SD. Please keep us updated and good luck!

Also-- I would suggest NOT putting down money using the VA loan. The potential earnings on that money FAR exceed any fee that you could incur without it. (By the way...not tracking a fee in the first place except in very particular circumstances) Invest it instead and let that huge amount of money grow...the fees are small fish compared to the down payment benefit.

Thank you! My only concern is that we are planning on keeping the information that we are the landlords on the DL (and may even purchase through an LLC). Additionally, we will also be moving away within 2-3 years, so our thought process is to have someone with who we have built a relationship with manage before we move on. Thoughts?

Hello all!

My husband and I will purchase our first home in the next few months. We are looking for a duplex to house hack in the Camp Lejeune area. We will be hiring a property manager IOT maintain privacy and be more "hands-off" with the rental. Does anyone have any general advice/reading/past forum links they can provide? How does one even start? Should we look for an individual or a company? At what stage in the process of buying the home should we start looking? We are expected to buy in the next 4 months (tight timeline). Thank you very much!

Yours,

The Austins

Hello!

My husband and I are young adults preparing to buy our first home via the VA housing loan. We are both in the military and are (likely) going to be stationed at Camp Lejeune this fall. Our ideal situation is house-hacking a duplex. We have some questions!

- Is a real estate agent the way to go for first-time buyers on a time crunch? (we will not know where we are going [officially] until August and will likely have to move in September/early October. Also, due to our respective trainings, we may not be able to get out there for as long as we'd like beforehand)

- I have not been impressed with my initial, cursory look at available duplexes in the area. If the pickings don't seem great, should we suck it up or consider an alternate course of action? E.g., build an addition on a single-family home, consider buying another home at a secondary location, etc.

- Do you have any other advice/resources we could look at? Obviously, we have collected advice from BiggerPockets and other resources but we don't mind rereading! If you have something you think would help, please share! Thank you!