All Forum Posts by: Manny T. Marcos

UPDATE:  The Unlawful Detainer (UD) application process was not difficult at all, the package comes with a bulleted step-by-step instruction and they offer live instruction on Tuesdays (at the Courthouse) for landlords if needed.  After I had served his a 3-Day Notice to Pay or Quit, the tenant took every opportunity to "squat" and live rent free.  Dead promises of "I'll be out by the 3rd, out by the 15th, guaranteed out by the 28th, and I will have all your rents,", etc., etc. all expired.  I'm sure some of you more-experienced owners have heard all the stories.  

Towards the end, and DURING the UD application process -  I mentioned to him that a judgement against him will look horrible on his credit plus inability to get future rentals, and the Sheriff's Department locking the apartment and taking over possession of his items did enough to scare him, and he moved out OVERNIGHT.  I filled out the UD forms but never turned them in.  $0 cost.  The missed month's rents I will have to investigate how to write them off as losses.  

This experience has taught me this past year that it takes about a good 3.5 - 4 months to get somebody out and transition to a new renter.  I will know next time, that after 5 days of missed rent, START your paperwork immediately, do not go on the renters' promises.  

Thank all of you guys for the input.  

Hi Jay -

Your suggestion is a gold mine.  I just researched it at and it does not look too complicated at all. http://www.fresno.courts.ca.gov/civil/unlawful_det...

It's going on 4 months he has missed rent, so more than likely the judge will side and the Sheriff's 5-day notice to vacate would scare anyone probably.  If I fail at this, I can at least mark it up to experience. But, should I succeed, I know the procedure for future evictions.  Per guidelines, I have kept all documents (rental agreements, notices served, down to the picture of another person serving the notice to quit or pay personally to him, and Post Office receipts of mail receival).  I'll be at 1130 O Street this Monday to start the process.  Thank you for advice.  Saving 1K for filing paperwork is a win. 

@Charlie Fitzgerald Thank you sir. I've had a difficult time trying to reach the bank and its REO Manager if one even exists yet. I got hold of the second lien-holder which had Foreclosed it (they are taking the hits from bill collectors, etc since they too cannot reach the bank) and wishes to be done with, but the primary is unreachable. I cannot do an appraisal of said property without getting into the chained up property. My goal is to offer the bank a price they will accept and of course I am happy with myself. That's my dilemma as of now. How about you just shoot me some unlimited funds? Kidding of course.

There is a bank-owed property that is NOT LISTED.  I would like to buy it before it becomes listed (that's how much I am interested in it).  Does anyone have experience with this?  If so, please let me know how to do this.  Thank you in advance.

Thank you very much Maggie.  Based on a couple of responses, and if it normally does not go to trial, perhaps I can do the legwork myself.  If anything else, I can log it in as experience.  Normally, a person who hears about the Sheriff will try to avoid it, but it hasn't fazed him one bit.  @Hugo 

@Hugo Camberos, in my experience, the best tenants have been Section 8 renters.  I'm about 75% occupied now with Section 8.  They perform 6-month Inspections on your property to assure you have the basic working units/alarms/CO sensors, etc.  Since most of my units are MDUs,  which I do not intend to live in, I won't care too much if a renter does a small amount of damage so long as it's under their deposit I suppose.  But, the Section 8 inspections are good indicators of how the renter is taking care of your unit.  Renters are a plenty here.  The last unit I was having a contractor replace the carpet with laminate flooring, and I had 3-4 renters fighting over it just by word of mouth.  I didn't need to advertise.  A good key when choosing where to purchase is school district.  The renters tend to favor locations where the school district is fit for their children.  (That is probably true for almost anywhere I guess?)

It sounds then like the $1,000 flat fee for applications and every procedure following might be the route to go.  A little web-search I did quick sounds like he could be living free anywhere from 3 weeks - 6 months depending on how he "fights" it.  I've been courteous and have told him that it will hurt his credit and rental credibility if it gets down to the Sherrifs locking him out and removing his items.  I'm expecting the worst from him: sabotaging the place even if he decides to move on his own will, so I won't offer him $500 to move.  The attorney is more deserving of any monies in this case. 

I recently served a tenant a Notice to Pay or Quit.  The tenant hasn't paid for 3.5 months and his lease expired on March 1, 2016.  I've heard all of his stories ("I'm sick.", "I promise to be out on the 15th, 18th, 24th...." so-on so-on, tell me a story).  I have now contacted an Attorney to file the UD through the courts.  The attorney says she would charge $750 to file, pus or $250/hr should it go to court; or, $1000 flat fee from day 1 to tenant leaving voluntary or forcibly within a given timeframe.  First, do these sound like good prices and second, is it difficult to do yourself? I am in California and so is my tenant, if it wasn't already obvious.  Thank you.

@Beau Ryan and

@Jay Orlauski

These are great formulas to appraise the property.  I'll get some comps together and get a rehab contractor to provide an estimate. I'm planning to be the GC on it when the project is started if everything goes to plan.  I've cultivated a pretty great list of contractors/vendors.  I'm working with an agent to acquire the property.  

Good morning @Michael Lam 

Yes, you are correct in all your assumptions.  My well-experienced Agent will doing that, but like in Engineering, we have to check calcs, numbers, etc to stamp (no pun) with confidence.  I like to call it the "measure twice, cut once rule."  As for funding it, I have 3 different options I am thinking of and each one seems to be a function of how much time I will take to re-hab, hold it, sell it, or all three. What do you recommend for choice of funding?  (project range could be 400k - 750k).

Hello @Michael 

@Michael Lam 

1.  I am a buyer indeed.  You are correct in the No. 2 and No. 3 items above, I researched a bunch of sites on it, and I get different results as far as its estimate.  It is impossible to get it appraised at this moment because of where it stands.  I am working with an Agent who has been through it several times, but as a CHECK, I wanted to see that I at least somewhat agree to what number he is thinking for a price, you know?