All Forum Posts by: Marian Smith

You should at least be able to have the amount deducted from the sales price at closing--not a rebate but the bank should be happy as it lowers the amount financed--no experience here, just thoughts.  Must be why people use special rehab financing, banks only loan more than market value if they can make sure the overage is put into the house and by  licensed contractors, but what a pain and added expense.

Lots of fluff out there.  Gary Eldred was on the faculty of one of the better business schools...Yale or somewhere...and his books are  reading and you can find them used on Amazon.  

Not familiar with Nashville, but here inside the city you can only have a single family residence if it is zoned as such...and in one neighborhood with an active hoa they forced someone to reconvert a garage apartment or at least remove the range.  You nay need to apply for a variance.

if you do not have the tile guy rip it up, is there a flexible grout you can use?  they are grouting vinyl tile now to make it look like real tile, that type grout would be likely be more flexible than cementous grout.  the grout is what will crack unless the tile is so fragile that it breaks instead of the grout cracking.

TSP will clean it but will remove the damaged finish. clean everything with tsp and, following the directions, apply a coat of General Finishes gel stain in the same or slightly darker color. it is a colored urathane finish. it can stand alone but long term you'll be happier with a second coat of poly. you could also prime with zinser 123 and paint. I think wood finishes are easier care than white and have better resale than sage or grey or another color--especially down the road.

HELOC, 401k loan, sibling or friend's self-directed IRA, some people use IRA rollovers for a 60 day loan. But where are you going to get the money for rehab?

To answer Daniel, I have only financed a family member. I have considered selling with owner financing, financing mainly because 1) I have no where to put the money of a sold property. But 2) I only like today's interest rates very short term. And 3) I don't like losing control of the property. and 4) Owning is an inflation hedge whereas financing the purchase, unless possibly an ARM, is not. So even though the market's height makes me want to sell I am holding.

Someone told me he paid about 2.5k to the bank in attorney fees to get his house out of foreclosure.  If true, and it sounds reasonable, a bank pays about 2.5k for one of those foreclosure mill attorney offices to get all the way to posting a foreclosure at the courthouse in Texas which is non-judicial and has a pretty quick timeline.  Another real cost is holding costs while not being paid and damages to the property--and by damages I don't just mean retaliation, I mean deferred maintainence, pet damages and crazy decorating choices which is what I mean in 3) above...losing control.

Also, an owner held mortgage, even seasoned, is not very liquid and if interest rates go up, even less so.  So that too.

But people owner finance all the time and there is something to be said about mailbox money...it's the perfect kind.

To answer your actual question, I think I get better tenants off zillow/hotpads.  But craigslist has a map function now so I will continue to post there...use very specific search terms so tenants can weed through the junk posts.

     Moving is a hassle and can be expensive.  Maybe you can send your last tenant a survey and a $5 bill asking why they moved, how much their utility bills were and what improvements could be made....for the next tenant  and say you regret losing a great tenant so they feel complimented maybe...self addressed stamped envelope for return.  

If you switch from using a realtor/MLS take into account that they should be screening their clients to avoid wasting their time on someone who will be turned down. So you'll need to be sure you are prescreening so you don't waste your or your applicants time.....have a sheet you can email or read off over the phone saying your requirements for tenants....income, no evictions, judgements granted to prior landlords, etc...and know the tenants with big problems want to find a ma and pop who they can talk into letting them move in--playing on a landlords desire to avoid vacancies and just get the process over with. Most tenants have little problems...as do most people.

I have toyed with using Creekview realty or some other flat fee realty next vacancy to get MLS exposure and see if I get higher quality tenants, but recently our market is hot and I have gotten tenants who actually want my neighborhood to remain in the same schools, which is my favorite reason to hear and has always worked out for me. Although my ideal tenants would be a male childless couple :-).

     I sincerely doubt there is a place in the US where you cannot offer a piece of property for sale for any price you dream up....hence the make me move listings on Zillow.  And what about those deals where a property doesn't appraise so the buyer makes up the difference out of pocket so the bank will make the loan.

     I also doubt any new  lending regulations apply to the sale and owner financing of a single property, you'd have to be doing at least a few deals in any given year, be a pro.

     But I am not a lawyer.