All Forum Posts by: Mark F.

Echo what others said, 7 is overkill. At the moment with 3 rentals (6 total units), I have one account and a credit card associated with it. My main account has all the rents deposited and all expenses deducted such as mortgages, some utilities and an electronic payment app connected to the account to pay contractors. Then I have a credit card to charge supplies and any utilities which allow credit card payments. This card is tied to the first bank account and is on auto pay. Since my rentals cash flow, there is an excess to cover cap ex, vacancies etc. This account is also a savings account so I’m earning interest on it. Yes, companies allow mortgage deductions from a savings account without issue. Like Scott said, I use a large bank with no fees and also have my (separate) personal account with them so I can keep an eye on both when I log in. If I ever run low on reserves, I can easily transfer funds from my personal to rental account. I also do not take any money from my rentals as I’m in the growth phase with a W2 and low personal expenses. 

I’m curious if others opinions on how I do this. @Nathan Gesner would love your opinion. I do my own bookkeeping for now and rentals are in my personal name. 

Ok I lied, I also have accounts for tenants security deposits but that’s just a set it and forget it until they move out. No need to check those since they’re all no fee no minimum accounts. 

The way I countered this (still not as good as buying a note with idle cash but I have checkbook control) is the money paid out from a note fund I invested in is at Axos bank. It’s a business account and I just checked, paying 3.95%, more than my personal one! No fees, no minimums, been very happy with them.

Unfortunately the note I own is still paying out to my custodian (did checkbook after note purchase) so the money does sit idle. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the note pays off so I have the cash to buy a new note and no more cash sitting idle. 

I want to buy another note in my SDIRA but I’d have to wait a full year before having enough to buy a decent one. Definitely the chicken and the egg problem. Guess I’ll wait for the fund to redeem. 

Quote from @Salil Surendran:

By the way the landlord insurance that I applied to is Steadily. Anyone have an opinion about them.  I got the below coverage for $80/month which looks good to me?

The coverage limits are as follows:
$200k -> Dwelling
Premises Liability -> $300,000 per occurrence
Medical Payments $500 per person / $25,000 per occurrence
Additional Living Costs And Fair Rental Value -> $19,000
Loss Assessment Coverage -> $1,000
Ordinance or Law -> $20,000 or 10%
Water Damage Limitation -> 10% ($20,000)

Deductibles
All Other Perils -> $2,500
Limited Theft Coverage -> $2,500
Water Damage Deductible -> $5,000

No one can answer you question as we don’t know where you are or the value of the home. Sounds good but what’s their reputation as well? 

When I move out of my house hacks, I call my insurance broker and he moves my policy to a landlord one. For me, it’s usually about 25% more for the same home on a LL policy. I also never make claims. 

I’m going to be 100% honest here and you won’t like some of it. By your whole post, you seem like you’d be a nightmare to deal with if you were my landlord. It’s obvious the tenant is a total PITA and has zero desire to deal with all of your rules. I’m sure they’ve violated all the stuff you’ve mentioned but why don’t you just give them notice and do whatever your local eviction laws states? Just saw your questions, you can find most of your answers in the NOLO state guide to landlord laws. I’d be surprised if you needed an attorney assuming if your rental is in Texas. 

Better yet, tell your son to talk to them like a normal human, not detailed in bullet points, and just say “hey man this isn’t working. You don’t like me or this place. Why don’t you find another spot and I won’t charge you breaking the lease.”

That’s interesting since I have 3 loans with 3 of the servicers you just mentioned. Not many complaints from all 3 luckily but I’ve never had my loan sold that many times. Usually just once or twice within the first year. 

It’s the new word for wholesaling. Say good bye to the negative connotations of wholesaling, hello to cross selling. 

Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

Quote from @Mark F.:

Will know Monday if we got an offer accepted on our SFR, sounds like it, ending our 5 year house hacking journey. If so, it's a full reno and hope to be moved by end of spring 2025.

Some of the cash we saved HH over 5 years is fuel for our next rental purchase. 4-6 unit in Bergen county (maybe in Passaic county but class B is a must), $1m to $1.5m purchase price. I’d like to be at least under contract by end of 2025, if not purchased. Spend 2026 stabilizing it as I want something with meat on the bone. 

Our other 3 buildings (two duplexes, one 3 unit) are basically stabilized at this point so just continue to maintain them and build the reserves even larger from the cash flow they spit off. Will rent out the unit we’re leaving which covers about 65% of our new mortgage, if we pocketed it but that stays in the rental fund. Few small projects with the 3 but nothing crazy. I’d like to refi the 3 unit if rates drop a point. Doesn’t seem like any vacancies will happen as of now. 

It's been great to watch you do this over the years. 2026 stabilizing is so smart. Too few investors are actively focused on stabilizing and upgrading their current assets in favor of scaling too quickly. Let me know if you get it accepted!

 Thank you! I think it’s vital to realize when to grow and when to slow.

Unfortunately we didn’t get it, supposedly got beat out by an offer 50k above our 50k over asking offer and they waived appraisal and inspection (we were close to that but not that nuts). Rough out there as you know. 

Loved the BP podcast episode that dropped today! Good stuff. 

I’m in Northern NJ like you and I just rented a vacant unit just a few weeks ago. I rented out another unit years ago in the time between Xmas and New Year’s Eve. 

Like everyone else rent, list it now. Just understand it’ll be a bit slower. 

For those who aren’t aware, AHP is still in the thick of it against the plaintiffs and a trial date has been set for June 2025 if my memory is correct. One of the plaintiffs request for dismissal was denied and there are quite a few other updates. It’ll be interesting to see what happens and who knows if a deal will be worked out before hand.

The other big news is AHP Title has an LOI in hand and supposedly would return all of investors money back in that holding company if the deal goes thru (someone correct me if I'm wrong but that's what I interpreted). There are three, AHP servicing (involved in the lawsuit), AHP Title (possibly will be sold), and PreREO.

They have been sending out regular legal email updates every few weeks for months now along with having a webinar a few weeks ago. Whenever I email Sean (only to ask for a replay to the webinar or deal with a bank acct # issue) I have gotten a response within the week, if not a day or two. I limit my questions as most of the questions have already been answered either in their lawsuit email updates or in the webinar where people ask the same 5 questions over and over. 

If you’re an investor and not getting the email updates, I’d email Sean to get put on the list. Wouldn’t bother trying to call at this point anyway even if you found a working number. Inundating them with “when will I get my money back?” isn’t what they should be focused on and I’d argue you’re doing more harm than good. 

Will know Monday if we got an offer accepted on our SFR, sounds like it, ending our 5 year house hacking journey. If so, it's a full reno and hope to be moved by end of spring 2025.

Some of the cash we saved HH over 5 years is fuel for our next rental purchase. 4-6 unit in Bergen county (maybe in Passaic county but class B is a must), $1m to $1.5m purchase price. I’d like to be at least under contract by end of 2025, if not purchased. Spend 2026 stabilizing it as I want something with meat on the bone. 

Our other 3 buildings (two duplexes, one 3 unit) are basically stabilized at this point so just continue to maintain them and build the reserves even larger from the cash flow they spit off. Will rent out the unit we’re leaving which covers about 65% of our new mortgage, if we pocketed it but that stays in the rental fund. Few small projects with the 3 but nothing crazy. I’d like to refi the 3 unit if rates drop a point. Doesn’t seem like any vacancies will happen as of now.