All Forum Posts by: Matt Batson

hey Matty, I will go on there and put in my experiences.
Sounds like a good idea.

something to add that occurred to me is, how does a PM offer free a/c filter change every 45 days if it is a 200 unit apartment? The cost of that would be incredible.
Or, is this only offered on Single family homes?

I had begun talking about my PM on the other thread, but felt this needed a separate thread/discussion.

My question is, how do you guys choose you're PM? What services do you look for?
When I chose mine, I had called around to different PMer's in the area, along with real estate companies, and from more than one conversation the name of my PM came up.
I know this isnt very scientific, but figured recommendations from people who had nothing to gain from it seemed okay at the time.

Adam Black from the other thread, owns his own PM, and he brought up a great point. He offers, free of charge, a 45 day change of the a/c filter along with a 20 point inspection.
I have to tell you, this sounds awesome.
I am now calling other PM's in the area of my rental to see if anyone offers anything like this.
One question I would have is, what are the 20 items being inspected?

How do you know if you're PM has a good reputation?

thanks for the info.
The property management company I'm using might be part of the problem. I'm still looking into it.
They just sent out their handyman to snake the drains as the City apparently notified them that they were backed up?
So, the handyman goes out, pulls the toilet, snakes it, then goes outside and snakes the cleanout we have on the house, puts the toilet back on, and charges me 575.00. Which, just so happens to be what we get for rent for the property.
Maybe it's just me, but this seems a little high.
Anyways, that is onto another topic of "How to find a good property manager".
I will know more here in a few days, but need to start considering eviction. Last time I checked over a year ago there were a whole bunch of sec 8 renters looking for homes. Not sure how the supply is now though.

And yes, thorough screening is at the very top of my priority list for the next tenant. You can count on it.

thanks again,
matt

I've had a single family home that I've rented for approx 4 years. First renter was a section 8. She was in for a few years and everything was going nicely until she becomes responsible for part of the rent, about a hundred bucks. She seems to have a hard time coming up with it every month. After about four months of this I get a letter from the power company reference meter tampering.
So, I go for a visit (I lived two hours away and only got over there maybe once every two months) and find the house is vacant. Section 8 case worker knows nothing.
Turns out, I still had to go through the eviction process for CYA purposes.
She trashed the place, stole the washer and dryer, etc..
So, I spent thousands on new windows, carpet, drywayll, etc. and got another section 8 renter in.
This time, I had a property management company that was recommended by two different people manage the property.
After the first year, Section 8 cuts their part by 130 bucks, meaning the tenant now has to pay a portion.
Tenant is not paying.

My question is this.
Isnt it impossible for a person to get section 8 vouchers ever again if they are evicted?
This is what the sec 8 caseworker told me, and it is a federal program, so they cannot go out of state for one.
If this is so, then why are so many of these single mom's willing to lose their vouchers?
I had always heard this was a big incentive for them to pay up, but now I'm having my doubts.

And sec 8 doesnt guarantee any of the damage to the house, so I would need to go back in and fix it up...again...before I could get another sec 8 renter.
I'm thinking of giving up on sec 8

I will be talking with the buyer tonight. I'll ask some questions about their credit and see if I can find out why they are avoiding banks.
I wouldnt think interest rates would be raised anytime soon with the economy heading for a recession. Might be a few years before it goes up much.

We owe about 236K on the house...We were going to sell it for about 250, maybe 245...not sure how the negotiations will work out.
If we can both just carry our own insurance...so that it is insured by two parties, I guess I wouldnt need to go the "rental insurance" route.
And I would agree, even if the bank finds out, so long as they are getting paid, why would they care?

I would think they WOULD find out once the buyer goes out to get insurance.

Well, it seems all very doable except for the insurance problem and countrywide finding out...
What about this?
We let our insurance company know we are now renting the property. They charge us a little more money (we have other rental property) and if something happens it is simply paid for out of our insurance.

We could charge the buyer a little extra each month to cover the insurance cost.

thoughts?

sorry, it is a 240K home.
I figured out with the 140K remaining on the note that this would mean they would need to come up with near 5 K a month payment to make it within 3 years.
I'm thinking they just didnt think that one through properly...?

So, would I be the one holding the insurance on the home, or would they need to get insurance? How does that work, since we would still be beholden to Countrywide ?(the home is not paid off, sorry if I didnt mention this before)

I guess they would need to be responsible for taxes and insurance? But then, Countrywide would need to see proof of insurance and it wouldnt be in our name...

how does this work?

We are trying to sell our house and found a buyer who wants to do owner financing with us. This is not an investment property, but will be their primary residence. They came into some inheritance and want to put 100K down on a three year term.
Anyone have experience with the business end of an owner finance deal?

I would think this is a foolproof deal for us. If they miss payments two years in and we have to foreclose, we get to keep the 100K. I dont see how we can lose on this one.

thoughts?

I'm looking at a house on 5 acres in central florida as my primary residence.
At the back of the acreage are some of those really large powerlines (sorry, not a electrician...dont know how many KW).
I would say they are about 3 to 400 ft away from the house...a decent distance away.

Anyone know about the risks involved? I know living underneath can cause certain cancer...but how close is too close?

I would imagine this has been common knowledge for so long that homes are not built within a dangerous distance anymore?