All Forum Posts by: Matthew Krickeberg

@Mike McCarthy

Absolutely right, Mike, there is nothing I could do until the lease is up, but if it turns out to be a "nightmare tenant" on paper (and therefore likely a real life nightmare) isn't there some value in knowing that before you sign the papers? To your point, it likely wouldn't be a deal breaker, but presenting this to the seller (assuming they're not doing much in the way of BCs) as an additional liability for me may be to my advantage, no?

(Your point on starting off on the wrong foot with the tenants is a great point, though. Not sure how I would avoid that landmine)

@Nathan G.

That's the strategy I will likely pursue, assuming the rent roll & history jives I doubt anything I would find out would be a deal breaker for me. I was just imagining a worst case scenario - a chronically unemployed, violent felon (let's say) and how or if that knowledge would change the value of the property for me.

Thanks for the feedback, Nathan!

As I close in on my first rental property purchase (duplex), it seems likely that I'll be acquiring a property with tenants under contract/lease. My question is, having no way of knowing the quality of screening the current tenants would have actually undergone, can I use the information on file to run a quality background and credit check to perform a "risk assessment"?

I doubt I would be able to take any action on the findings while they are under lease, but it seems like an important factor in assessing the value of the property in the near term.

Thoughts, experiences?

Thank you, Aaron, our "cash on hand/savings" situation is actually pretty good and we have a great relationship with our local credit union through which we have our current mortgage. The idea here was to maintain our cash situation (we have two kids, maybe another on the way soon, and a 170 year old house) and yet enter the rental market in good position. Id like an immediate wall of separation between our current state and our future acquisitions.

I guess I'm not sure how to weigh the penalties and fees of a 401k loan/disbursement against the accumulation of future cash flowing assets (with the ability to refinance). I'm thinking of the BRRRR strategy in particular.

My wife and I have recently committed ourselves to taking the plunge into real estate investing, focusing on buy and hold rental units with the goal of generating monthly cash flow (flipping, hacking, wholesaling not an interest... right now). In preparation for this move we have taken a financial audit of our circumstances and see that our 401k (I have the only account now, just shy of $100k @ 40 and my wife has just begun to contribute to her own this year at 33) will not get us where we want to be in 25-30 years. Are we better off leveraging these funds to start our real estate venture immediately on a solid footing, assuming that in the long run (10, 15, 25 years) we will be able to compound and leverage our gains to build wealth far faster than we would waiting 5 years to save for an adequate down payment for our first property? 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!