All Forum Posts by: Matthew Otero

Hello BP! So my parents have decided to move into a retirement community and will be moving soon. Their home is paid off and they haven’t enlisted anyone to help them sell it yet. The home is not in the best condition and whoever buys it will have to do a good renovation but there’s definite value. I can’t help but to think there’s an opportunity here. I’m trying to figure out if there is a way, through some type of agreement, where my parents will get the money for the value of the home and I could take ownership of the property to slowly repair and rent out. The issue I’m having is that I’d have to go through a bank for a loan and between the down payment and repairs I don’t have enough working capital. Any ideas? The home is in Long Island NY.

So we are in the process of closing on our first duplex with M2M tenants in each unit. We've been thinking about trying property management and would like to start with this property. What are some red flags or good questions to ask to find the right fit?  

So I’m purchasing a duplex and each unit is occupied month to month tenants. I’ve never dealt with M2M tenants and am not comfortable not having a signed lease agreement. The only plus I see is that I will not have to spend any money up front on cosmetic repairs. I want to know of anyone has had experience with this and what options I have. Thanks in advance!

@Nathan G.

Thanks for sharing I really appreciate it! If I do decide to move forward with a co-signer do you have a template or tell me where I could find a good co-signer agreement?

@Wesley W.

Thank you for your input! We do use a similar letter pre application, though it’s been tough to find stellar grades on the reports in the market we’re currently investing in, so we’ve been doing some deep analysis and weighing a lot of factors for accepting tenants. So far so good. I was just curious about the legality of asking about a co-signer ahead of actually running the report based on information we notice.

@Michael Noto

Thanks for the quick response! Acting as a fair an equal opportunity landlord, if I notice red flags on the application such as income or just conversation with the applicant regarding credit and such, is it fair to suggest a co-signer before I actually run the report?

So we take an application fee and use a company to screen all our potential tenants. Recently we’ve run into a situation where the screening grade came back as acceptable, not good or great, which left us a little worrisome based on discoveries in the report. My question is if there a way to request the tenant have a co-signer even though it wasn’t a condition recommended by the report?

@Greg Dickerson

First of all, thank you for the response and the information. Secondly, is there a certain site or forum you use when looking for subs and pricing, like an Angie’s list type of tool? I’m weary due to a lot of bad contracting stories as my lack of experience it’s the reason I’ve stayed away from such properties. I really like the cost basis idea which will be pretty accurate in my case since my investments are in the same market. Thanks for help!

Hello everyone, so the first couple of rentals I have have been basically turnkey properties, we’ve done some painting, changed out fixtures and appliances and minor repairs but I’m looking to get more equity up front which means buying a house the doesn’t look great. I have zero experience with construction or rehab cost so my question is is there a resource I could use to help me project rehab cost. I’m looking at a property now that is a mix of wood paneling, horrible wall papers and shag carpeting aside from a kitchen that needs a makeover. I use the rental calculators but want to be realistic instead of speculative.

@Blake Edwards I’m still maxing out on my 401k. I do not have enough cash flow to walk away from my W2 at the moment so it serves its purpose in regards to taxes, savings and compounded interest but most importantly if I get to a point where I can’t get other financing I could draw a loan on it which I like.