All Forum Posts by: Michael L.

Unless you are an experienced tree trimmer with all the gear I don't think you can do it yourself. Regardless I could, I'm trying to get some tips on how responsibilities go. 

We are talking about trimming a big tree here which requires professional service in order to get it done safely. Not sure if car lease comparison is relevant.

Evening Everyone,

Did anyone ever run into conflict with tenant or landlord about who is responsible of trimming trees in SFR setting?

In this case I'm a renter and my landlord is outright refusing to trim big palm trees (not those smaller ones, these are about 15-18ft tall) that have overgrown to partially block the driveway with its branches. More importantly, other palm is completely covering the mailbox now and hangs over the road. USPS vehicle is unable to stop at the mailbox anymore, so mailman has to come out to deliver the mail. I've submitted an inquiry twice and both times the response came that it's tenant's responsibility to maintain the yard and thus trim all trees on the property.

I would never think to try putting trimming big trees on my tenants for a number of common sense reasons, but this landlord is of a different opinion. Every discussion I have read on similar topic comes down to what is actually in the lease. We have a standard Texas Association of Realtors lease that I believe is used in majority of Houston leases, at least by RE agents. Here is what it has:

B. Yard Maintenance:
(1) "Yard" means all lawns, shrubbery, bushes, flowers, gardens, trees, rock or other landscaping, and other foliage on or encroaching on the Property or on any easement appurtenant to the Property, and does not include common areas maintained by an owners' association.
(2) "Maintain the yard" means to perform activities such as, but not limited to: (a) mowing, fertilizing, and trimming the yard; (b) controlling pests and weeds in the yard; and (c) removing debris from the yard.

Does this outright mean that tenant is responsible for everything or one could still interpret that tree trimming is not a routine task of landscaping? Especially, if it prevents property to function as intended (restricted access to mailbox, unable to use part of the driveway) it's more of a repair than the maintenance?

Would love to hear some your opinion or previous experience on the matter.

L&G,

Trying to start on my next deal. I have 2 properties that are doing reasonably ok, but feel like I still lack experience when it comes to analyzing deals, especially MF.  How does this 4plex numbers look?

• Price: $200K
• HOA, Insurance,Tax Combined: $1050 monthly (verified on P&L)
• Est. Mortgage: $750 ( regular investment loan, 20% down)
• Monthly Revenue: $3,000

I plan to manage it myself for now, but it will go under PM sooner or later. Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks!

How would RE investor usually go about buying a place for himself? Or an advice for my plan forward.

I'm a buy and hold investor, but eventually looking to get into flipping and new development. I currently rent an apartment and I get a lease incentive from my company for about 50% of the rent, but due to the family expansion I will be needing more space soon.

For simplicity, if there is 100K that can be allocated for this, what do you think is the best option here:

1. Get a 250-300k~ range house with 20% down payment. That way there is a nice, long term place. Money are leveraged. Everything is simple and straight forward, but no returns and still high monthly payments in the range of $1600 due to high TX taxes. It even exceeds my current rent.

2. Find a smaller 60-80k house suitable for flipping, rehab it and move in there. After moved in - get it refinanced, take the money out and start a new flip. Meanwhile put the first house on sale. If it does sell by the time second house is finished - move in to the second, or if not, then keep both on sale until one is sold and everything repeats again. I'd definitely want to try this option if I was single. Have anybody tried it?

3. Find a bigger apartment for lease, enjoy company incentives and do flips on the side with the money that I didn't purchase a house on? I think the rent will be around $1600 for the size of place I need, but it provides a nice option to invest money and not to move every so often.

4. New development or any other creative options? What other advantages being an REI can one have compare to general population when buying a place for himself?

Could you please share your thoughts on the best plan forward? 

Thanks!

Thanks, Kimberly. I just saw your post right after I submitted mine.

Thanks, Kyle and Joe.

I'll wait until the debt is due and make a final attempt to contact him. Then use reporting or collection agency. Looks like it's easier now than I have anticipated.

Really appreciate all the advice.

Thank you all for great advice and stories. The sum in question is around $2K. To me it's right on the fence between chasing and forgetting about it. From what I gathered here, it's most likely a dead end venture. I'm certainly not willing to spend too much time and energy on this.

What exactly puts a delinquent account into one's credit report? Is it triggered by a judgement? I might just do that to make sure he has it in there for everybody to see until the time he pays me.

Dear Experts,

I had a tenant who was two months behind and under the threat of having an eviction on his record agreed to voluntarily move out and pay the owed amount at a specified later date. I drafted a document using one of the templates online saying that tenant is moving out and landlord is regaining a full possession of the property. We've added a clause with an agreed amount that tenant owes to landlord as a delinquent rent and it is to be paid on or before a certain date. We both signed the document and tenant did move out as per our agreement. 

Now my question is about the money. I tried getting tenant's new address, but he wouldn't give it to me. He doesn't want to communicate and I get an overall feeling that he won't just magically show up with the money to pay as specified in our agreement. What are the ways for me to chase that money past due date? Does the document give me any new options of addressing the collection?

I've already rented the place to new tenants, but would still like to recover at least some of the money.

Really appreciate your advice!

Thanks, Matt. 

I'm genuinely surprised at how some tenants undermine themselves. I'm willing to go long ways working with them and trying to help in situation like this if they are willing to work with me. I did help a woman with a kid on her hands that got fired and sat without a job for two months, simply because she was honest and wanted to work together. However, in a current case, the guy is outright aggressive.

Will seek for professional help. Thanks again.