All Forum Posts by: Michael King

The 'first qualified applicant', as opposed to the first applicant. It's odd they'd say that in the first place, maybe they are trying to protect the landlord from the first crappy applicant? So they're on the LL's corner? 

I contacted several realtors on BP who were 'specialists' in the area I was moving to. Only one got back to me, but by the time he did, it was well late. 

Don't buy anything with another agent while that agreement is in force. A buddy of mine got stung by an agreement and had to pay an agent $5K, when the agent was not involved in the transaction. I refuse to sign those things. Except that one time an agent slipped it into the offer we made on a house. And it had a $400 "miscellaneous" fee out of the buyer's pocket in that contract. That was the last real estate transaction I ever made with her; I've bought and sold around 10 properties since then - without her; good job she got her fee. 

Anyway, it's a tough market for a buyer right now. Agents don't have to be good to get paid, as there are an abundance of willing buyers. Don't take this the wrong way, but your agent may be finding it too time consuming to work with you when there are so many buyers out there. They don't want to spend all day driving you from house to house 'to have a look'. 

Per my leases, rent is due on the 1st and late on the 5th. Charge a fee that stings a little, that's how to train them. If they haven't paid by the 4th, I text a friendly 'courtesy' reminder. 

Read Landlording on Autopilot by Mike Butler. BP also has a good book.

I know it's not an answer to your question, but 3 years and you'd have that same $100K and still have the property. I'm agonizing over doing the same thing with a property that brings in $10K a year, and I'll be netting $100K too....so I'm taking 10 years of income in one day...but I'm agonizing over that.

Guys I went under contract 2 days after listing, which was before I even wrote on here. The sale is moving along well, but nothing's final til the money's in the bank. I'll check back here if it falls through. If so I'll PM you guys, thank you for your interest.

I like the 1% rule and find 0.75% cashflows $400 - $500 a month for me. On brand new construction that minimizes the exposure to old mechanicals breaking. 

Problem right now is the market has gone nuts and the rental return has not increased with the price increase. That will destroy your ROI.

Just came across this thread. I have a 4 plex in Maplewood I just put up for sale. It has been a good property so far as rental returns, and quality of the building. Selling because I'm moving to either Texas or Florida and don't want to be a long distance landlord.

Thank you. Yes it would have been bad. He said he didn't know what he was thinking when he said that. I for sure over reacted; more the fool me I would say. It was a close one, and I kept thinking that buying and selling real estate is emotional, and that I needed to stop being emotional about. But then, I've been ripped off too many times and the slightest red flag pops up, I'm ready with a mallet to whackamole. 

Okay so an update in the AM. My realtor says he made an error. It's a pretty good one, but we are all human. If anyone is reading. 

Seems to be much ado about nothing. My wife says I overthink things.Being up late is usually my clarity time; perhaps not this time.

I am curious about the possibility of backing out of selling my 4 plex. I understand there is a 5 day period after contract execution that would allow me to do this, without reason, and without penalty, in Missouri. This is my main question here, the rest is a bit of a read I suppose. 

I bought my 4 plex in Jan 2020 for $320K and fixed up 3 of the 4 apartments as tenants have been cycling through. I've spent maybe up to $20K in repairs and rehab. I said to my agent I'd like to sell it. He said he'd list it for 4.75%, and his listing contract with me reflected the same: "owner agrees to pay realtor 4.75% commission".  He also said he would pay a buyer's agent 2.5% commission on the sale. I assumed that meant 2.5% to the buyer, 2.25% to his office. I've bought and sold a lot of real estate in the last 15 years of being an American, and that's what that has meant every single time.

So we got a contract 3 days ago for $470K, and we are working through the process now. I am looped into his email late tonight where he tells the title company that 2% commission is going to him, and 2% is going to his broker. I'm thinking that sounds odd. That's 4%; where is the other 2.5% for the buyers agent coming from? 

I look back at the listing contract to clear this up and I find a whole paragraph on commission. The first sentence loud and proud states "Owner agrees to pay realtor a commission of 4.75%". And 12 lines below that it further states "compensation...to be offered as follows: 2.5% to buyers agents, 2.5% to transaction brokers, and 2.5% to subagents." Should these numbers add up to the 4.75% first listed? 

Is this an "I've got him" situation? I believed I was signing up for 4.75%, but according to what I read here I see either a total of: 

6.5% (2+2+2.5?) per his email to the title company, or 

7.5% (2.5+2.5+2.5) per what I think the contract says, or

4.75% as originally advised, and also what the first line of the contract says. 

Where have I gotten confused? And if I'm mad enough about this, can I back out of the deal? I scoured the contract looking for a backout option but didn't see one. No earnest money has been received, no inspections have been made, it's now April 21 and I signed the contract on April 18, 3 days ago. 

I know the best advice: talk to my agent. I will, but I suspect he's got one on me here. When a guy I do regular business with tells me a number, I don't expect him to slip me a mickey. And I should have been more attentive to detail. I have had a good business relationship for a while, he's a fellow Aussie in St Louis....and Aussies are usually trustworthy. For the reason of saying one thing and doing another that holds a large financial hit to me, I would drop this contract. 

Then of course there is the price appreciation I have gained if I sell now. Approximately $130K increase that I could be throwing away because I'm mad at an extra $8k or $13k in commission. Do I swallow that knowing I'm getting a great sale price on it? That $6K is a lot of money to me, and I'm in this business to make money for me and my family, not an agent - although I'm  more than happy to pay a fair compensation. 

First world problems hey? I'd love to hear some thoughts about this. Thank you for reading. 

Mike