All Forum Posts by: Michael Robbins

I would start with verifying your property manager is currently licensed.  Next, as it relates to the roof, the property manager should not be stating the roof needs replaced (and maybe her or she did not).  But instead the PM needs to provide you with the estimate or paperwork from the roofer that said the roof needs replaced.  Also, make sure any vendors the PM uses are licensed and reputable. The worst situation is when a contracting issue goes wrong and you have limited recourse with the State contractors board because the vendor was not licensed to begin with.  

This week I am working on refinancing one of my rentals.  I do not have much debt but the mortgage debt I do have is going to be refinanced. The savings each month from the refinance will go into a future property investment (if the prices go down over next 12 months).   To me this makes sense, especially with closing costs being way down.  

I have not seen a slow in showings or vacancy.  I think the big story is going to be lack of rent growth and rent concessions over the next several months.  I have been observing some single family and multi family units offering large concessions (up to one month free rent) in the last week.  

There are so many provisions to list. Some I can think of off the top of my head: Buy-out agreement, unauthorized roommates, pet addendum, renters insurance requirement, if house is located in HOA then tenant is responsible for any fines, etc...

I would have an electrician take a look at the issue.  If the lights flickered it could be a short.  But why risk it.  

I have not had any issues with rent collections or leasing.  I have heard from some large property management companies here in Vegas that they are doing a lot of leasing.  Although, I must note that these same property management companies are offering concessions (i.e. one month free rent).  

It should be interesting to see how things develop.  I see real estate as a very sticky and often times slow moving.  We will not see the true situation until some time.  My personal investment strategy right now is to hoard as much as cash as possible (not selling any stocks or other real estate but saving up cash) in case we see a downturn.  It might be a good opportunity to buy something in a great area.  

I would (1) write a letter to the current tenant stating that rent will go up $50 per month as there is an unauthorized roommate residing in the home.  The letter needs to have an effective date.  In the same letter provide an option to prevent this extra $50 per month by requiring tenant to add on the roommate.  Next (2) I would require roommate to qualify with credit, income, and criminal background check.  If the new roommate cannot qualify with income then both people have to be ran together using the existing roommates income.  

I would be careful asking a tenant what type of industry they are in and if their employment is at risk due to corona.  I would instead focus on requiring recent paystubs that are not older than two weeks (if they get paid every two weeks).  

I go with new appliances.  Especially dishwashers, refs, and washers.  Besides the constant maintenance problems you at times have to consider what happens when the ref goes out for a few days and spoils the tenants food.  There can be a cost to that as well.  Also, new appliances are a great selling point.  

In my opinion the property manager should at least present some solutions.  Providing virtual tours, etc... 

We all have to adapt and make modifications to our leasing process.