All Forum Posts by: Miko Lee

@Marc Rice Hi Marc, do you mind sharing the map with me as well? Thanks!

Hi Wyatt,

The tenant claimed that she didn't know about the ESA laws at that time. I reached out and asked for documentations. If the paperwork does prove her claim that her pet was already an ESA prior to her renting, I think I have no choice but to refund her monthly pet fees and deposit. Not really an expert here.. But want to make sure I'm not breaking any law here..

Thank you for the quick response! 

The tenant also claimed that she didn't know ESA is exempted from monthly pet fee and pet deposit. What if she was able to provide documentations dated back prior to her moving in that the pet is already an ESA, would I be required to refund her monthly pet fee and pet deposit?

Hi all,

I signed a new tenant 2 months back and she brought a dog with her. My property is a pet friendly community but I do charge a monthly pet fee and pet deposit. Fast forward two months, she told me that her pet is actually an emotional support animal and asked if I can return her monthly pet fee and pet deposit and waive them going forward. This is in California. Here are my questions:

- can she do this in the middle of the lease?

- What kind of documentations do I need to get from her to prove the emotional support animal?

- Am I required to return all the monthly pet fees and pet deposit? Or can I just waive her monthly pet fee gring forward?

Thank!

@Andrew Postell Do you know if I can refinance the HELOC into a 30 year fixed? Is that what your "using it, paying it back, using it again" means? How do people usually do it? If I don't want to use any of my own money, do people just get HELOC for down and then conventional loan for remaining? After 6 months/1 year, then cash out refinance the whole thing to fixed 30 years? Not sure if what I said makes sense since I am new to the scene. I prefer HELOC since I don't really have a property in mind yet. I could use HELOC in a couple months or in 5 years. If I do traditional method (With the high interest currently), then I'll be stuck with higher payment since day 1. Thanks!!

Hi,

I bought a triplex back in 2017 and the property has been doing really well. So, I am now ready to get my second investment property (preferably a multi). However, I prefer not to use my own out of pocket money to fund the next down payment if I don't need to. I bought the property at $700,000 and now it roughly valued at $970,000. I have a conventional loan of $500,000 on this property. To fund the down payment of the second investment property (I don't have one in my mind yet, but just wanted to have the cash ready for down payment if I do come across one), I was thinking of doing a HELOC from my triplex. What do you guys think? Is now a good time? I thought about doing a cash out refinance but interest is way too high now, and with the existing $500,000 loan, the payment increase would be really significant. Any other options?

@Avi Garg - thank you for catching my error!!! Let’s say by taking an additional loan on the $75000, my triplex now break even instead of having positive cash flow, is it wise to still refinance/loc/heloc? Trying to figure out how the math works..

Hi BP members,

Last year, I partnered up with my family and bought a $700,000 triplex with a 30-year fixed rate conventional loan. Took a loan of $525,000. I also have a conventional loan on my primary residence. Me and my family are ready to buy a second rental property. We want to do so without tapping into too much of our own cash and re-leverage using equity from the triplex. Let's say the appraised value for the triplex is $800,000, how should we go about financing the second deal? Cash out refinance, line of credit, or HELOC?

If we refinance the whole mortgage and a bank loans us 75% of equity, so ($800,000 - $525,000) * 0.75 = $206,250. I am worried that our cash flow (roughly $1000 on a good month) on our current triplex will not cover the new higher mortgage. I calculated that the new mortgage payment will roughly be $1000, which means the triplex will now only break even even without repairs). Maybe I misunderstood how BRRRR strategy works. How do people do this? What is my option? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

@Michele Fischer Can the reason be "Unable to contact previous landlord?" I honestly don't have a good reason to deny them except that I have a good feeling that they will continue to be demanding and continue to nag me even after they move into the place.

@Roy N. Sorry for the stupid questions. I did not see this in the book. What is the difference between "signatory" and "guarantor"? Which one is better?

@Thomas S. So, if we decided to deny the first applicant, what reason can I use to deny them? Because they met income/background/credit check. I can't be using the reason of "they are very demanding. Hence, "denied"? Correct?

@Michele Fischer I probably made my first rookie mistake as a landlord. First applicants won't stop calling me and follow up with me on their application. Meanwhile, the daughter/father applicants still have yet to reach out to me. I don't think I will be getting more applications unless I am doing more open houses. They are both currently a "maybe" to me. I love the point system idea! I should work on adding that as part of screening process. The father has great income. Making almost 8x the monthly rental income with great credit score. Again, how do we deny people if it's not something based on their credit/background check report. The form looks great! I am based in California, not entirely sure if it's legal to ask them to fill out forms as extensive like this one. I researched online and the site said it's okay to ask for "reasonable medical documentation from a health care provider that confirms the existence of the disability and the need for reasonable accommodation."

@G. Brian Davis I had the same feeling that the first applicants will be some troublesome tenants with all these requests before even approving them. We are doing the best we can to make the property nice and ready, since this is really our first unit, but yet, we couldn't figure out what to do with these applications. I read too much horror stories about lawsuits and stuff so I just want to make sure we are doing all these correctly and legally!