All Forum Posts by: Melissa Moore

@Sean McFadden

Yep! Grey never goes out of style!!

The kitchen is gorgeous!

Working on my 2nd rental and it takes me a while to pick out exterior house colors too. I always look at the side neighbors houses to make sure I don't go in their color scheme.

My 2nd rental (bungalow style too) I choose these colors:

Sherwin Williams Dovetail Gray for body

Sherwin Williams Silvermist for upper portion of house, and front door

Sherwin Williams Peppercorn for the cement lower portion of foundation

@Franklin Romine That is excellent advice! The seller in the yellow house owns multiple properties and is looking to sell some as he retires. I had thought I meet him while I am on a business trip to the area tomorrow.

@Andrew N. I am glad I ran into your post! I had just posted about a Seller finance deal I am working on and was wondering the same questions.

I did get some great advice such as 1.have mortgage payment be 50% of rent value ($1000 rent from a tenant pay, then make your mortgage to seller for $500 so there is always cash flow) 2. Write a cover letter to seller. I did notice through my research that if there is interest then it is 5-6%. Some buyers have gotten into seller financing for 0 down too.

As far as length of financing I heard on recent podcast with @leonyang that he carries his for 30 years putting down $5-10k on $100-120k houses. Leon only does Seller financing it appears so he would be another great expert to follow!

@Shane Wilson I am very thankful for your advice!! I was trying to figure out repayment monthly amount and looking for sites to explain a formula or tactic for positive cash flow.

Thank you too @Franklin Romine I will start drafting a cover letter so the sellers know me better since this would be a long term relationship.Frank, where do you find most of your seller finance deals, on Craigslist or another source? If you don't mind sharing?

I did offer today the sellers in yellow house a $0 down but full offer of 50k, I will pay closing fees.I came up with $0 down because I would have to get dumpsters($200 a dumpster) for when hoarder tenant leaves, plus pay $6k for converting from oil to electric. $6-8,000 going into home vs. down.

Crossing my fingers I didn't offend them with offer!

@Paul Zanger

From my experience, I go on the walk-throughs in my out of state rental on the Section 8 inspection and visit family all for a tax deduction.

If you can't see mom, I would send mom to the house and give her a gift card. Keep in mind what type of personality your mom may have though! My mother-in-law by my rental talks about her bowel movements to strangers...bless her heart! (I still adore her)

@Account Closed Great to know about the $40k credit line qualifications at HD! It was the first time I have heard of it.

@Edward Rife I was just at Home Depot and talked to an employee-they told me that they offer $40,000 line of credit for home rehabs. Plus they are having a sale soon for 4th of July. Sometimes they have sales on their installations too! (for example on carpet they have offered free install, or free delivery on appliances and install with take away) Downside is HD can be scheduled out for 2 + weeks for jobs.

I have personally used a "handy man" contractor who owns his own biz to do minor work like add railings etc.

@Bruce L. If I heard right he just asked if he needs to give a 30 day notice, but did not give one to you, correct?

If I was in your position I would want to keep him! Never late, and it is working well.

Instead I would offer him another 1 year rental lease, with a notice to sign by a certain date (whatever is in your contract notice of changes 14, 20 or 30 days?) If your market is flooded with renters then you could entice him to stay by offering not to raise rent for a year lease.

BTW you could charge a higher month-to-month rate if he decides to stay longer without signing the new year lease. But don't just give him notice to move-Keep this tenant!

Here is a form example of a Lease Extension I use: http://www.atcrealestate.com/lease%20extension

@Douglas B. I rent mostly to Section 8 and my childhood was spent in homes rented to my single mom on Section 8 so I have two perspectives-as an investor and as a previous renter.

My contracts with Section 8 are the same for any lease agreement I have in place and most of my renters stay for 3 plus years in home.

In tenants I look for a few clues:

1. How clean is the inside of the car they pulled up in? That could be an indictor of how they will treat your property.

2. I ask why they want to rent my home. It opens the conversation to what is going on in their life and why they are seeking a change-is my house closer to their work, do they want a different school for their kids, is their current place not being maintained by landlord...you will learn more about them and can see red flags to.

3. If I am on the fence with a tenant, I have driven past the address or viewed the current house on google maps to get an idea of how they are treating it. Plus it gives me a comparison to what I am offering. Let me be clear, if I drive past the property for a viewing it is for a quick look when it could be on my way to run an errand.

So far current Section 8 has lived in house 2 years and going on 3rd no problems!