All Forum Posts by: Tim Moore

Hi all, my wife and I had an offer accepted on a single-family home and are going to be renting out our current property. We have a closing date of March 9th but realize that could potentially end up being later. We marketed our current apartment as being available April 1st. We have done all the screening and have found suitable tenants, but I figured we should wait to sign a lease with them until we have officially closed on our new place in early March. If that is what we should do, should I also wait to collect the security and first month's rent until we sign the lease after closing? I am working on sending them an acceptance email, but wasn't sure how to word it all because of our circumstances. Thanks!

Two years ago my wife and I bought our first investment property and have been housing hacking. We have rented the upstairs apartment to my brother...I know I know...and have never had to deal with any leases or tenant screening. As simple as it seems I’m pretty nervous to go through this process for the first time. Real estate investing has been a dream of mine for a long time and I’ve enjoyed these last two years, but today it hit me that it’s about to be a little more real. Any tips or advice on how to best get through this process for the first time would be greatly appreciated!

My wife and I have been making offers on duplex’ in our city for the last few months, but in the meantime we are renting (which I hate.) We’ve had several issues with our landlord not fixing things etc. and for the most part we’ve worked through it. In December our pipes froze and it was the first time that he actually came over and fixed the issue. A couple days later he texted me and said he was thinking about putting a space heater in the basement so the pipes wouldn’t freeze again. I asked him not to do that and he never responded. Now two months later I saw our heating bill and it was nearly triple over the past two bills than it had been the first 6 months we lived here. I texted him to ask and he said that he plugged the space heater in the basement and the plumber was “supposed to tell us to unplug it.” I’ve heard from multiple people/sources that it’s illegal for him to even have the basement utilities on our bill, but I’m not sure. What can we do to rectify the situation? It’s over $300 over the past two months more than our usual bills. We’ve thought about calling our power company or national grid, but I just wanted to ask if any of you had any suggestions for us. Regardless of what happens, working with him has taught me how NOT to be a landlord and I can’t wait till we can do it better. Thanks in advance.

BP talks a lot about “driving for dollars” all the time on the podcast and sending the owner a letter. I’ve been able to find direct email addresses of some owners and was wondering if a letter would be better? Is there just something about opening mail that increases the chance of getting a response or would a simple email work just as well? Thanks guys!

Thanks for the help @Wayne Brooks

@Wayne Brooks is there no way to talk directly to the bank about the property? This woman said she’s done with the property and the bank. She said she’d help, but doesn’t want to get dragged back into it since it’s been eight years since she’s had anything to do with the house.

@Chris Mason I’m not sure. Again, all of my information is coming from one source so it’s been hard to find an unbiased opinion on the situation. 

@Account Closed I agree about the car situation. If it did happen I highly doubt the bank had anything to do with it. There are definitely houses all over the place. The issue is I want a 2-4 unit which my wife is fine with as our first purchase as long as she likes the location. It’s been hard to find one that isn’t in a shady part of our little city. 

@Tom Gimer Someone I talked to suggested getting a quit claim deed from her so that I could talk with the bank, but wouldn’t that leave me liable for the taxes etc? 

@Wayne Brooks I completely understand your viewpoint! Trust me, I would love it if it was her fault because it would make things a lot easier for us. The property isn't listed and she's not even trying to sell it. My wife and I walked by it the other night, I found the records on the tax assessor's website and reached out to her. I asked her if she owned the property and her response was "I don't know, I haven't payed anything on it in 8 years and told WF I wouldn't." I hope it's a clear cut issue, but the few RE people i've talked to around here think there's something weird going on. We will talk to a lawyer and then most likely approach WF directly.