All Forum Posts by: Jarrett Harris

Heard from the bank a couple days ago. They will not allow the seller to deed the property over to me. I guess he could still deed the property over to me but then they are saying they would call the note due?

They are also still in the process of bidding out the appraisal.

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When you guys say "over 6000 pounds" are you talking about the GVWR Gross Vehicle Weight rating?

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Originally posted by @Nicole A.:

Finally! This guy was evicted this morning! I just got the call that they finished moving everything outside and changed the locks. This is great news. And we didn't even need to file for the no right of redemption eviction (although that was ready to go).

They showed up and the guy tried to claim he paid. He had no proof that he paid up to date. The last time he paid was when we first tried to evict him a few weeks ago. Then we showed up 2 Sundays ago to try to get money out of him, but he refused and even had the audacity to say we were committing fraud.

Once he realized he was really getting booted out, he said that if we gave him a ride to the social security office, he could get paid through April's rent. Now, I don't know too much about SS, but I am not aware of a way to instantly get money by going into the office. I think he was just trying to buy time. The Constable asked what I wanted to do, and I said "get him out".

Now to find a good tenant!

I am so happy for you. Now you can clean up the unit, and get a good tenants in there. I am going through the same situation right now. Judge gave my tenants until April 15th to be out. We will see how it goes.

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It depends on your market. I have a building with no A/C. I have actually considered buying some small $150 A/C window units and RENTING them to my tenants at maybe $10-15/month. You could try providing the window A/C units and make it part of their security deposit.

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I kinda of went through the same thing about 6 months ago. But not as extreme. My property was 50% occupied. One my Tenant's rent is $50 below market value. I did not raise his rent but I did get him on a lease. He was reluctant at first because the previous landlord did not address many of his concerns/problems. Once I fixed 3-4 items he signed because he saw I was serious about taking care of the property. He also had no security deposit. I wrote his lease as such and so far there has been no issue.

In your case you could make/loose a lot of money with that much of a spread between what they are currently paying and what the units are really worth. You have to look at all of the numbers and weigh if you can support a vacant property for 2-3 months while you renovate and re rent at the higher rate. Once you invest the renovation cost will the property still cash flow as much as it does now?

You could also talk to each tenant individually and tell them your plan to raise the rents. Maybe instead of $300 you raise it $100 or $150 this year. And then revisit the situation a year from now.

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@Ali Dawood

@Andy Robison

Hats off to the car guys in the thread...!!!! Yes the sacrifices we make to get our toys. ...LOL

Well let me say I don't have any student loan debt (thank God for my parents) but My wife does. When we got married she was finishing her last year of nursing school. She was only making about $16/hour as a nurse's assistant. She graduated with about $80K in student loan debt. Her income has now more than tripled. We are still paying the debt down but did not let that stop us from investing. We got our first rental property 6 months ago and are working on a deal for the second one now.

Now getting back to cars. Almost 2 years I traded in my Infiniti M35 sport (nice car) and traded down to a used Ford Focus. I heard it from everyone...

Why would you do that???

What happened????

You can't even fit in that car...... (I'm a big guy)

But you know what it was worth it. I drove the car for 20 months. In that time

We produced a play

Had our first child

Remodeled our house

Booked a trip to New York for our 5 year anniversary

And 6 months ago bought our first rental.

3 week ago I bought my self a certified used 2013 Accord sport.

It is the sensible solution right now to feed my car guy passion until I really go splurge on something like an AMG Benz, or Porsche. However the profit from the rental pays the monthly note on the Accord.

Those who are saying pay off your loans first, I would say that is really too long to wait. Those loans will be around for years to come even with an aggressive strategy. I would either get a 1 bedroom apartment with your fiancé or do the duplex idea. I think the Duplex is the have your cake and eat it too answer.

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My biggest concern would be , plumbing, electrical , and possibility of termites. Also the Roof and HVAC systems.

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THis is how my wife and I bought our first rental property. Our real estate agent at the time did mention the self directed fund to us, but we just didn't know enough at the time to follow through. However I do not regret the decision at this point. The return on the rental property is far greater than what the money was earning as a pension and 401K

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Originally posted by @Sadim M.:

Cook County isn't the best for landlords. (All my properties are in Cook County) The process usually goes something like this (not legal advice) 1. Serve 5 day notice 2. If the tenant hasn't paid by day 5 (you can count weekends but day 5 has to be a weekday), then you can file for Joint Action, which is for possession and rent money. You are assigned a court date about 2-3 weeks from date of filing. 3. In Cook County, it is required that the sheriff serve the summons first. In my experience, they are successful about 66% of the time. If the sheriff cannot serve them, then on the first court date you ask the judge for an alias summons to have a process server give the summons. 4. On the court date, if the tenant had been served, then the judge will hear the case. If the tenant does not showup, then you get a default judgment. If the tenant shows up and presents no defense, then the judge usually gives them 2 weeks to stay and you get a money judgment. The court would prefer if you came into an agreement with a tenant before stepping in front of the judge. 5. If the tenant stays beyond the date stated in the order of possession, then the order must be filed with the sheriff. Now this is where Cook County fails the landlord. In good weather, it will take another 20-30 days for the sheriff to comeout. Currently, it is about 10-12 weeks since they basically did no evictions in Jan and part of Feb because of the cold.
Of course, tenants can bring up defenses and other motions, which would further delay the process.

Cook County landlords: Tenant screening is very important.

Do they evict on the weekends???

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I am going through the same thing right now.

@Sadim M.

Thanks for the info.

I am currently between step 4 and 5

I filed for the eviction the week of February 23 The special process server, served my tenants on the 16th of this month. The court date was the 25. The judge told them be out by April 15th.....Hopefully they are gone before then.

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All Forum Posts by: Jarrett Harris

Jarrett Harris has started 13 posts and replied 303 times.

Post: Would you try to do this deal......12 unit building???

Post: Looking for big deductions to close out 2013

Post: Not paying rent affecting my goals

Post: Do I supply AC Window Units?

Post: Newbie landlord. Please help with the very first steps!

Post: Large Student Debt vs REI

Post: 4-plex built in 1880

Post: Cashing out 401k to invest in RE

Post: Eviction time in Cook County

Post: Eviction time in Cook County