All Forum Posts by: Nicholas DeGaetani

Bottom line up front: I socialized a rent increase and tenant paid utilities and renters seem to not want to renew, but keep delaying giving a final decision. Assuming the tenants move out I have a little less than 2 months to find new tenants before the property is less appealing (i.e. beginning of Fall semester). Should I:

1) Be cold and enforce the move out date as the end of lease date (July 31) causing stress to tenant abroad and tenants taking summer school exams, 

2) Allow tenants to stay requested 9 additional days (August 9) at higher prorated rent which gives me a 1.5 weeks to turn the property over, or

3) Do something else?

Background:

I just purchased a rental property 2 blocks from a university and notified the student tenants I was increase rent and making them pay utilities (driven by market comps) in the new lease. They've taken 3 weeks to respond to me, and are now taking summer school classes and traveling. 

The start of the Fall semester is August 20, and I imagine most searching for a rental got one after the end of the Spring semester, so there is a risk of vacancy, but not high given the property is 2 blocks from the school.

Thanks,

Nick the new Landlord

I've found a property that I prefer to renovate given the estimated reno costs as well as the upside in equity after I refinance down the road. In a Northern VA market where so many old properties are marked for tear down and rebuild, (1) how can I go about convincing the seller to lower the listing price so the math supports the renovation? (2) What is a good ball park estimate for tear down and new build? (3) What GC and subcontractors do you recommend for everything from asbestos abatement, kitchen, bath, and landscaping? (4) What architect/builder do you recommend that has a variety of build plans to use as a template or starting point?

Thanks!

Thanks guys for highlighting the benefits of realtor vs. lawyer - I'm sticking with a realtor for this project. 

I'm starting to ignore some of the (maybe good maybe bad) advise from my current realtor regarding a property that could go either way - tear down and rebuild or renovate. 

To confirm a renovation estimate and whether it makes sense to proceed or walk away I'm doing a walk through this Tuesday with the realtor's preferred contractor. @David Fernandez, how do you decide whether to renovate vs. tear down and build? I'm not well informed on build costs in NoVA but I'm fairly certain that renovation costs will be a lot less costly but with more headaches.

Hi,

My realtor hasn't convinced me he's the best fit for my search for fixer uppers in Northern Virginia, and I recently found a property where the seller is a 60+ year old attorney of a moderately priced property that meets my criteria for primary residence.

In your opinion, what do I have to gain financially and experiencially from choosing to solely use a real estate attorney and the title companies and inspectors I've used in the past vs. using my realtor (i.e. facilitate the process and do paperwork)?

Thanks in advance!

Thomas - staying vs. moving was the topic of the cost benefit analysis I did...which lead me to wanting to sell and move as soon as possible in order to start looking for a profitable buy and hold rental.

If I stay in this property longer I save up more money each money and I may add a little $ in equity from principal pay down + minor appreciation into my pocket. But that's at the expense of finding a BRRRR and getting started.

Brent - you hit the nail on the head. I lost the fight but my wife is now bought into the buy and hold/BRRRR approach after a few years of me being annoying enough. The next primary needs to be a deal, and she's on board with buying a reasonable fixer upper. Any advice here would be welcome. Should I really restrict my search to only include those types and/or realtors with off market deal access?

Bargains in Northern VA are like unicorns. But I'll be chasing them in off market times when hopefully fewer buyers are active.

Brent - you hit the nail on the head. I lost the fight but my wife is now bought into the buy and hold/BRRRR approach after a few years of me being annoying enough. The next primary needs to be a deal, and she's on board with buying a reasonable fixer upper. Any advice here would be welcome. Should I really restrict my search to only include those types and/or realtors with off market deal access?

Bargains in Northern VA are like unicorns. But I'll be chasing them in off market times when hopefully fewer buyers are active.

We're stuck living and working in this expensive market for now. I agree with you - by ditching this property and using the equity to move into something more permanent for growing family I can realize the savings rate and use my extra cash to buy in a more affordable cash-flowing market.

So that makes me want to move sooner than later and do the research to find that out of town market to get into. I've heard plenty about San Antonio and other mid west markets with the right price points and metrics, but don't want to flock to a location that may be flooded with investors.

 Thanks for the sanity check!

Thanks for your response Joe. I agree on the part about losing money - it doesn't make sure to lose money just to get into renting. I'm married with a young child, and a growing family, so my reason to move is based upon the need for a larger primary residence as we've just about outgrown the town house. This is a good reminder for me.

Another reason for selling is to free up debt on my DTI ratio to actually buy a property that positive cashflows. That next primary residence is trending towards $3,500-3,800 mortgage may sink my DTI ratio, so removing the town house mortgage ($2,800) to purchase a property or two in a less expensive/cost prohibitive market.

I'd prefer to just stay in this property longer, deal with the small space, and buy a rental property now...but I'm afraid the wife has different priorities. :-)