All Forum Posts by: Joe D.

Hey All,

I need some guidance here. My family and I have outgrown our condo and would like to buy a single family home ASAP. I bought my condo in 2005 for $138k then I foolishly renovated the entire place myself for about $25k. My recent plan was to keep it and rent it out while buying a single family home, but I recently had a lengthy conversation with my retired realtor neighbor which has me second guessing. He keeps a close eye on things in the neighborhood and explained that he doesn't see any type of comeback on these places and that if anything they're going downhill and he'll probably just cut his losses and sell. Recent comps revealed 2 units just sold for around $78k and there has been a decline in the type of tenants renting here.

Here are some figures:

$1250 - total per month incl. mortgage, HOA & taxes

108,000 - what I owe/Mortgage

From the research I've done, I don't see these units selling for a whole lot but with mine in the condition it is in I'm thinking /hoping I could get about $118k, walk away w/o owing and cut my loses.

Or should I rent it out and hope I can find a tenant willing to pay 1,200 - 1,250? I'm afraid it may sit vacant for a while if I chose this option. If I sell it, I could at east stay here until it sells.

The only good things I can say is the place is very nice and completely renovated, is in a top/award winning school district and last year I refinanced the 1st mortgage to a 15 yr conventional for 2.75%.

Thanks for reading!

Joe

 What a fantastic idea Susan, thank you very much for going out of your way to look into that for me! I actually called and they said that once I'm a member I will have access to many free real estate forms. I'll be heading there tonight, thanks again!

Thanks Steve! Also, I'm outside the city in sthe suburbs.

I have tried looking up Pennsylvania Landlords Association and all types of sites show up and it's hard to tell what is legit and which just want your money. Thanks for your suggestion with NARPM, I'll look more into them and property managers but I'll probably just do it myself beings I don't have any room to spare to pay them their fee's at this point. 

Jill, who did you end up using and how did it work out?

 Hi Marcia, thank you for your comment and suggestions! I plan to buy that book and getting the Mold & Moisture booklet from the link you attached. Besides this site, I really don't know many Landlords, at least ones that have good info or forms to share. The ones I know seem to be doing it VERY basically and probably not the right way. Joining this forum has already proved very useful for me, thanks to you all.

Very good point about complying with local laws. This can all be pretty overwhelming trying to get everything in order correctly! Any suggestions on how to find out exactly what my local ordinances are?

 Thanks again for your help Ned!

 Hey Ned, I agree those are definitely important ones! 

Regarding the lead disclosure form, I just need to select which applies to my property. For example; That I am unaware of any lead based paints in the home. I don't have to actually have the property tested for lead paint and share the test report, do I?

Thank you for all the suggestions! I will use the mentioned resources to find some of the forms. Has anyone had experience with either of these sites:

http://www.thelpa.com/lpa/forms.html

or 

MrLandlord.com 

Are they reputable?

Hey all,

I've been researching and reading quite a bit about how to become a successful Landlord. I'm trying to find a place that I can download (preferably free) all the needed forms. So far I have a lease agreement, an application (but not too crazy about it) and a denial letter. What other forms would I need and any recomendations on where to download them.

Thanks!

Joe