All Forum Posts by: Richard C.

Not a chance in hell would a court in my state let you take a penny for that.  The landlord at the time the carpet was replaced allowed smoking.  Smoke odor is therefore not wear-and-tear, or damage, but simply to be expected.

 That is not correct.  The OP stated that she has now completed the paperwork to receive future payments (granted, after 4 tries.)  This issue is SOLELY the one misdirected payment.

I stand by my characterization of your advice.

Let's review who has and who has not acted inappropriately:

1.  Your broker.  Appears to have done nothing wrong. Not great customer service to not return your call, but even if they did return your call, there is nothing they can do for you.  They are simply not involved;

2.  Seller's broker.  Almost the same situation as your broker.  They should be returning your call to tell you they have informed the seller, but they also have nothing to do with the Section 8 payment;

3.  The seller.  Clearly at fault if he knows he is not entitled to the payment and kept it anyway;

4.  The Housing Authority.  Sounds like the real villian in the story, to be honest.  If you filed the paperwork on time and they claim they did not receive it, then they are the ones who have put you in this situation.  And so I would really strongly recommend that you focus your efforts there rather than on the brokers.  The brokers have no responsibility here, the Housing Authority does; 

5.  The tenant.  The tenant has done absolutely, positively nothing wrong.  I find the advice above to threaten an entirely innocent renter with eviction, in the winter, to be completely morally bankrupt.  The moderator giving the advice may be correct that threatening eviction will get someone's attention.  But it may not be the attention you want.  And again, this tenant has done nothing wrong.  It is simply wrong to intentionally hurt an innocent third party because of your dispute with the Housing Authority.

Well, if you do decide he has to go, just remember that if it is a 203k property, there is no reason for you to care about the condition of the unit. So refund any deposit immediately.

A 3 month fee for breaking a lease would never, ever be enforced in the courts in my state.  Things may very well be different there, but you should look into it.

Generally, you have a duty to mitigate your damages.  That means you have a duty to try to fill the unit, and if it takes you one month, then one month is what you are going to get, not three.

 This is almost certainly incorrect.

It is really, really important that you recognize that the estate is a legal entity entirely separate from the eventual heirs.

It is the ESTATE that would receive the money, which would then be distributed to the heirs.

The "tax burden" and "long-term income stream" arguments that people often deploy when seeking owner financing will very seldom (never say never, but very seldom) apply when dealing with an estate.

It is extremely likely that the executor is going to be trying to convert everything to cash, as expeditiously as possible, so that that cash can be distribute to the heirs.

I agree with the other posters:  any owner finance offer is very unlikely to be accepted by an estate.  And a zero interest offer that involves cutting a check to the buyer at closing?  Forget about it.  Unless the executor is drunk that day, or you have pictures of him in a compromising position, it ain't gunna happen.

Nah, I virtually never look at profiles.  Usually only when they have sent me a colleague request.

I have been here long enough and read enough posts to have a good handle on who knows what.

Rent is not determined by the amount you have invested, the CPI, any sort of rigid rule (I always add 3%!!!!) or anything of the like.

The rent you can get is based on the local rental market for like units.  PERIOD.

If you try to impose your will on the situation, and the market doesn't support it, you will pay the price.  Whether in vacancies, bad applicants who have no other choices, begrudging acceptance that results in pushback in other areas that costs you money, etc.

The landlord does not set the price, the MARKET does.

So, the answer is that you raise rent if the market indicates that you are underpriced.  

I think everyone needs to remember that this young man is asking for advice.  It is not a good idea to use that to rehash our own regrets in life, or to self-justify our choices by encouraging him to do the same things we did.  Not when the things we did have bad impacts far more often than good impacts.

I am specifically talking about the people arguing that this young man should not go to college (or even finish high school!!! WTF?)  

This may have worked out for you.  But if it did, you are very, very, very much the exception to the rule.  And the world of the future is going to be different from the world of the past, and it is unlikely to value education LESS.

Michael, the people telling you that you don't need to go to college (or even high school) are the exact same people who will tell you smoking is good for you, because their great uncle smoked a pack a day and lived to be 90.

Sure, it happens.  But as a real estate investor, you should be all about the numbers.  And what do the numbers tell us?

They tell us that the average wage of those with less than a high school diploma is $493 a week, with more than 8% unemployment.

That the average wage of those with a high school diploma is $678 a week, with 5% unemployment.  You think someone wanting to invest in real estate can find something to do with $185 extra dollars a wee?

The average wage for some college, but no degree is $738 a week.

For an associate's degree $798.

For a bachelor's degree $1,137 a week.

There is no, "But, but, but, he's an ENTREPRENEUR exception to any of the above.

People advising you to forgo education are giving you lousy advice, either to make themselves feel better about their own choices, or as a result of their own regrets.

It is LOUSY advice.  Don't listen to it.

I guarantee that there will still be real estate when you are 18.

Learn to walk before trying to run.