All Forum Posts by: Randy E.

Hi Jaleen,

1) If you have $32,000 in your bank account, you can go to your bank and ask for a letter that states "Jaleen has at least $32,000 in his account as of March 13, 2015."  I just did something similar two weeks ago, and I've done it repeatedly over the last few years.

2) Line Of Credit: You go to a bank and ask for a Line Of Credit loan.  It's kind of a like a credit card, but with a better interest rate.  If you have decent income, good credit, and low debt, you should be able to qualify for a LoC from one bank/credit union or another.  Once you qualify for the LoC, you can get a letter that says, "Jaleen has access to X amount of dollars from our bank, as of March 13, 2015."  The exact amount will depend on what you are approved for.

3) Mortgage Pre-Approval: Go to a bank/credit union and ask them to pre-approve you for a home mortgage.  You'll need a decent credit rating.  Based on your credit rating and your income, the bank will (or won't) pre-approve you for a loan to buy a property.  They'll say, you're approved to buy a property up to (just guessing here) $50,000."  You can then get a letter stating that and use that as Proof Of Funds.

Hope that helps.

Good luck,

Randy

 That's what I do, and why I do it.  I don't want to risk losing a good tenant over $25 a month.

From one Carolinian to another, welcome aboard, William.

This is a fun, informative, and addictive site.

-Randy

Hi Katherine,

First, full disclosure.  I am a buy-and-hold guy, not a flipper.  However, I wouldn't touch a $115K job for a maybe-kind-of-potential $15K profit.  If the updates run $5K over and it sits on the market and you have to sell it at $5K less than your lower estimate (both possible,) you're looking at making only $5 for a lot of stress and hard work.

Just my 2 cents.

Good luck,

Randy

LOL

I generally allow only two pets (cat/dog) max.  I prefer to have no cats or dogs, but when I do allow them ...

I charge a $250 non-refundable fee.

I charge an additional $25/month for pet rent.

I have been considering altering my leases to include another $250 as a refundable pet deposit, but I don't think it necessary for me at this point.  Usually, tenants with pets will bypass my properties and keep looking.  That's fine with me.  I'm not trying to make them give up their pets -- I just don't like taking all the risk of having pets in my rentals.

One current tenant has two aquariums, one set up for turtles, the other for lizards.  I don't charge him a pet fee.  I don't care about animals locked in a secure environment, and who couldn't actually damage my property.  Dogs and cats, on the other hand, can end up costing me money when the tenant moves out.

Good luck with your pending nuptials and move,

Randy

Thanks Larry, Dmitriy, and Antonio for the warm welcomes.  It's great to get a peak into how things are done in other parts of the country.  

 Thanks.  I heard how important it was to have a picture.  :-)

I've been lurking around BP for a couple of months now.  I've been a real estate investor for four years.  I've been involved in rentals for a lot longer.

I have two SFR rentals and am looking hard to acquire a third before the end of the month.

Gee, I'm kind of at a loss for words right now.