All Forum Posts by: Randy E.

@Michael Henry

If everything else about the deal is satisfactory to you, there is NO WAY I would allow this to stop me from buying this investment.

First, the quote is most definitely (probably) overpriced.  Assuming the ceiling damage does not include rafters/joists and is only a question of replacing drywall/tiles, that should only be a few hundred.  Mold in the laundry area might just be a surface mold problem which can be cured with a disposable breathing mask, some towels, and some bleach spray.  The staircase problem seems like probably a loose railing issue, and if that is the case, that would only be a few hundred dollars (at most) to repair.

I would not allow the cost of those fixes to stop this deal.  That the seller is pitching in $500 makes it all the better for you.  Heck, the $500 might cover the cost of all the repairs if you're lucky, but it should be 1/3 to 1/2 anyway.  And if not, as the others have said, $2K-$3K should not be the difference between a good deal and a bad deal.

Lastly, unless you're buying a property advertised as turnkey or new construction, get used to having to repair or touch up a few things immediately after purchase.  That part of the game.

Congratulations on hopefully closing this deal!

 If your BIL has never gone through the eviction process as a landlord, I suggest hiring a lawyer to handle it.  Especially in the DC area where it tends to be tenant friendly.  Hire a lawyer, ask lots of questions, follow along with all the paperwork and procedures, attend court every time and learn how the lawyer speaks to the magistrate.  Attend the actual visit by the sheriff's deputy who performs the eviction.

That way, your BIL will have good firsthand knowledge of what the entire process is like.  After that first time, your BIL will either know enough to do future evictions without a lawyer's expense, or your BIL will decide it's worth the price to have a lawyer handle it.

No way your BIL should handle his first rodeo alone without guidance.  Especially not if he has accepted partial payment after the eviction process was begun.  He definitely needs professional legal advice.

 Driving and looking with your own eyes is the best way.  It's worth the hour's trip from Chapel Hill to ride around High Point and judge the neighborhoods for yourself.

This is what I do when considering a new city.  Identify several houses that appeal to your from an investment POV that are offered on any on-line RE site.  Chose two or three different price points, but all should be within your expected budget.  Visit the city and ride to each of the houses on your list.  Pay particular attention to adjoining neighborhoods as they are a sign of which direction your target neighborhoods might be heading in.

There really is no substitute for actually driving a city.  Make plans to do it this weekend.  The sooner you go, the better.  If you decide HP is for you, can can start investigating more thoroughly.  If you decide HP is not for you, you can stop wasting time on Maybes and What Ifs, and refocus on another city.

 1) Check your lease.  Either it explicitly states the tenant is responsible for cutting the grass, or it does not.  If it does not, the landlord is responsible.  

2) Even if the lease says the tenant is responsible, the city will fine the owner of the property if the situation is not resolved.  It is in your best interest as the property owner to cut the grass before the city fines you.

@Taylor Osterhout

You're asking the wrong question.  You're wondering if you can use a text message to create a legal shenanigan to maintain a situation that infringes upon other tenants.  Maybe you can.  Maybe you can't.

Another way to look at it is to ask yourself if you are ready to move.  If I had a tenant who did something like this and refused to undo it, I would give them a 30-day notice as soon as the lease expired.  If the tenant was on a month-to-month lease, I would give him a 30-day notice immediately.  

As a landlord with multiple tenants in one property, it is a simple decision.  Your doorbell's ability to invade the other tenants' privacy will be a problem for many other tenants.  Tenants who might decide to move out, or never move in in the first place.  The doorbell is the root of the landlord's problem -- I would first try to get rid of the doorbell, and if I could not, I would get rid of the tenant who won't remove the doorbell.

Hi @Gloria A., 

I don't own rentals in HP, but I own in the Triangle and Triad.  Also, I toured HPU a few months ago with my son and I got a good feel for the university and the immediate area surrounding it.

High Point has an incredible amount of inexpensive housing, including in the neighborhoods surrounding HPU.  However, HP is a divided city, with a middle-class population that lives well, and a severely deprived lower-class population.  HPU is surrounded by a 6-foot (or taller) iron fence and the only entrance is constantly manned by one or two guards in a guard booth.  The type of parents and students I met while at the university ... I won't say a lot more about it other than to say I don't think many HPU parents would set up their children in rentals in the immediate area.  The campus and the surrounding area are as far different as you could imagine.  The university's tuition and fees exceed $50K and most of the parents are upper-middle class to upper class.

If you buy rentals in most of the neighborhoods surrounding HPU, you should plan on renting to the citizens who already live in those neighborhoods.  Most of those neighborhoods have dilapidated houses on most streets, many with people living in them.  This area is a long time from gentrifying.  

If you buy cheap houses in HP, you should either live in the area or already have a PM in mind with whom you have a long and trusting relationship.  I don't think it's a bad market overall, and I might buy there in the next year or two.  However, I'm close enough to keep an eye on things, and I have experience renting to a lower-income population.

If you do not live in the HP area, I suggest you look for rentals closer to where you actually live or where you plan to live after you graduate.  Managing low-entry-cost High Point rentals long distance is not something I would recommend for a novice investor.

My plumber in the Triangle doesn't want to travel to Greensboro for smaller fix-its, and I have two smaller repair jobs.  Anyone have any more recos.  Feel free to message me the info.

-Thanks in advance

@Johnothan Edward Layne, what state is the rental located?

 I had a tenant once with the same issues, except I never got to the point of filing for an eviction.  Whenever I announced to the tenant that eviction was the next step, she would come up with the money a week or so later.

Depending on the city, there are various services that poor citizens know about.  These services (some government-provided, some religious-affiliated, some business-related, and some charity related,) all require the citizen to be extremely delinquent on a bill before offering assistance.  And most in areas local to my rentals, only provide assistance once per calendar year to each citizen.  A tenant like the one you have likely knows about a few of these services.

My past tenant would ask for a bill that stated what was past due and any fees/fines associated with the past due amount.  I would provide it.  She would take it to one of the agencies, and they would write her a check (sometimes to me, sometimes to her, depending on which service she used) for the amount due.  There are services that only assist with heating/cooling related bills, some that deal only with rent, some that help with children-related bills, etc.  I suspect your tenant is doing something similar.  

It was never too big a deal for me, except I worried that one day she would get behind and be unable to get assistance from anywhere.  Some landlords go apoplectic over similar situations.  It's a personal preference.  If it bothers you a lot, evict or don't renew, pay for turnover costs (as it appears will be necessary because your post implies she is a long-term tenant,) and have your PM search for and install a new tenant.  If you can live with a tenant who sometimes pays late but always eventually pays all back rent and associated fees/fines, continue to let your PM handle it as it has been handled in the past.  I assume you have a PM because you live far from your investment property.  If you do have a PM, that's less you actually have to think about this.  Also, it sounds like the tenant is paying any fees the PM may charge you for the process, so it's not actually costing you any money. Also, why not ask the PM what he thinks?  Maybe the PM is familiar with how she gets her money and if the PM relays that information to you, it might make you feel better (or worse) about the situation.

If you remain a landlord long enough, you'll eventually have to evict a tenant.  It's up to you whether or not you think now is the time.  The tenant may eventually fail to come up with the money, but that might not happen for two or three years or longer.  Some tenants like this are very resourceful and very resilient, and seemingly always locate aid.  It sounds like your tenant has been successful in always getting aid so far.

 ASSUME nothing!  Read the contract and verify if you are unsure about anything.

In this case, unless this is a deal that is 30-50% better than anything else in the area, I would back out now -- well, after the foundation inspection has been reported to you and the seller.  No need to wait until the very last moment, where a careless error could cause you to lose your escrow.

You will need time to process the inspection report and make a counter offer.  The seller will need more time to process the report and your counter offer.  And unless the seller agrees to your price, you will need more time to process the seller's counter-counter offer.  Meanwhile, Thursday is getting closer and closer.

Oh wait, does that 7-day period end at 7am or 7pm or midnight Thursday night?  Or midnight Wednesday night into Thursday morning?  Oops, escrow lost.

Ask the seller, in writing, for an extension of the inspection time, or cancel and deal and begin negotiating anew.