All Forum Posts by: Rebecca E.

I don't have experience with this one in particular, but I have found facebook groups for stuff like this to be generally overrated - seems super valuable on the surface but doesn't really pan out great

Thanks for the thoughts. You might be right, looks like we have our first 13 week tenant from the ff app. It took 3 days to get a touch, which is approximately 3 days longer than our LTR, advertised on FB, but the first contact met our criteria! That never happens for us in LTR.

0 Votes

@Monica Ehman

Are you me? Lol.

I share your proclivities but it's not really a good money maker. Most people here are in it to make money, but most HGTV people are just having fun.

I bought a foreclosure before the pandemic which needed less work than average and spent every spare minute for 9 months to fix it. It was fun and ultimately profitable but I needed a lot of cash upfront. 50k to buy the house (3/2) then all the cash to refurbish (30k). Now it rents for $1000 per month and I own an asset free and clear which currently I could sell for $150.

Try to find and fall in love with an old house which needs less work! 😁

0 Votes

I've been doing LTR for a few years but wanted to try MTR in one unit as I had such great success renting to medical professionals over the years.

I furnished my upper unit in a duplex which is within 5 minutes of a hospital known to use a lot of travelers. I paid FF their fee and listed my place. I then asked to join the FB group and got denied. Disappointing because that's my main source of tenants for LTR.

Should I keep trying to get into that FB group or do you think it's not necessary?

Thanks in advance!

0 Votes

@Carlos Ptriawan

Hey Carlos! What part of Wisconsin did you invest in? Did you have issues that you are getting out?

I invest in central Wisconsin and the only reason I don't do more is I can't find deals (even here, the market is hot)

0 Votes

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

@Katie Miller

I came here because I just had my yearly with my new accountant. I've gone through 4 different ones in the past 4 years and I've finally found a good one.

I had recommdations from people who didn't do real estate, terrible. I used one frequently discussed in BP, TERRIBLE AND EXPENSIVE. Now I found one that specializes in real estate investors that was recommended by an online mentor. This one is good.

4 Votes

Quote from @Mary Flynn Maes:

My husband and I have a STR in a rural part of Wisconsin (we live in CA, but I'm from the area and my whole family lives there). The property is located on a lake with a Lake Association that does not want us to be operating a STR. This was not disclosed when we bought the property, the previous owners basically told us the association had zero authority in the matter, and we never signed anything with the lake association agreeing to not use the property as we choose.

The lake association threatened to sue us for the vacation rental, and so we backed off on hosting.

From what we can tell, the lake association is not like a homeowners association, so I am wondering what authority they have to tell us what we can do with our property?

To broaden that a bit, the property is located in a township, which does have regulations around owning and operating a STR. We've looked into the regulations the township has established, and now, frankly, i'm wondering what authority the township has over our property. Some of the rules seem a little unrealistic (like requiring we have ADA-compliant ramps...in a lake house...) but more troubling is that the township requires STR owners to submit an application that the board must approve, and then that must be renewed/reviewed/approved annually. Ok, that's fine, I guess, until i realized that when looking at the membership of the township board - two of them are also members of our lake association! So... no, i don't see that application getting approved.

While a friend who lives in the area made the point that 'sure, they can make rules, but they can't enforce them,' (something about there not being a judicial branch of the township?) we're trying to be better humans than operating this under the radar and ticking off all our neighbors, not to mention potentially opening ourselves up to lawsuits or hefty fines. But then again, I really don't like other people telling me what I can do with my property if they don't have the right to do so.

Who has the authority to make and enforce STR rules in this situation (lake association? township? the county?) and how do we find out for certain? Is this under the purview of a real estate lawyer? Does anyone have experience with this situation or recommend a lawyer with experience in this situation?

Can I ask where in WI your place is located? There was a state regulation recently, well described in Carolyn Fuller's link, that lake associations/HOA CANNOT prohibit STR but they can restrict them. We elected not to run an STR in a nearby area because they required the owner to live or have an agent within 30 minutes. If you had family in the area, that could work for you.

1 Vote

Quote from @Francine Melia:

I also concur with Greg: the first important step is to read your policy and determine what perils are included and excluded. Without seeing your specific policy, we can't know whether or not this situation is covered, but I can say that normal aging/wear and tear is excluded from many policies. You can also reach out to your insurance agent or broker to go over the details of the policy and coverages if you need help with the document.

With regard to your insurance carrier, if you reach out to them about a potential claim/for an inquiry, many record that as a claim even if the actual claim is never filed. This can raise the rates on this property as well as any other properties connected to your named insured/property ownership and the claim can stay on your history for 3-5 years or even longer (depending on which carrier is running your claims history as they can use different time measures). There is no general formula for how much the premium rates may rise, but it's common to see that increase as well as any year-over-year increases that happen regularly.

Once you know more about the coverages and exclusions in your policy, it's up to you to decide if you think it's a claim you'd like to make vs paying for it out-of-pocket. Some factors I recommend taking into account are: your deductible vs the projected cost of repairs, your time spent filing the claim and getting the repair and reimbursement if it is covered by your policy, and how much and how likely your rates are to go up if you make the claim.

Best of luck as you navigate this situation.

Francine

Thank you. I had heard some of what you said in the past, which is why i was reluctant to call my agent. Thanks for confirming for me.

my update to the situation though is golden! Apparently the city had some sort of policy which will cover all my expenses related to the damage and I'm only responsible for bringing the lateral up to current code. PHEW, that's a load off.

1 Vote

We are new to REI. We have 7 doors and haven't had any big unforseen expenses until this week. This week we had a sewer problem with a lateral. It's not directly our problem but the city is going to make us replace the lateral because it's not up to code any longer. I'm simplifying, so don't get stuck on details. The costs are estimated at 5k. Our deductible is at 1k.

the question is: do we report it to the insurance and try to get them to cover it? Do we pay cash out of pocket so we don't have an increase in fees going forward? Is there a way to predict how much our insurance will go up after a claim?

Any suggestions would be welcomed!

0 Votes

I agree with John Slater about reverse mortgages. They are not all awful. My experience with them is only personal: my in-laws couldn't pay their mortgage and were going to lose their house, so I paid their mortgage for 3 years, until one christmas someone slipped and my MIL found out. Well, that was the end of that, she'd rather lose her house than have me pay it (sucks to be the daughter in law! ;) )

She found out about reverse mortgages and got that process going. My inlaws lived in that house for another 15 years, with no payments at all because the bank took care of everything. When they died, the bank offered the house to us, but we didn't want it. They ended up selling it and giving us the excess proceeds. I wasn't in real estate at the time, so I don't know if it was a foreclosure, a short sale or what. It was a perfect answer for us and them.

2 Votes

Vancouver, Washington

All Forum Posts by: Rebecca E.

Rebecca E. has started 10 posts and replied 87 times.

Post: Is the Facebook group for FF necessary?

Post: Is the Facebook group for FF necessary?

Post: Reo Property - WI (Newbie)

Post: Is the Facebook group for FF necessary?

Post: Why is Milwaukee, Wisconsin one of the hottest markets in the US in 2023?

Post: If you use a CPA or Tax Professional, how did you find him or her?

Post: Who has authority re: rules around STR?

Post: When to talk to insurance agent about large unexpected expense?

Post: When to talk to insurance agent about large unexpected expense?

Post: Reverse Mortgage buy from bank