All Forum Posts by: Edward Briley

@Taylor Chiu 

Wow, that's a pretty neat arrangement you had. Was that overseas? Sounds like more of a hostel-like arrangement.

No, it was in Lewiston, Maine right here in the USA.  That was more than 25 years ago however, but the place might still exist  I am sure the owner has passed by now,  but he did have at least one son and a daughter I know of, that are around my age, so one of them might have kept it going.   That house was gigantic.  Maybe around 6000 SF, that must have been built in the late 1800's but thanks to the people that could not keep a job, it was well kept up. He worked them hard now, but at the same time watched over them.  Every room door was commercial steel, and had a deadbolt.  You had a key and he had the master.  He made no secret about checking your room out either.  He wouldn't search through your stuff, but you knew he had been there, because he would tell you one way or another.   I know one time he had a run away girl living there, and he notified the police and talked to her parents on the phone even, without the girl knowing. Because of this man, and the way he did things, and the relationship he had with the police, the girls parents came and got her, and she thanked him when she left.  I also know the police would pick up a vagrant from time to time, and bring them to him, and he would let them sleep in the basement, and even feed them if they needed it and swiftly threw them out by 10 the next morning.   See a winter night in Maine can get well below zero, just like in Utah.  Don't get me wrong the guy was not a bible thumper either, he drank and partied right along with the tenants.  If someone got mean when they got drunk, either out in the snow they went or to bed.  He put up with no crap. 

When I lived there the owner was like 60 years old at least, and he had some medical issues, one to do with site, that I know of, he was like 5'8 or so and maybe weighed about 250 pounds, it would not be what you would expect to keep all of these people in line.  We used to kid him about wearing a pistol on his belt when he collected the rent, however, he was right to do it.   He was married, but his wife stayed mainly in their living area.  You would see her occasionally and every so ofter she would cook for everyone, if everyone paid like $2.00.  If it wasn't for pretty much, everyone, she wouldn't do it.   To feed 30 people or so is a big task you know.  His children had long moved out of the house by then.  He didn't start it until they were grown.   They would come and visit of course, sometimes nearly every night, sometimes once a week, but it was like they were visiting with everyone.  The place gave you a real sense of family.  This guy raised some people that lived there in some ways.  He knew a lot of people and would even help the unemployed find work, if they asked him to.  Who did not like him?  I will give you a hint, his neighbors, mainly because of parking. For this reason if those 2 places in the driveway were full, you had to walk 2 blocks from were you parked your car.  If a neighbor would complain about someone, out they went.  So, some of the tenants would cut the neighbors grass in the summer, just to try to keep them happy.  The owner of the place would also clear the neighbors driveways and sidewalks from snow. I think he was always within one step of the city shutting him down.  The neighbors worried him more than anything else. 

In my opinion, I wish there were more places like his.  We have a need for them, but try to do it and see what happens. 

Renting rooms in a house will just not work unless the owner of the property lives with them, plain and simple, and basically has to be a month to month, or week to week basis.   I know in this area that some renters are required to get a lease on a property for year, due to housing payments from their employer, however, the homeowner will let them break the lease anytime they desire.  The only other way to do it, is for all the tenants to sign a single lease,  and then I would bet, that if there are 4 tenants, that one of them will skip, but at least this way the others are responsible for the rent payment.    I have seen this tried over and over again.  Renting 4 rooms for $150 a week is good money, that is $600 a week and $2400 every 4 weeks.  Like they say, "it looks good on paper".  If you want to do this, and not be one of the roommates, start a motel. 

Every landlord knows this: Once a girls mother gets involved in a situation like this, she will win, even if it would go before a judge. Mother's and Father's protect daughters, and either will win in a case like this, i assure you. 

I lived in a boarding house one time for about 6 months to save money on per diem.  It had at least 20 tenants, and sit up very nicely.  At that time I paid $50 a week he charged by the room, not by the tenant, so a man and wife or whatever could stay together, even with 1 baby.  The owner had his own private area, but every evening every one that was there would get together around the main kitchen table with the owner.  I liked living there and everyone else did too.  You had the gangsters, the pure, college students, psychos, people like me and every other walk of life.   Everyone knew their own boundaries, and you let people know what you wanted to, about yourself.  The only complaint everyone had was parking.  Only 2 cars in the driveway, and if they were full, it was normally a 2 block walk, and it was located in Lewiston, Maine.  Very cold in the winter. Another thing was good, if someone could not pay their rent for the week, he didn't kick them out, he gave them the option to leave or work on the property.  Believe this or not, it wasn't long before that person found a job, and was able to pay the rent.  His rules were somewhat strict, but not to the point you couldn't enjoy yourself.  He had no problems what-so-ever with his tenants.  He only rented rooms, but the house had 3 full kitchens with microwaves.  One kitchen and the basement was a smoking area.  One kitchen was smoke free, the other, well, that was the meeting room I suppose. It also had a very large living room, with 3 televisions, with VCR's and a stereo.  On Friday nights the place would jam!!!  You would also find out who didn't pay the rent on Friday evening, because they would be your drink server.  That was funny alone.  It was one of the most enjoyable places I have ever lived in.  Friday evening at 8:05 PM you had the fire drill that we called it.  Rent was due by 8 PM, and if you were not there, or had not made arrangements, everything in your room was moved to the front porch, by the other tenants.  If you didn't show up before Saturday at noon, your room was rented, and if you hadn't shown up by 8PM on Saturday, to get your stuff he would call the police and fill out a missing person report.    If you did make arrangements  and could not pay the rent until Monday or whatever, you became the maintenance person, the house cleaner, the waiter, etc... and that was the late fee.   This is just another one of my life's stories. 

I think this Landlord should have expected problems with pot smokers when they saw the names on the lease agreement.  Jeff Spicoli, Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin, should have given a clue.

I found out who the tenant is:  

I have a friend that has few properties that he is renting and wants to increase his portfolio.  He has a $100,000 cash he wants to invest.  On top of this, between him and his wife they have more than $150,000 in credit card credit with no debt, except a mortgage.    No major card with more than a 10.9% interest rate.  Two of the credit cards are for Lowe's and one for Home Depot that total over $30,000 in credit.  He asked what should I do?  Every month the rent money comes in, which is about $3000, and the repairs on all of the properties average less than $200 a month.  He has managed to do this within the last 18 months.  His rental properties are well above average.  He is disabled, but does not draw social security.  He is limited to making no more than $40,000 a year at a job, because of the rules of his disability insurance.  He is allowed to make unlimited investments, and can make as much is he desires,  providing it is not employment.  He has a very nice home that he is a little upside down in with an average mortgage. (1,300 a month)  Does not care to move.  He has and will drive vehicles until the wheels fall off,  he has a decent boat, and doesn't live a flash lifestyle, doesn't care to, however, he does own 2 timeshare properties, that him and his wife go to every year for vacation. He is one that will not put all of his eggs in one basket.  He is scared of taxes, because of what he is bringing in.   What advice would you give him for further investments? 

@Mark Cruse Yeah, but you would not have a no smoking policy either.  Really it is a non significant thing, but if you do have the policy, and someone is breaking it, to the point it is bothering your other tenants, it has to stop. I am someone that believes my tenants are living in their own home providing they pay their rent.  Now I stayed in a boarding house years ago, and they had a no smoking policy in the rooms, but there was a common area for smokers, and one for non-smokers.  The other smoking area was in the basement with the washing machines, if you catch my drift, and all joined there from time to time, even the owner.  The ones that were not interested did not even know about it.  Must have had 20 or more tenants in that house.

@Mark Cruse Now I did not say I would evict a tenant for doing their thing.  However, from what I read in the post, that a total of 3 of her tenants complained about one tenant.  She says she has a no smoking policy, and best I can tell they are all sharing the same apartment.  From what she described in her post, this is a lot deeper than someone just smoking pot.  If you have a no smoking policy, and all of the tenants have signed the same agreement, that the one that is breaking the policy needs to be evicted. 

@Mark Cruse Who said no one did?  However if your tenants or neighbors of the property are complaining, especially to you,  about drug activity you better do something about it, or you may not be owning the property for long.

I looked at a property yesterday, that someone would have to pay me $50,000 to take it. I could have purchased it for less than $5000 I am sure. The property sits in a great, desired location, however, if the house was ever destroyed I could never rebuild on the lot. More to say the house was built in 1893, and of course came fully equipped with asbestos tile through out. This does not include the Knob and tube wiring, along with the lead drainage piping. It is a Hud listing, and how they let someone buy it in the first place I will never know. The home looks great on the outside, but the improvements to the home would cost at least $100,000. Now my advice, never buy a property without seeing it. HUD will definitely leave out details you should know about a property. With the property in Georgia it is possible that it has a sink hole on the property. Who knows? The property could be totally illegal through and through, and after you acquire the property you could get a letter from the county it is in that major, high dollar improvements are required. To the link you showed, it shows the last sell of the property was March 2014 for $65,205. Something is going on with it. And yes I agree, I hate the way HUD works. If they want to auction the properties that is one thing, however, until the money is in their hand, they should continue to list it. All Government Auctions really need improvement.

@Jay Hinrichs Hey, single family rentals are in big demand here, due to the fact that many (most) public housing units are being demolished.   Condominium communities are filled with investors, and not allowing any more investor purchases.  Cities are no longer allowing duplexes.  It is now illegal in the cities here, for someone to rent or stay in a motel room for more than a month at a time.  Why are they doing this?  Remember I told you what the average salary is this area?  Even if workers made half, they would still be able to purchase real estate, providing they paid their bills.  The cities are trying to push people out and trying to encourage home buying, mainly because of property taxes.  If people can rent cheaply, they will refuse to buy.  Meanwhile the real estate market is flooded with low cost deals.  This will produce many more one percenter's in the near future.