All Forum Posts by: Robert Stack

Thank you everyone for the great advice. I guess I knew what I have to do but just wanted to make sure I wasn’t being unsympathetic. I can handle it myself , I think without a property management company, but will keep that in mind in the future if I just can’t handle it. I definitely have started out in real estate on a slightly sour note but going to turn that around ASAP .

Yes definitely plan on month to month

Thanks for your reply and advice. I do have one months deposit that was turned over to me from the sellers. I would assume it’s some kind of short term disability. Yes I agree I need to have a candid conversation with her about the money she will be receiving and how long she might be on disability. I think I should also address whether the apartment is in her budget while she is on disability. I guess I just need to reset and establish a lease and payment rules. Better Kate than never

I am new to real estate and even though I researched tenant/landlord relations extensively before I bought this house I feel like I havent followed what I learned on this site and various books and am already getting into a bad tenant situation.

So I inhereted this tenant with a two family house recently. She is on a month to month lease, according seller , which I have never seen. So I kind of dragged my feet and after owning the house for about two months never created my own lease or really set up any ground rules etc. The first month she paid her rent with no issue. Now this month she is saying that she can only pay part of the rent because she is awaiting disability due to a recent historectomy. She said she should have the rest this week sometime. I know I probably should have established a new lease and penalty for being late. At this point I feel like maybe I am being a pushover but honestly it is sometimes my personality type. The business side of me tells me to have a frank conversation with her that if she doesn’t keep up with the rent I will quickly begin the eviction process. But the other side of me tells me that I should wait and give her a chance first. Any advice in any regard is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

sorry about typos

thanks for the reply!  Well i kind of was leaning a little more towards rta cabinets.   I know they are generally made with real plywood inside as opposed to particle board or furniture board.  So no problem with quality or longevity? I am not opposed to them but have just heard the quality can be rather poor. 

I am in the process of remodeling a 1-family house for rental and it needs new kitchen cabinets.  Has anyone here used the RTA cabinets that you can purchase in store at home depot?  Is there a difference between these cabinets and the ones you can order on their website?  Also has anyone done a comparison, price and quality wise, between home depot's rta cabinets and other online sources such as rtacabinets.com.  The home depot cabinet design person quoted me roughly $2400 for a particular model i liked.  My kitchen is approximately 10 x 10.  any advice is greatly appreciated!  I just wanted the best value RTA cabinets available.  v/r rob

Hello everyone.  I just bought my first real estate investment.  A one family, 2-story house  and I can not decide who to rent it to.   By that I mean should I rent to college students by room, a family, couple, etc.?  I am not really familiar with the terminology but it is in a lower income area. Its kind of a working class lower income area.  But the area is getting better and there are apartments, 1 family houses, and students who live in neighboring houses.  So the area is kind of a mix.

Initially my plan was to rent to students, since there is a large university in the area, that seems to be ever expanding, and a friend nearby does really well renting to students.  He does tell me though that at times it is like "babysitting."

So I know there is no right or wrong answer, but I wanted to get others opinion on this. The way i feel is that if I rented to students I could make a little more renting by room but turnover is going to be fairly high and I anticipate frequent visits and issues that fall into the "babysitting" category.  On the other hand I could rent to a couple or small family and I would anticipate turnover being lower, but I also would have to rent for less monthly.  From doing research of the area, if I rent to students, I could rent for about $350-$400 per room, and since its a 3-bedroom, gross anywhere from $1050-$1200 per month.  If I rented to a family, or couple or single person I could likely rent the entire house for around $700-$800.  

Any advice or opinion is greatly appreciated.

Rob

thorp street in binghamton is an absolute dump!!

Hey guys....So when is the next meeting?  New to this and trying to make some connections in the area?  thanks in advance, rob