All Forum Posts by: Rodney Sums

"Everything looks great"

If you're new to being a landlord and use property managers, even out of town, I share this story to encourage you to ALWAYS do your own move out inspection.

One of my PMs recently told me they inspected the property, took pics of the whole house, said "everything looked great", theyd be refunding the full deposit, and I should consider replacing the carpet.  I drove the 6 hrs to look myself and found:

Large holes in multiple doors, big stains in carpets, poor carpet cleaning not done professionally (likely from a Rug Dr., hence the buy new carpet comment).

Another PM for another home said "everything looked great". I drove the 3 hrs to look and found:

Evidence dogs resided at the property when the lease said no pets (I did some research and found pics of tenants with the dogs in the home), dirty and scratched drywall, red screws in the walls in several rooms, unchanged HVAC filters, carpet stain, and filthy appliances.

These aren't the only times and I tried to keep it short for your reading.   This happens even with really good property managers, and despite having them do 6 month inspections while occupied..  Always inspect yourself if you can, so you can make sure it comes out of the deposit not your pocket. 

 Show him a picture of how the place looked before he moved in, and have Google translate say "make the place look like this again"

Show him a picture of a gorgeous woman and have Google translate say "clean the house up like this fine lady here wants to come over and cuddle with you"

 Get a second, third, and even fourth opinion on what it would take to get your current system working and if it's possible without a whole replacement. 

if it is, I co sign what others said such as:

investigate if the seller to you knew there was a problem

Did you have it inspected when you bought and if so, how come they didn't see the problem?

If you didn't have it inspected, always do that. Septic, sewer, even the outhouse 😁. I always have plumbing and sewer inspected.

 Do you have a concern about tenants and visitors consuming MJ in any form, or not sure what to do about the language? (Excludes concerns about combustion and vaping indoors)

it's legal here in AZ too. Personally, I'd rather have a pot head baked sitting stuck on the couch than a raging alcoholic punching holes in the wall.  

 I wish a tenant would want to bring their own fridge, range and microwave. That would alleviate me from paying to service them.  I usually don't put washer and dryers in so even better if they have that too.

like others mentioned the concern is where to store what you have. If you have a place to do so at no cost to you, charge them the costs for removing and transporting in both directions. 

they may be long term tenants if they're that committed to their own appliances, so if in your shoes I'd try and work it out

 I did it. 

remember to qualify for the tax free per diem, you need a home address away from the the assignment.  Would you be using one of the units in the duplex for yourself or have another property that serves as home base?

in my case, I house hacked a condo.  I bought it, moved in it at purchase, then moved family in to rent a room and then rooms while I was traveling.  Their rents covered cost of the condo but was still a home I had access to, allowing me to earn the travel pay

I'm interested building an apartment a home I have that is zoned MF.  Anybreferrals someone that can draft plans to code would he greatly appreciated 

 With that in mind, one of my suggestions was that she watch for the tax sale. She'd have an advantage over other bidders because she is familiar with the owner, family, and that so far no family has come forward to claim the property.  Does this sound like an adequate plan or is there a better way to go about it?

This property is in El Paso, TX

The following is an account from a friend of mine interested in pursuing neighboring home:

-House has been vacant 6 years

-The owner and her two sons died. Owner nor children were married. Owner has no grandchildren. It is unknown if there's any other next of kin. It appears none are aware as the property isn't being maintained.

I looked up tax records on the county assessor site. The last payment was in 2020. Not sure how long that county waits to put the taxes to auction.  What I told her so far is the state (or other governing body) would eventually put the house in to probate and it would go to the next of kind...which could even be some distant cousin the owner wasnt acquaintedwith.  I also shared with her the possibility of a tax auction and someone gaining ownership that way.  

I'm not certain between auction and probate which would take precedent. 

I suggested she work with a realtor, maybe even a P.I. to find who would be the heir and approach them for an off market deal.

if anything I said is incorrect and you have some insight about how she might pursue buying this hime, especially if you know how it works in that county, please share! Thank you.