All Forum Posts by: Samantha Swenson

What should I do if a tenant hasn't returned their move in/move out checklist within the time stated on their lease agreement. Our lease says to be returned no later than 5 days at 5 PM and today is day 6... they said they are "working on it.." and can I come pick it up at 8pm tonight!  I do not want to start off this relationship between landlord and tenant being  a pushover and having to chase them down for every little thing, but I Also dont want to be a hard ***  and cause problems. What is your advice on handling this situation 

We had met with a local credit union MULTIPLE times to discuss the best options for me and my husband to invest in rental properties.  Well we found a 4plex that we will move into one of the units and rent out the remaining units as well as our current home. We have the down payment and we end up cashflow off of the units so essentially we get to live for free with some money in our pocket. Well the bank just came back and said we need to ALSO show that we have 6 months worth of the amount of each rent in our bank account to now qualify for a loan....  I have never heard of this before! Why wasnt this explained from the beginning! I have researched rental properties till I've been blue in the face for the past 8 months and I have never come across this...... 

Did I miss something in all of my reading or is the bank trying to pull something on me... 

HELP PLEASE!

What floors do you use in your rental properties? I was thinking tile because of how durable it is, and the cheaper price without Sacrificing look, but my husband pointed out how difficult it could be to fix if someone destroys ( higher dump fees, longer instilation equals longer turn over rate etc). With laminate floors they are loud to walk on (which drives me crazy) significantly more expensive and easily scratched and destroyed. But a whole house can be replaced in a few hours.  

Does ease of replacement outweigh all the negatives? What do you use and why?!

My husband and I are getting into buy and hold real estate investing and are planning on BRRRRing properties. The renting market is in an incredibly high demand in our area, but we are in a small town.  When talking to friends, family and even to each other we keep getting asked and asking ourselves "How would we survive this depression, or crash everyone keeps talking about!" We have small children so it's only natural we as well as our family is very concerned with what we have just embarked on. If your leveraging your properties to buy more and all of a sudden we do have a crash, people cant afford what they used to. You no longer have rent coming in to pay your mortgages, without a way to really fix it.   

Is this just the downside of real estate investing? Is there another idea or something that we haven't thought about? We were 100% set and ready to go and about to buy our 1st property, but family keeps asking us this question and without a good answer I dont know if we can move forward.  If you cant answer to yourself how do you answer to others. 

Any insight would be incredibly helpful.  We may just be overthinking this. 

All the manufactured houses around here are on their own land, not leasing or renting the land. The majority are on about an acre or more as well! I've never read that about the financing though.. I will have to look into that. I plan to purchase with cash then go back in and BRRRR them, get a refinance and buy the next house with cash and repeat.

After days of research I simply can not figure out if investing in a few manufactured houses is a good idea or not. I dont quite understand why they dont hold their value as well as a regular home (or maybe they do! Tell me if I am wrong!). In cash flow they seem like a good Investment, in my area they rent for the same price as a regular home, but when it comes to 30 years from now, will I be completely screwed over? They have a foundation, siding, drywall, a shingle roof.... in my mind there really isnt a difference. What is it that I am missing here? 

I'm looking into buying my 1st property to use as a rental and to hold on to long term as a retirement plan, but my local housing is confusing me. I live in a smallish town surrounded by 4 other small towns, and in all of them the housing is very mixed. Completely trashed trailers, manufactured homes and Brand new builds are all mixed in with each other! All right next to each other! There is only one neighborhood that I would consider an A class neighborhood, the others will have an A class house next to a D....  so my question is, do you think it is still a smart move to invest in these areas In Hope's that eventually the nicer homes will out number the bad ones?  Or was it bad decision skills from the ones who built the nicer homes in that area? Or since they are for rental purposes in a VERY VERY high demand area for rentals it shouldn't matter what they are located next to.  

Who/where is the best place for background checks and or credit checks on possible tenant?