All Forum Posts by: Sarah Brown

I do my own detailed move in report, and the have the tenant do their own as well.  I then do a detailed move out report.   I also have a price schedule for the cost of repairs that is accessible to them so they shouldn't be surprised when charges crop up.  I have been fortunate enough to stay out of court so far.

Congrats!

Call a lender in the area where you want to buy.  They will be able to tell you what you can buy with your current financial situation, and if you can't buy what you need to do to be able to.  Age isn't a loan qualification.  That would be illegal.  

Sure, you can hold the unit for the next two months, but they will sign the lease now, and give you those two months worth of rent.  I don't pull properties off the market until I have a lease signed and funds received from the tenant. People change their minds, back out, disappear etc, and that could be valuable marketing time to get a good tenant ready to sign a lease right away.

It sounds like you need to sit down and figure out some strategies for your goals.  It is great that you want to get into investing, but how are you going to do that and what is the best avenue to get there? Just jumping on an offer because you are ready to move doesn't sound like you have thought this through very well.  

I am going to estimate that your mortgage payment is in the $800 range, plus the association dues would put your total payment at $1136 (ish).  If you rent for $1500/mo that would net you $364/mo.  Keeping the condo would have given you 2 doors of rentals vs just one if you sold and bought a duplex.  You are in a position to be able to own two properties if you play your cards right.  The conventional loan option you mentioned above allows you to close on a second property if you have a signed lease on the condo.  It is 100% possible to have a tenant lined up to move in as soon as you move out. 

I would talk to your realtor about what would happen if you chose not to sell the condo. There are consequence to breaking a real estate contract, and your areas specific PSA (purchase and sale agreement) should spell that out.  Generally you can't just break the contract.  You could be sued for non-performance.  This might be an instance where you have to chalk it up to a learning experience. 

Everyone here has had excellent advice.  I have a few questions though.  If your current salary qualifies you for $200k mortgage, how are you going to qualify for $285,000 when you get your 5% down?

Also, are rooms really only renting for $180/mo?  Maybe do a little research and see if that makes sense.  Perhaps you are short changing yourself on your house hack.

You stated you wanted to wait until after you bought the property to do the basement repairs because it would increase the value of the house. Did you agree to a set price with your mom on the house, or did you agree to market price? In the states, the better your LTV the better off you are for you loan. Canada may be a bit different.

 Nathan I have asked an insurance broker from something similar and they said they had never heard of such thing.  I thought to myself "I CANNOT be the first person to think of this!".  Is the insurance you are using a national agency, or a local one?  I would be interested in getting contact info if it's a national agency. 

Well this is interesting.  I wonder if they are sending you a letter because they are more inclined to get funds from you than they are from the tenant who was receiving the assistance?  I'm not familiar with NY except what I hear via news and rumor.  I would call them directly and make sure you are understanding what you are reading first, and then call an attorney.

On a side note I make it practice to talk to each person on the lease at least once a year (preferably more).  I also inspect the property at least once a year.  I know the city does that for section 8, but I don't depend on them to enforce my lease.  On inherited tenants it is required that I meet each tenant and do an inspection of the property.  It's a lot of up front work, but definitely sets the tone for the tenant that I'm not passive or messing around.

The tenant is expected to handle the snow removal of all my SFH. It's in the lease. It's in the city code. I will enforce it when I do a drive-by. My goal for my rentals is to not have someone go by and curl their lip and say "oh that must be a rental!". Also not getting sued is a huge motivator :)

In Idaho if you remodel and pull a permit, you will have to bring certain things up today's code.  Double check P&Z for what is really required.  Congrats on your first fix and flip!  I have the same recommendations as Kathy.  Get in with some other investor groups and learn what you can from them. Use their experiences to save you some headache