All Forum Posts by: Sarnen Steinbarth

I too would be extremely cautious in trying to apply that exemption. (3 units or less)  It is a big bag of worms.

From my (non-lawyer) experience, yes, the lease remains in place (The Covenant of Quite Possession).  I have seen some rental agreements that specifically address what happens in the event of a sale, often times, with certain rights of the buyer to terminate.

 It is probably not as bad as you are imagining!

While, there is a chance, it could work out well, I think the chances that there is an issue is more likely.

Have you thoroughly vetted and screened the tenant?  Credit score?  Past landlords references?  If everything lined up perfectly in the screening I would be more apt to allow a 5 year lease.

One other consideration is selling.  Do you plan to sell the property anytime in the next 5 years?  Will a multi-year lease be a detractor to a buyer (probably)?

If you do put in laundry I would definitely do coin-op.  I have found free laundry often times gets abused.  If you price the coin-op lower than comparable laundromats around town your tenants will appreciate the benefit (but likely not abuse it).  I would recommend top-load Speed Queen washer / dryers.  I got some front load ones that were a maintenance nightmare.

Mark,

I started out with just a few properties and worked full-time.  Eventually I began acquiring more - to the point that I decided to start a rental property management company (still while I was working full-time), mainly to help with my own properties.

At the start I think you will find it is usually fairly manageable with under, say, 10 units.  Make sure you have a good plumber (and probably an electrician) on speed dial.  In my experience most issues that need immediate attention are water / plumbing related and to a lesser extent electrical.  Most other issues (roommate issues, non-payment of rent, etc) would not require you to do anything immediately while at work.

If and when you start to get to 40+ units it may be worthwhile to have a part-time person helping out during the day. 100+ units will probably require a full-time employee.  

This all, of course, depends on the type of rental units, age, deferred maintenance, etc.

I hope this helps!

Never used Google Sites.  I have used www.weebly.com - pretty easy to use generic website builder.

Welcome from the north side of the Range!

Hi, Chris - We are just north of Denver in Fort Collins!

This whole area seems to be increasing quite rapidly in prices.

Best,

I always prefer slightly lower rents = less occupancy, more applicants, less utilities (during vacancy), etc.

My past company we had less than 5% average portfolio-wide (a few hundred units).

Some of my personally-owned rental units are in a hugely popular market and have been at 0% for 2 years.