All Forum Posts by: Shawn Q.

I'm looking for a broker in South Florida that can help with estimates for state minimum auto and two condo policies for some family members. Anyone you can recommend? 

Doing some salary analysis on my W2 to compare inflation against raise percentages over my time in role. I'm getting stuck on inflation though. Core CPI is a nonsense made-up number, so is there a place to pull or a way to calculate actual inflation without food, energy, and housing stripped out? I don't know about you, but I can't actually live without food, energy, and housing so core CPI is less than useful. I'm hoping for a an annual number I can just find, but I'll do a calc if needed. I spent a few hours google searching but didn't find any easily scraped numbers. My guess is I'll have to use core CPI and add back in food (best I could find was https://www.usinflationcalcula... though I find the number in the 12-month graph at the top really suspect) and energy from regional Fed or BLS data, but thought I'd check with the brain trust to see if there's a better option. My output doesn't have to be hugely accurate, but I'm hoping for something I can use that's closer to reality than core. 

Any ideas? 

Just wondering if anyone has dealt with Doug Eden / Restoration Xperts, Inc working out of the Pompano Beach area? My mother's water heater popped back around 11/21 and she brought in this company at the recommendation of her plumber to do the remediation. The took out some carpet squares and set up blowers for a few days, but they haven't yet given us an estimate. They also haven't moved the furniture out of the room and removed the rest of the carpet, so their slow pace of work has likely led to mold. Finally, their contract terms are a bit shady - all payments flow through them and there's a 20% fee for cancellation. 

If you've dealt with him/them did it go well? Or should I just bite the bullet, get a lawyer, and fund the repairs out of pocket while that whole thing works itself out? Any recommendations for agencies in South Florida that can help poor/at-risk seniors with insurance issues? 

Anyone recommend an AC company and/or an estate company (or ethical consignment shop) in the pompano beach/ fort Lauderdale area?

I'm down helping Mom with some tasks. 

Welcome - might want to share your goals and what has you interested in the areas. Should impact what response you get. IL is a pretty challenging place to invest right now. 

Thanks all! Suppose I should have mentioned the tenant did talk to the neighbors and neighbor denied doing it (ever - despite having to have a tow truck pull him out of a rut a few days ago). I'll look into fencing and maybe boulders. 

I'll save the munitions for phase two if defense in depth seems necessary.

I have neighbors at one of my rentals driving through my back yard to get to the street (basically they have a shared driveway and the person at the back of their driveway drives through my back yard to get to my driveway on the other side of my house to get to the street). I'm wondering if anyone has dealt with this and has a good solution. Much as I hate the idea of the expense (it's a low-$ rental and the replacement time would be considerable) I'm strongly considering fencing the back yard. Also thought about laying down railroad ties on the property line, but those could be moved. In any case fence will likely need to wait for spring, so also looking for temporary solutions to get through to then if nothing cheaper than a fence is possible. 

Welcome! If I were back in your situation I would be looking for a house-hackable 2-4 unit and/or BRRRR deal. Great wealth accelerator.

(Not a lawyer, opinion here) So is she AirBnBing the whole place, or is she living there and just doing a room? That would make a difference in how you handle this. In any case I would do the following:

Screenshot her AirBnB listing of your place just so you have some records that is going on. Most leases include a prohibition on running a business out of a rental, but I assume you've already looked at the old lease. You'll also want to explicitly cover that in your lease template, so you'll need to work with your lawyer.

Read the eviction moratorium and contact a lawyer. The December renewal actually isn't that restrictive and if the tenant didn't come with a Declaration that they are a covered person (which would have come from the prior owner) then they may not be protected. Sounds like this is a situation where they just don't want to pay, not that they can't because of covid. Just being stubborn isn't covered by the moratorium. The lawyer would be able to tell you what the local steps are (including steps short of eviction in order to encourage a new lease signing).

Don't accept rent for January for the old amount before talking to your lawyer! You might inadvertently create a month-to-month tenancy under the old terms.

Good luck - let us know how it goes!

I like (and invest in) Champaign, but only if you're local and can find a great deal or use some other profit-multiplier method (like BRRRR or house hacking). The state is challenged in multiple ways and Champaign is one of the few communities either growing or stable. Job stability is ok, but not great. Of course we don't yet know what the long-term structural changes in the market will come from covid. Basically if you live here and can BRRRR, live-in flip, and/or house hack I would do it, but I wouldn't invest in this market from outside the market.

And avoid Urbana - taxes are too high and it's not as landlord friendly.