All Forum Posts by: Shawn Wade

Great! Thank you for that clarification!

Hi, my tenant just broke her lease and moved out a few days ago. The place was left in good condition, clean. Only one thing missing, which I’ll need to see how much it will take to replace.

Beyond that, she did choose the break lease termination option to continue paying rent as it came due until I can get it re-rented. That said, the property is in Florida, and while my condo is fine, she didn’t work for an entire week and therefore doesn’t have the money for the full payment for October (in addition to the money she put in towards her new place). She did give me a portion of October rent, which I am appreciative for, and is working to get me the rest once she gets her next check.


My questions are: 1) With an early termination, I assume I don’t wait until I re-rent the condo before returning her security deposit, right? Security deposit gets returned in the timeframe from her being “vacated” right?

2) Since she’s technically late and has moved out, am I able to apply her security deposit to the unpaid rent (even though she is planning to pay me for October)?

Thanks for any help and guidance! This is my first early lease termination.

Hi there!

So, I have a rental property that's been rented for the past two years. My current tenant will be moving out. It was a quick decision to rent because it was my primary residence, but then I was moving out of state and I rented it to someone I knew without doing any background check and such. But I want to continue renting it and do it wisely to protect my investment.

I do have an account with Innago and was going to run any prospective tenants through there with their criminal, credit, and eviction check. That said, my property is in an HOA, and they do their own background check, etc. I'm looking at it from a renters' standpoint, and I personally wouldn't want to pay for a criminal, credit, and eviction check from the landlord (Innago charges $35) and then pay for another background check from the HOA ($150). I don't necessarily want to rely solely on the HOA doing it though, because I'd like to see what there is before I offer a lease to a prospective tenant (the HOA requires a signed lease as part of their application process).

Just wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation and what advice you might give. Or what you did to help lessen the blow to a prospective tenant, since it would be redundant. Or should I just not think about it and let this weed out people who wouldn't want to do them both?

Thanks for any help!

Hi there! Newbie from Sarasota, FL! I am in the process of looking at properties on the MLS and visiting neighborhoods and seeing what's out there, as I want to purchase a multifamily and live in one while renting out the others.

Thing is, what's in my price range multifamily-wise, that I've been seeing, either are 1) not in a part of town I'm fond of and wouldn't want to live there myself, or 2) looks like it's a pretty hefty repair job. I'm not opposed to doing some work and/or having work done, but I didn't want anything outlandish.

My ideal scenario was to purchase a triplex or a fourplex. But I haven't been seeing anything that really stands out or that I get excited about. And it's highly possible the right deal just hasn't come up yet. I'm in no rush for the right first deal. But out of curiosity, I glanced at some single family homes and found several of them that had mother in law suites (private entrance, bathroom, kitchen, etc.). And they looked like potential was there.

My question is, with a mother-in-law suite, how much different is it than an actual duplex, other than the fact that there is a door connecting the two of them? Are there specific zoning laws that would be a hindrance? How would a lease work? Would it work more like renting out a bedroom (which is what I really DON'T want to do, as I don't want to share any living areas, lol), a whole separate apartment, or is there some different method altogether?

I am still just looking at all of my options. With a SFH with a mother-in-law suite, I think it would limit my exit strategy a bit, because I'd think it would be difficult to move out in a year or two and then rent out the main house to someone else, knowing that the mother-in-law suite is occupied by complete strangers. Haha.

Thanks for any info you can provide! 

Thanks, @Tom Ott!

Hi, everyone! My name is Shawn and I found this site I guess about a month ago. I've visited the forums several times, reading, even posted once asking a question, but haven't posted in the New Member Introduction area.

I've been listening to the podcasts from the beginning, one podcast a day, to really immerse myself in everything. And the quick tip in one a few days ago was to post in the new member area... So here I am to introduce myself!

I live in Sarasota, FL. It'll be 6 years next week since I've been down here. Moved here from Pennsylvania, but born in New Jersey. In Florida, I've had several jobs from grocery store to unloading trucks to delivery, but for the past three years I've been in property management leasing apartments. And it's been awesome. I enjoy it.

Last year I got the idea to pursue a real estate license. It actually just seemed like the next step in my career, and I was excited. I took the course online at my own pace and then earlier this year (nearly a year ago at this point) went for my real estate exam and passed. I did end up leaving my job and going into real estate full-time. And after a few months of not having any deals, I realized I needed to go back into work. So I am working full time again as a leasing consultant. Been back leasing apartments since July.

I wanted to do something with my real estate license, so I've been keeping it active. But as I am a single guy and no roommates, I kinda needed my full-time job. General real estate is tough though, while working a full-time job that requires you to be in an office from 9AM-6PM. So I knew I needed to do something that I could do while still working...

Before I got my license, buying properties and renting them out has often been my goal. I am not sure why I felt I had to make it in general real estate first. But buy and hold and even vacation rentals is something I believe I would thrive in. Especially with my background in property management.

I do live in an apartment right now (not where I work -- the rent is pretty pricy where I work; even WITH the discount they'd offer me), but my plan is to purchase a multi-family property (ideally a 3-unit or 4-unit) and live in one of the units. Rent out the others. Looking to make some moves with this before mid-2018, as that is when my lease is up in the apartment I'm in now. If I don't have to sign for another lease term, I'd rather not. But I don't want to jump into a deal just to jump into a deal either.

I am still educating myself. The podcasts have been awesome! These forums have been great. Looking forward to interacting with and learning from you all!

Thank you, @Alexander Felice!

@Matt K., thank you for your response! Yes, I am definitely going to do that. I appreciate you emphasizing situation AND goals. It's good to be understood.

@Stephanie P., thank you so much! Yes, I do still have a full-time W2 job and I plan on continuing to work. I am leaning more towards a duplex/triplex and living in one of the units while the other/others are rented. As for trade lines, I do still have a couple credit cards open, but only use them -- one, mainly -- sparingly (i.e. when I need to rent a car if I'm out of town) and pay them off ASAP. I appreciate the welcome!

Hi, @Ben Freiman! Thanks for the welcome! I appreciate you responding and thank you for your suggestions! Time for me to start talking to some mortgage brokers!

Hi Joshua! Thanks for your response and input! I did get my car refinanced in the past few years, so my monthly payment isn't nearly as much. And I've been paying more on it (sometimes double) so more is going to principal. It will be paid off in 2018. I have no problem waiting to get preapproved, but I just wanted opinions to see if it would make that much of a difference. I didn't want to wait and it not make too much of an impact than if I didn't wait. I mean, I'm still familiarizing myself with investing, making my goals, and creating my plan. So I have time. I'm in no rush. I want to be smart about it all.