All Forum Posts by: Sheena Lee

@Marisa Rowe you are exactly right. We bought our first house for $300K. Fixed it up and brought the value up to $400K. We refinanced, pulled out the equity, and used that to buy our current house. Kept the first one as a rental. We could have never purchased this house ($570K) if we hadn’t done that. There is absolutely a benefit to buying a primary residence. In addition you have many more loan options and lower interest rates if it is your primary home. Duplex is a great idea too. If that fits your needs, go for it.

Thank you all for the great advice! My realtor has been great in making sure we get everything we need, such as leases, security deposits, rental permit, etc. I am now concerned, as one of you mentioned to close early in the month. Right now we tentatively closing on the 26th of the month which I am now questioning how this will work out. We want a smooth transition and no late rent, so I'm hoping with careful planning we can prepare for this. Any tips on the best way to document the condition of each unit upon acquisition? 

I am about to acquire a triplex that is fully rented until next year. I’m taking over the leases and need some advice on next steps. After closing, I’m thinking of scheduling to meet each tenant and go over their lease, their experience, and my expectations. Am I able to institute new policies such as no smoking indoors, snow removal, restrictions on pets? Or would this have to wait until the lease expires? Must we continue the leases as is, or do we create new leases, since the original ones were signed by the previous owner? Any other advice? This is my first time acquiring a property with tenants in place. Thanks in advance!

@Gerald Barron Personally I would not be willing to part with the $4800 you are losing over the course of 2 years. If they stay longer... say 5 years, you are losing $12,000 in potential income! I vote no, but try to satisfy them another way. Drop it by $100 but they take care of all landscaping. That’s about all I would be willing to do, good tenants or not.