All Forum Posts by: RANJAY SINGH

1. What can a landlord do to collect timely rent payments, so less time wasting in rent courts etc? automatic monthly/bi-weekly debits?

2. My property manager is almost useless does not collect on time, sometimes 30k behind, what suggestions pros have? takeover myself? 

Thank you for wonderful suggestions or sharing of experiences. Great people, this is what makes this site wonderful.  Sorry, but have few follow up questions:

1. How many rental properties should be in one LLC? I have loans in my/spouse name, will it still protect? My units are already rented, will it help if I create an LLC today? a new lease needs to be signed etc? Does this risk of getting sued is so big that owning rental units should be avoided? Better to just flip and cash money and move on? Is there a place where I can find all kinds of such law suits/details etc and learn from the outcomes to protect myself/ourselves better?

2. Should my primary home also be part of a different LLC to protect better? What other personal property (Car, insurance, investments, bank accounts) is at risk and how can they be protected better?

3. Will banks, who gave me loan on these rental properties or primary home will have any objections, if so, any ideas how to overcome those. 

4. Also I have property mgmt company for rentals, but I do respond to them in terms of repairs etc/approvals etc, is it making me more liable? Should I be completely hands-free and leave it to property managers?

5. What insurance/which insurance company in particular (I have landlord insurance etc from state farm) is best for rental units, what level of coverage is suggested.

I agree with original comments made, however I treated my tenants very well (probably should not have, looking back) when one of them lost job, I gave them time to catch up, but instead of paying back, they stopped paying completely, trashed the place $25K loss. I had to sue and recovering through garnishment. They thought they can get away, it may be my mistake to be soft and to give them time, but it back fired on me, I hope to recover every penny, although a big scar on my landlording plan.

I use property manager for my properties. I could pay off some of these cheaper homes to limit of 10 may not apply.

Need expert's opinion on few things in my head:

1. Does anyone see any issues/risks in owning more rental properties say 20+ or 30+ each with positive cash flow of $300/month approx with 15yr mortgage,  if I could afford to get loans?

2. Also how do I protect myself with potential law suits?  LLCs? S-corp?

3. Should I go with cheaper units approx 50k price range with same monthly cash flow or higher priced $150k+ rental units, same cash flow $300/month? 

Thank You, for your wonderful responses, I too was approached and had signed a timeshare buying contract near Disney, Orlando, FL, I could use the "POINTS" for anything, air tickets, car rentals, hotels or other RCI properties any where in the world. But faxed cancellation within 5 days out of 10 day review peorid, when numbers did not add up. Wish had read this blog before, would not have wasted time going through their sales presentation.

Thanks everyone for providing your inputs. I am in an exact situation, an agent who also is a landlord in the same area (21040) showed me a decent property for 52K that will rent for at least $1100, good cash flow, but then my current property manager says do not buy on that side of town, he won't manage, I did buy two properties 2 min away, just last month and the same PM is managing. A very nice SWF lives next door and I did not personally see anything wrong at the time I visited. Difficult decision to let go or to move forward, knowing and taking all risks, I will curse myself later. I guess its better to be safe than sorry and avoid obviously bad areas. So I will drop out of this contract with heavy heart. 

Found a new small property 3BR/2.5BATH, seller asking for 65K, OK condition, for renting not much repair required except carpet cleaning, may be paint, may settle for 60K, I am yet to offer in writing something today, seller bought for 35k last year as short sale. Wondering  1. How do I find actual market value of the townhome?  2. How do I negotiate further down, since he paid only $35K. 3. Is it a good investment? It will fetch $1100/Month rent. 4. I do not have an agent, working with seller's agent, is it advisable to have a buyer's agent? 5. Anything else I should consider? I am trying to buy few rentals for long term cash flow.