All Forum Posts by: Stephen G.

Hello BiggerPockets Community!

I wanted to both share a recent experience as well as ask for recommendations for electronic payment services for property managers and landlords.

For the longest time, I was using Venmo as a way for my tenants to pay me. However, I recently ran into a situation where my account was suspended due to suspected unauthorized activity. After emailing the company back and forth many times, I was told that receiving rent thru their platform is considered a violation of their Terms of Service since their app was solely designed for "peer-to-peer" lending and payments (and NOT rent or business transactions).. I was lucky enough to have my account zeroed out at the time, but the thought of potentially having thousands of dollars tied up in a 3rd party service made me too uncomfortable to use Venmo again.

I've been researching other options specifically intended for rent payments for landlords and property managers, however I haven't come up with one which I feel entirely comfortable with using. I've read some reviews on various different online rent platforms, and they either have notorious reviews for (purportedly) hanging on to funds for an unreasonably long period of time and/or missing payments, or charge far too much.

I understand that I probably won't get away from using another 3rd party service, however I would like to consider a well-vetted company that won't tie-up or "lose" funds.

Does anyone have any experience/recommendations for either a free/reasonably priced (and reputable) online software or app that is designed for processing rent payments to landlords and completes transactions in 1-2 business days (or less)? Or do you have another way you electronically receive rent for your personal portfolio? (loaded question - l know..)

Also, for the property management side of things, does anyone recommend a reputable way to make direct electronic payments to owners?

Thanks in advance!

Thank you everyone for the help!

I have a general question about advertising a rental (in Upstate New York) - If I post an apartment listing with certain criteria or stipulations (eg. rent price, pets/no pets, smoking/non-smoking) only to find out that either my rent is too high or I'm leaving out a huge market share of tenants because of a "no pets policy", how can I go about changing my listing criteria without it being considered "discriminatory" against the applicants I have already turned down based on my previous stipulations? Is it even possible to change my criteria this time around?? Thanks in advance for your help!

I went on the bus tour back in the fall and I can attest that its worth every penny! At the end of the trip you end up with a t-shirt, a snack for breakfast, a full lunch, and a good amount of contacts to network with - that alone is worth the money. Chris also gives a ton of great information! He's very knowledgeable and is very approachable. I haven't looked much into his academy end of things so I can't speak in that regards, but he'll occasionally hold some one or three day classes for a few bucks which are just as good as the bus tours. Definitely worth checking out the one day-ers to see if its something you're interested in and take it from there if you're not sure

Thank you for the help! Do you know if the lender would be satisfied with a Builder's Risk  Policy in lieu of a typical hazard policy to allow the loan to close?

Hello Everyone!!

Thank you for taking the time to read and reply!

I'm just looking for assistance or recommended contacts for help with procuring property hazard and liability insurance for properties that are in less than perfect condition...

Does anyone know of any insurance companies or brokers that can issue insurance on properties which are being purchased through an LLC (with a commercial loan) which are in need of moderate rehab? 

I was able to find a local bank willing to lend on distressed properties, however it seems I've reached an impasse due to an insurance road block.

My partner and I both agree that it would be too risky to even forego a loan and purchase a property using all cash without some form of temporary hazard/liability insurance (until it reaches a point where a standard insurance policy could be issued). This becomes even more important if we have to hire a contractor for any amount of work since we would be at risk of a lawsuit if the contractor was injured while on site.

Does anyone have any recommended strategies in a situation like this that they are willing to share?

Is there a policy we could purchase which would protect our company from liability through the beginning stages of rehab in lieu of property liability insurance? And if so, how would we protect our property from fire or storm damage (or vandalism, etc) until the rehab is complete?

Any help, advice, or leads would be greatly appreciated!!

@Jesse T.

I can definitely see what you mean. From the seller's perspective, more contingencies can be a huge turn off. Especially in a market where he/she would have no problem getting other offers. I suppose I was thinking more about treading carefully and less about the other parties perspective..

@William Yeh

I'm currently working with a Realtor. I used him in the past and am very comfortable with him. He does include the typical contingencies that every agent uses. However, after my last transaction I realized that there was one other clause we should have added: If any repairs are agreed upon by both parties, such repairs must be performed by a licensed contractor and seller must furnish proof of authenticity of repairs. (Something to that effect anyway). 

In the basement, I was a little leery about the exhaust vents that went from the hot water tanks into the chimney due to a slight negative pitch on the ducts, as well as some gaps in the ducting (CO issue). The seller went down there himself and muscled them into a different position and did a shotty job fixing the gaps with a universal repair adhesive - duct tape. I think my grandma could have done a better repair in her sleep. But when all was said and done, the repair was completed and there wasn't much I could say to the contrary...

Wow! Thank you everyone for your input. There's a lot of great information here! 

@Bill Gulley

Thank you for the heads up about transfer tax! That is definitely something worth looking into..

Hello All! 

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I am in the market for purchasing another multifamily property, but this time I would like to consider the possibility of rolling it under the protection of an LLC. This leads me to my main question - should I form the LLC prior to even having a property under contract or wait until I have a subject property identified?

I'm trying to think in terms of speed of sale. I'm not quite sure if organizing an LLC would prolong the closing process or if they are quick and easy to establish...

Also, I would have to go through commercial financing if purchasing through an LLC, so maybe even wait until after closing? However, I've found a commercial lender in my area that has terms that are fairly comparable to that of a residential mortgage.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. 

I'm currently in the market for purchasing another investment property (multifamily) and am looking for good contingency clauses to insert into the sales contract when the time comes to pull the trigger. 

Any suggestions of ones that you've personally used? 

Of course there's always the standard Home Inspection Clause, however, I would love to add additional clauses regarding the tenants, management, etc. since there are so many angles to consider during the acquisition phase. Especially since many deals can look great at first until you start poking around...   

So what additional clauses have worked for you? Which ones didn't? 

And have you ever encountered any issues due a poorly drafted sales contract, a misleading Property Condition Disclosure, or from the tenants included with the purchase?

How did you handle these situations?

I look forward to your responses below!