All Forum Posts by: Stephanie D.

@Colleen F. Good point!  I'm going with my gut and getting the shower door.

Thanks everyone!!! :)

@Brian Ploszay  Thanks for the feedback. Its on the second floor of a hundred year old row house, so I'm guessing theres woodsub floors.  Also, it looks like there is stick down tile on the floor...not a good combo at all for a shower with no door.  Would you take the chance of putting in a glass door on a low income rental?

@Jim C. Its a row house.  But the only issue is that the rent is only $500 a month.  I'm not sure if its a good idea to spend more than 1/2 of one month's rent on shower door, just seems like it they could easily break it and cost me more money.  Were you nervous about putting a glass door on yours?

Hi BP!  I'm closing on a property next Thursday that will be a rental.  I'm concerned because it has a shower and not a bath tub.  The issue is that there is a shower rod and not a glass door to enclose the shower.  I know for a fact that this set up is not idea...water easily escapes the shower with just a curtain (I have the same issue at my primary residence).  I think the area is too short to have an actual tub, which is probably why they opted for a shower...I don't think there's 5 feet there.  

Do you recommend putting in a glass shower door so that the floor, subfloor, walls and molding don't get water damage?  Or does that sound like a bad idea in a low-income rental?  The worst I imagined was putting up a $300 door that they somehow manage to break or otherwise destroy.  I

If you wouldn't put in the shower door, what would you do?  What are the alternatives if the space is too small for a tub?

Thanks!!!

Since you haven't closed/went to settlement yet, one option is to have your title company draw up assumption paperwork. You could set up a new LLC and have that LLC assume the sale. Then you don't have to pay transfer taxes. Its basically like wholesaling from the LLC that won the property to the new LLC you set up.

One other thing, just remember its probably better to wait on a good tenant that will *hopefully* not stiff you than to have a tenant who shows a pattern of not being financially responsible.  There will always be other applicants.

I had a tenant apply that filled for bankruptcy for one of my properties and I was working with a realtor at the time.  He encouraged me to take her and said he would put a guarantee on it that she would pay the rent or he would refund the commission.  The commission was only one month's rent and I believe getting an eviction processed costs about $3K, plus you know the there's turnover cost.  In the end, I went with my gut, sometimes you just have to, you will kick yourself later if you don't listen to your inner feelings.  I reposted the vacancy and held an open house and selected a different tenant after that.  Better to be safe than sorry, especially when its my money on the line.  As a side note, I don't feel he earned his commission at all since I held the open house, posted the listing, and basically found the tenant...lessons you learn with experience...but that's a whole other story....

Hi William @William Baptist I just won three properties at auction in August.  I would caution you to see if you can get inside the house before bidding.  You probably can't do a full home inspection and unless you've got experience with knowing what to look for it could be a really expensive move for you.  After the auction, I was able to go into one of the houses I won and took a look around.  There were pictures online, but they didn't do the place justice as far as the amount of work it needs.  I'm also thinking it has foundation problems as evidenced by cracks in the ceiling and uneven floors.  Sadly, I'm going to loose out on my $2500 deposit unless I can find someone to assume the purchase for me because I can't go through with that one house as there's no way I could begin to guess how much foundation repairs costs with internet quotes ranging from $3500 to tens of thousands of dollars.  But I learned a huge lesson!  

Always, always: buyer be ware.  

Its difficult be ware when you can't fully do due diligence.  I'm sure there are a lot of investors with way more experience and funding they can tap into that wouldn't shy away from the auctions, but I'm not so keen on it now.  FYI, I'm going to go through with the purchase of the other two and praying they don't have the same issues as the one I'm leaving behind.

Hi!  For the longest time, I mean like at least 7 years, I thought about being an agent because I always felt I received sub-par attention from realtors and hated waiting for them to be available to take me too view properties.  I took the plunge earlier this year to get my license.  I passed the test and got my license, BUT little did I know I would have to be a Realtor, I thought I could just be an agent and not have to pay a bunch of extra fees to have the fancy title.  

Its expensive in Maryland to get your license and be "active" because of the brokerage fees (depending on which company you join, mine is cheap at $99 a month--I heard some are $400), realtor dues (run about $1200 a year, must join local, state and national associations), MLS subscriptions (another $1000 a year, which you have to have if your going to get the access information to those properties your interested in). This short list is absolutely not all inclusive.

In addition, apparently according to a tax article on BP, you can't write those expenses off unless you make a sale or work over 750 hours on your real estate endeavors annually.  

I too thought it was a good idea and possibly a great way to earn money to funnel into more real estate deals...perhaps it might be.  As of right now, it hasn't netted any additional money, only a loss...but I'm actively networking and hoping that maybe next year I will reap some sales (FYI: people who are interested in purchasing seem to be interested in getting for information to help them purchase in a year or two...)