All Forum Posts by: Susan Beard

@Fortune Solomon

Hello from Texas. My husband and I have been in the same boat for a few years. We have been house-hacking in a duplex. We had a deal come our way for a single family home, with the addition of a small rv park. I tried banker after banker until I found one who knew exactly how to structure it where we will only be out of pocket around $3300. She got us qualified for an FHA loan plus a down- payment assistance program. We are past the option period now and on our way to moving to our new property! The key has been our credit score and finding a loan officer who will include the rent as income. Hope you find the help you need.

Which platform do you prefer, for screening tenants, between Avail, Apartments.com, and TransUnions Smart Move? Could you give reasons why?

@Nathan G. We lived next door to a rental home, rented to a really nice Grandmother. She was raising children and grandchildren, who, it turns out, we’re dealing drugs out of the home. I see why screening all adults would be good.

@Marissa Eskridge Looking at the car of the prospective tenant could work, but my Dad was a hoarder, and my Mom kept her car immaculate.

Sue,

Thank you. I will save this for the future.

Bruce,

I am not aware if they had the tenant signed that form or not. We have been talking to her since about June of 2020. (A house fire delayed the purchase) She has no intention of moving and pays her rent early every month. We did get the deposit at closing.

Nathan G, I agree with your advice. I live in West Texas, so it goes against our grain a bit to live next door and not be friendly. I get there needs to be boundaries, though. I don’t want the know on the door after hours.

Adam Azam  Yes, I have a copy of the lease.

Hello, everyone!

We just purchased our first duplex, to live in one side and rent the other. We have a long-term, month-to-month tenant in the other side who is an on-time payer and good renter. She last signed a lease with the previous owner in 2018. Now that we own the property, do we need to have her sign a new lease, in our names, or what is done with a month-to-month tenant? I live in Texas.

Hello, all of you experienced REI guys!
We’re trying to get in the game, but have hit a snag. Our plan was to sell our primary residence, after having made extensive upgrades, and use the equity to purchase a duplex. We plan to house hack. We went under contract on our home, and on a duplex we found to buy. Two mornings ago, and 10 days from the closing on our primary, lightning struck and burned out the entire garage on our home. Early estimates are @$100,000 damage. Now, the buyer of our home may back out, leaving the purchase of our duplex in question. Have any of you had any experience with something like this? What advice would you offer? 

Thanks for your feedback!