All Forum Posts by: Tom Fontoura-Sutliff

I've changed my tune on this one. I used to be adamant about no pets and I quickly realized how many people will bend the rules/sneak pets in. I might as well get paid for this since a lot of landlords in my area don't want pets and it'll help my properties stand out.

Charge a nonrefundable and a monthly fee. 

This gets asked quite often here. This is going to require your own research since most of the software out there does pretty much the same thing so you'll have to vet which one you think will fit your needs.

Here is a post from 5 days ago:

Best Property Management Software

I'm curious why you are asking this question - whats the context?

$1,500 monthly cashflow for a $10k repair seems obvious to keep renting. Is there more to the story?

Hi Patrick,

It sounds like you have a good idea of what to do here. First, you need to abide by any leases that are in place, so you most likely couldn't raise rents on those who have an existing lease until their end date is reached. For those occupants who are month-to-month you would need to send them a certified letter of intention to raise rents on specified date or give them 30/60 notice if they don't agree. Obviously, you need to follow any rent control laws in your municipality. For those who agree to the rate hike, I would encourage you to have them sign your version of your lease so they understand your rules/conditions even if you choose to keep them month-to-month. 

I would suggest you talk to your insurance professional about the amount of coverage your tenants should have and specific to this question. I would then spell this out in the lease. 

And yes, ask for a copy for your files. I always require my tenants to carry at least $300k in renters insurance and require proof sent to my insurance agent to keep track of.

Hope this helps!

Chris,

As far as I know, anytime an account is being converted from tax-deferred to a tax-free account this will trigger a taxable event including in the case of a divorce which is known as a qualified domestic relations order. See link below.

https://www.investopedia.com/a...

In full disclosure I am not a tax/financial professional so I suggest you seem professional advise.

A refrigerator that leaks only in the summer makes sense because that is when it's most humid. This could be an easy fix if the drain pan is damaged or simply not placed correctly. In my first property I had a 20 year old fridge that leaked water (only in summer) and it was just the pan was wiggled out of place, it took 5 seconds to fix. I don't know how handy you or how close this property is to you but I personally would take a quick look under the refrigerator (or move it out) and inspect the drain pan.

With all that said, refrigerators are tricky when you can't repair it yourself because the cost of service gets you close to the cost of a new one.
Then pose the question of buy new or used. I recently bought a property with no refrigerator and I opted for a brand new refrigerator because it worked out to being about $200 more than a 5 year old refrigerator. To me, it was just peace of mind.

I don't think they need any compensation. You did your due diligence in finding a replacement. If anything I would have looked for a used oven first or tried to repair given the lead time for a new one.

Is this really that much of an inconvenience to not use an oven between mid-June through mid-July in TEXAS? (assuming this property is local to you)

I'm glad @Andrew Frowiss mentioned 1031 because that is a great future option. 

This a really a preference question and a lot of valid points in this post. You might be able to optimize by selling and investing in more properties but if you're more interested on taking a more relaxed approach to RE investing then renting your current home is fine.

Hi Bigger Pockets,

I know this topic has been discussed ad nauseam but I'd like get my personal situation looked at.

We've been looking for our first rental unit nearby but in our search my wife and I found a house nearby that we feel could be a good Live In Flip. The house needs cosmetic updating but totally livable as is. What makes it interesting is it has several parcels of land with the sale of the house which we could probably sell off the larger parcel for about 25-30% of the total purchase price.

I know the basics of Section 121 but I'm trying to understand if there is a way to extract value from our equity position in our current house to make this a better choice than finding a straight rental.

Current house 

Purchase $215K 

Current Value $280-290K

Owe $160k 15 year mortgage at 2.75%

Mortgage + Tax + Insur $1450

Possible Rent $1800-2000

Possible Live-In Flip

Purchase $300K

Repairs ~$20k-40k

ARV $325-350k (excluding land to be sold off)

Land Parcel Value to be sold off $80k-100k

I would love to hear your creative thoughts on this situation and how I can optimize.

Thanks!