All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Merrit, I understand that we need to be morally responsible in these times and I don't think there's any of us blaming our our good tenants for the situation.  I think the blame is aimed at the more short-sited government edicts that don't address those taking the financial hit.  

Luckily I have enough reserves to last a while but if this becomes a zero rent scenario then in my situation I'll be paying around $2,500 per month in just expenses (maintenance, taxes, management and insurance).  Shouldn't there be some assistance for those of us housing those in need for free?  Or, do you believe it is just that we bear 100% of the burden for morality's sake? Would your opinion be a different one if this moratorium lasts 6 months, or 12 months etc.?  At what point will we have paid our due to society?  Should morality bear our standard when we are unemployed and deciding on whether to hold on to our investment or just let it go so we can feed our family?

Again, I'm not upset about the tenants having issues.  They are victims just like us.  I'm just asking about when our life-line will get here.  

Right now I would say to make a plan that extends well beyond April and until you can calculate the % of rent you'll be getting from your tenants I'd guess very conservatively.  Even yesterday I was watching a show that was "joking" to someone to stop paying their rent due to the announcement yesterday morning.  

My assumption is that even after the pandemic starts to recede, it's going to take a long time for the economic infrastructure to rebuild.  I would plan on the need for months of liquidity just in case.   

I think we are living in very unique times right now.  I don't believe anyone really knows when this will end and move back to normalcy.  I haven't seen any landlord assistance come into play yet but I assume something will be done within the next few months either through cash assistance or mortgage payment holds.  If you find yourself tight right now you should be actively looking into resources to tide yourself over for a while and not wait too long as we all know the government often moves slow and if a relief plan comes our way the lines may be long.  

Well they just announced no Foreclosures or Evictions nation wide in the latest White House update.  No mention on assistance for landlords as of yet.  

If you can go without rent for a few months you could go HUD with your homes (if they are one's you'd be OK with doing HUD on).   My big fear, beyond losing good tenants, would be the damage they may do on the way out.  I don't need to add huge repair bills on top of zero rent.

I've only been in the business for a year and a half and so far have been lucky enough to have really good tenants.  I haven't had any tenants yet request a drop in rent or moratorium on rent but my PM and I have discussed it and know it's coming.  My plan is to reduce rent as a first step and eat the loss for a few months.  As long as I keep my day job I should be Ok for a while.  

I contacted the local Housing Authority to ask if there was a plan to help newly unemployed tenants and they said there isn't anything at the moment and that they'd have to wait for about a year to get Housing Vouchers.  I would hope there'll be some sort of assistance for landlords to give them an incentive to work with their tenants. 

I bought a bunch of houses last year in the midwest and the most successful ones were through auction sites.  You need to do your homework and it really helps to have a realtor in the area to help with research, but when you are bidding on Repo properties only against people with the cash to buy it outright, the crowd is really thin.  

This is especially true if you have a good & reasonable contractor so you can buy properties with issues that will scare off other cash buyers.  For example I bought a house in an OK neighborhood last year that needed a new roof, flooring, plumbing work and appliances.  I got the house for 15k and it cost me 6k for a new metal roof (love the Amish) and about 9k more for the rest of the issues so I had a newly updated house for 30k in an area where they sell for 50k+.  It rents for 800/mo, which is about 5k net per year on a 30k investment.  

Other advise is to go slow.  If you go out and buy 300k worth of houses out the door you'll have missed opportunities to learn from your mistakes.  Buy one and get it rented and you'll be 20% smarter about the process.  Buy another one or two and get them to rental then reflect on lessons learned and repeat. 

  I wouldn't rush into mortgages and debt.  Buy yourself 300k worth of houses (if that's your goal) over time and once done see if you like the concept and want to get deeper.  If so make your debt decisions.  

Yep and interstate sales over the web used to not be Sales Taxable (except for Use tax which almost nobody pays).  Your suspicion may be correct as the politicians are desperately trying to find every nickle we have hidden.  I would hope there'd be some form of a grandfather clause but who knows.  

Great advice all.  What a great group.  I'm talking to my CPA in 2 weeks.  Hoping to get half done this year if it's possible.

Thanks all. 

Awesome, that sounds like a good resource, thanks.