All Forum Posts by: Paul N.

Originally posted by P NW:

Rules aren't so strict for a roommate ad.

I'd probably not mention religion at all. It's such a trigger.

Put it in if you don't want dope in the house (don't mention it if you don't care).

Good point!

Thank you Cary and Renee...that's pretty much what I figured - mainly just wanted a 2nd opinion. Thanks again,

Paul

Hi all,
Long time no visit. I have a question regarding posting what might be considered a discriminating ad for my rental. Note that this would be a "share with owner" situation, and not an ad for an apt, or a unit in a multi-family house. Now, according to Craigslist,
there are all kinds of things that are illegal to state as preferences,such as "Christian home", references to sexual orientation, and obviously, race, among other things.

I believe I have a bit more leeway with a share with owner situation
(correct me if I'm wrong), but what if I described *myself*? For instance:

"Older, SWM, straight, smoker, not particularly religious, has room available for rent for one person, share rest of house"

In this hyper-politically-correct world we now inhabit, would posting the above put me at risk for getting slapped with a charge of posting a discriminating housing ad? Obviously, I very much DO want to be discriminating about whom I share my home with, but adding something like "seeks same" or "seeks compatible housemate" would make that rather obvious

What about adding an insincere "All welcome, M or F, No pets, 720 FICO or better required".? Would that cover my butt?

Basically, I guess I'm looking for advice for how to write an ad

for a house-share that weeds out most of the people I wouldn't want to share with, while toeing the line on the ad-copy and keeping it legal. Any advice from veteran landlords or property managers would be most welcome. (The property is in SC, if that matters)

Yikes!! :shock: I visited the property for the first time yesterday(I`m in a hotel in Spartanburg as I type this - thanks to my portable cellular broadband internet access:) I unlocked the door, ventured in, and turned on the breakers. The lights came on, the water was still on from the previous owner. I have to say that the state of disrepair/decrepitness of
this crappy old mobile exceeded even my worst expectations :shock: I
can`t believe that a husband, wife, 4 kids and 3 dogs actually lived here up until just 5 weeks ago - it *looks* more like this mobile was abandoned and left to the elements more like 5 *years* ago, based on my brief walkthrough. To say that this place is a "dump" is an understatement :roll:

I wasn`t in the place more than 5 minutes, before I locked it back up, and left, thinking to myself that the mobile is a lost cause, and that only a
clean-slate/replacement approach would be viable(read: bulldozer time)
I had bough the property at an online auction, and it definately looked quite a bit worse in-person, than the pictures would have me believe. I can console myself in knowing the lot is worth at least 2-3X what I paid for the property, so at worst, I at least got a nice lot in a desireable area,
and have the option of replacing the mobile(the County allows anything 1976 or newer), placing a modular, or a stick-built on the property.

Anyway, getting back to the fleas, I didn`t notice any fleas during my brief walkthrough of the place. I got back in the rental car, and started driving back to the hotel. It was during this trip, that I first noticed I had
picked up a load of hitchhiker fleas, as I noticed them on my arm and began noticing them jumping around on me in the rental car(yikes!!)

As soon as I got back to the hotel, I immediately made a beeline to the bathroom, and jumped into the shower, fully clothed, and ran the hot water as hot as I could stand it. Most of the fleas jumped off and apparently hung out on the sidelines as I tried to de-flea myself and my clothes. Keep in mind, this was Sunday morning, and damn near everything in South Carolina is closed except for the churches, so finding an open hardware or pet store was out of the question.

After I showered, changed clothes and re-entered the bathroom, a couple of survivor fleas jumped on me, and I killed them. It seems I had managed to to control the problem, and nip the fleas in the bud before they became a problem in the hotel room.

The next day(today), I get in the rental car to drive to the water company to complete the application for water/sewer service, and I noticed a couple of survivor fleas were once again, jumping around on me
as I was driving :crying: I *THINK* I got them by physically killing them by crushing them, and so far, so good both here in the hotel room, and the rental car, but what a hassle and PITA a flea problem can be!!!

I didn`t bother to try and bomb the property(as soon as I saw it, I wrote it off as a viable residence)

In general, upstate SC is beautiful, and both the climate and economy are superior to much of the rest of the country - there is a lot to like about the area; jobs galore and the perfect "sweet spot" of nearly ideal climate and low taxes/cost of living, coupled with a booming economy and (still-rising) housing market, so I don`t sweat this crappy/demolition-ready mobile

Anyway....I`m back off to NY tomorrow morning, so this whole thing has been a learning experience for me :groovy: , and I just wanted to share :wink: RE investing,....it`s not just a job, it`s an adventure :lol:

Thanks, yes I`ve seen flea-traps that use a lamp and sticky pad(instead of soapy water), but the only problem with this, is that this would maybe take care of the adult fleas, but doesn`t seem to address the eggs, which I understand can survive in a sort of dormant state for some time. I will definately try flea traps as an additional post-bombing strategy. This would be in addition to rubbing borax powder into the carpets after bombing is done(and the place is de-fumed and safe to enter.
I know bombing is time-consuming(it will kill an entire day, by the time I`m done), but I heard there are flea-bombs, that also render the next generation of fleas moot, by making them unable to re-produce. I forget the name of the additional chemical(s), but I will make sure to look for a
product that addresses the eggs and larva as well - not all flea foggers do,
from what little I`ve been able to research in the past couple of days.

:shock: That`s what the neighbor of a property I bought in upstate SC mentioned to me, after calling me back to confirm the breakers were off(power getting turned on today). I suppose I shouldn`t be too surprised, as the previous owner had 3 dogs, but now it looks like I can add "Book Hotel room" to my to-do list for my upcoming trip down there this weekend, since I really don`t know what my neighbor`s definition of "a few" is, I have to assume the worst, a flea infestation.
The property has been vacant for nearly 5 weeks, so I`m guessing the
fleas are probably hungry enough to jump on and bite the first warm-blooded life-form that walks into the place. :roll:
I`m looking for product and method recommendations for dealing with this problem. I only have a couple of days down there before I have to
catch my flight back. I don`t think I`ll hav time to ripout the carpeting, so I`m thinking, flea-bomb like crazy, wait the recommended time, re-enter and then vacumn the carpets like crazy, mop the hardwood/tile floors, then apply borax to the carpeting and work in with push-broom?
Anyone recommend anything or better method for getting rid of the fleas, eggs and larva, so that I can return to NY confident the problem is
solved? How long can fleas live without feeding? How long can the eggs
survive? What if no one entered the place for several months? Would the
problem die out on it`s own?

Deals on Wheels, by Lonnie Scruggs :lol:

Originally posted by "Oklahoma1":

most if not every level of the retail side regarding reo was the worst cluster :badwords: I have ever dealt with

A mind set that reiterates the genius level, "If I sell it I'll be out of a job"

DOESN'T DESERVE A JOB!

:beer:

This doesn`t bode well. See my other post at:
http://forums.biggerpockets.com/viewtopic.php?t=18931&highlight=
and you can see why I`m getting bummed out reading stuff like this.

Note:edited to change link. Post was moved to more appropriate forum.
TN

You'll be lucky to hear back from sellers in a week

Really? You`d think a bank would be anxious to have one less albatross
on it`s books, especially when a potential buyer is offering cash :shock:
Is it just the nature of the banking bureacracy, or are they actually in no real hurry to unload a property they got stuck with?

If I form an LLC tomorrow, but don`t actually do anything as far as REI
until, say, next year, would I have to file/pay some sort of minimum
quarterly tax with the IRS? Can an LLC just "sit on the shelf" with no activity for an extended period of time without incurring any large costs
or other obligations? Will the IRS be expecting it to show a profit after a
couple of years? I`ve seen "aged" LLCs for sale that are several years old - does anything need to be done to "maintain" them while they sit? Do they go "dorment" after a time or can they be de-activated/reactivated?