All Forum Posts by: Tracy Sharpe

In Texas, on a yearly lease, tenant paying every month. Tenant is late. I want to send a letter to Pay or Vacate. If I send it on Tuesday, the 13th of June 2017, if I give a 4 day notice to Pay or Vacate, what is the 4th day? A Monday or do I count the weekend? Tues not counted, Wed day 1, Thurs day 2, Friday day 3, Sat not counted, Sunday not counted, Monday day 4. Is this correct?

My wife and I currently own 5 properties in the same subdiviion. Not necessarily the same street but right around the corner from each of our rentals. I have never had a problem. Although, if it were directly accross the street, you just have to be careful of whom you select to be your tenant. Also, if it's a great deal, I would do it without hesitation. 

Thank you for your answer. I appreciate it.

I have a rental house that is 10 years old. The carpet is builders grade carpet that is also 10 years old. Since the carpet is 10 years old, would the depreciation factor be so low that it wouldn't be worth charging a tenant? 

For example, a 14 x 14 carpet requires replacement due to tenant's dog urinating on the carpet. It cost me $198.00 to replace that carpeted area. What amount, if any, should a tenant be charged? 

I will look up commercial portfolio lenders on BiggerPockets. I have never dealt with that type of lender. Maybe they can help me. Thanks everyone for your input. When you are in a fish bowl, it's hard to think outside the box. There is no shame in my game. I just want to get out of the rat race. 

Since we put 20% down on all properties, I never had PMI but some of the terms of the loans I had were not great. I was going to refinance the primary residence but they wanted to tack on $3500. I figured the best thing to do is pay extra on all the loans and get them paid for.

The bankruptcy was discharged in 2010. It stays on 7 years and a foreclosure 10 years.

I live in Texas and I have 4 rentals in Texas. First home, balance is $69,125 value is $156,086. Second home, balance is $75,732 value is $160,221. Third home, balance is $72,805 value is $169,024. Fourth home, balance is $76,798 value is $151,014. All are cashflowing after expenses. My primary residence balance is $84,312 and the value is $178,052.

Local banks like Wells Fargo declined. Credit unions, I am beginning to research. It would be nice for everything to under one had with one interest rate.

Thanks for your encouragement. I agree with you. I just need to work smarter to find a lender. I do have equity. The properties were purchased with 20% down and the values have gone up. The traditional banks that I was more accustomed to dealing with such as Wells Fargo, BofA, Compass bank, have not worked out for me. The credit union that I looked at requires a credit score of 740 and only will refinance your primary residence. I am not there yet. I am sure there are more lenders to go to so I need to step up the game. I can have more income from my properties just from lowering my interest rates. My plan is to do one at a time. It's just getting the first one. Thanks for your encouragement. Sometimes that's all we need.

When my wife and I purchased 5 homes between 2005/2006, we knew that interest rates were important, but at that time, we were just happy that we could purchase 5 investment properties, especially when many people thought that there was no end to rising home values.

Furthermore, in our haste to buy these investment properties, even though several of the houses that we purchased were fixed rate mortgages and the others variable rate conventional mortgages, which varied between 3 and 7 percent, the lenders said, "Don’t worry about it, you can just refinance later on and get better terms and rates."

Unfortunately, in 2008, the real estate market began to change drastically and we were in trouble, along with many other investors. In our case, we were able to hold on to the 5 investment properties but our primary residence was over-leveraged. To add to the turmoil that was going on, job issues put us in a situation where we had to file bankruptcy and our primary residence went into foreclosure. Thankfully, we were able to keep all 5 investment properties. We moved into one of the properties and held on for a seemingly 7 to 8-year down cycle.

Although we made it through the down cycle and were able to keep our investment properties, in 2016, even though interest rates are low, we have found that because of our credit issues, we cannot take advantage of the low interest rates which is impacting our cash flow.

For example, we have one variable rate loan at 3.625 and the other a fixed rate loan at 7.375 percent interest. Even though we owe about the same on each house, the property that has a 3.625 percent interest rate is cash flowing, after expenses for $455.77, while the house with a 7.375 percent interest rate is cash flowing for only $278.42. They are both rented for the same amount $1300 and are valued about the same. That’s how the interest rate on your investments can make you or break you! We are so close to financial prosperity but yet so far away, as we continue to look for a lender that is really willing to help us.  

Thanks Curt for your ROI explanation. I have read many definitions but yours divides it up into a simple and meaningful definition using an easy to understand example; Gross and NET ROI.